As their eviction date nears and they’ve got nowhere else to go, some tenants of 90 Carden St. feel they’ve been left behind.
Tenants began receiving eviction notices and buyouts when the 90 Carden building, which includes the Stationview Apartments, was sold to a new owner at the end of June for over $8 million. Most have already left, and those who are still there have until the end of September to leave.
“I’m not sure what to do. Nobody listens, nobody wants to help. Nobody even acknowledges we’re existing in that building,” said Lettie Jones, who has lived in a second floor apartment for the last seven years with her husband Wayne Matthews and their two kids, Cyrus and Isis.
“We’re here because we’re poor, not because of choice,” she said, adding that living there has been “a nightmare.”
When they found out the building was sold, Jones called their case worker to see where they were on the centralized wait list for housing. After seven years of being on the waitlist, she was told they have at least another three years left.
But they have less than two months before they have to leave their current home; and on ODSP, their options are grim.
“The cheapest I’ve been able to find was $2,600 or some ridiculous amount that would take my husband’s entire disability check,” she said. “And since my son turns 18 in October, we lose half our child tax. We would literally not have a penny to our names to pay any other bills, and we’d still be short on rent.”
The Stationview Apartments are one of the more affordable buildings in the area, with the lowest rent being $560, and the highest $1,050, according to Mark Poste, director of housing for the County of Wellington.
“Trying to find similar rents in the community is not easily attainable,” Poste said. “Typically rent was between $750-$950 and these are for one or two bedroom units. Many of these households were also in receipt of portable housing benefits making their rent deeply affordable to them.”
The building has a total of 50 units, though Poste said as of this week they believe there are only 23 people still living in them. To date, they’ve seen some interactions with the emergency shelter system, but no spike in new individuals living in encampments.
Jones and her family signed the paperwork agreeing to be out by the end of September because they felt they had no other choice.
Still, regarding the new owner, Jones said “it’s her building, she’s got to get these people out, or she’s never gonna be able to do anything with it. She’s doing what she has to do, and I understand that.”
Her issue, rather, is that there is nowhere for the tenants to go.
“It needs to be done, but don’t forget about the people like us,” she said.
“The new owner came into an unwinnable situation with the way the building was, people smoking meth and doing crack in the stairways, the hallways. We want to help, but we don’t want to move into a tent.”
They can’t take the payout being offered to evicted tenants, since it would just come off their ODSP cheque. And while her family has been in touch with outreach services in the community, she said the options they’re being given are limited, and she feels like they’re being left behind.
“(The owner) said she would go to bat with us at Stepping Stone, because they’re supposed to be helping us find a place, although we haven’t heard back from them in almost a month.”
Stepping Stone executive director Gail Hoekstra, not responding to that claim specifically, said in an email: "The Stepping Stone will continue to provide support to adult individuals and families that are homeless by providing shelter spaces as well as outreach support to those that are sleeping outdoors. Wyndham House will also provide support for the youth in our community that become homeless."
Jones said a youth councillor and an outreach worker from supportive housing showed up earlier this week, and said they could take her son, Cyrus, to a teen shelter if he wanted.
“My son was terrified, he thought they were gonna take him away or something,” she said.
“We are a very tight family. My children are very, very good human beings, and that’s because we stay together. We have each other’s backs no matter what.”
If no other housing options come up before the eviction date, they were told they could be put up at the Holiday Inn, which she doesn’t want to do either, saying many people from the building have also been sent there. She also doesn’t think they’d be allowed to bring their beloved dog, Baxter.
“I’m just trying to survive and find a roof over my children’s head, and nobody seems to care,” Jones said.
While Poste said he couldn’t comment on any specific scenarios for privacy reasons, the building is a private market rental, with many individuals who have had limited to no interactions with the housing system.
He said their team is working to get as many people as possible on the centralized waiting list for social and affordable housing, and the by-name list for housing stability services.
“There are situations where certain family members might be eligible for different services and supports, but our goal is certainly to always keep families together,” he said.
But system capacity is an issue, too.
“When situations like 90 Carden happen, or the recent Wyndham Street fire, it is difficult to work with that many new individuals looking for a place to call home while still trying to support those in our community that were already experiencing housing instability or homelessness,” he said.
Poste said they have team members in the building connecting with each tenant to learn about their specific situations and come up with individualized plans.
“Some plans are more difficult to establish than others due to the household’s health, financial or family situation, but all are made more difficult because of the affordability barrier that our community is facing,” he said.
They’re currently in the process of developing a needs analysis to make informed decisions on how to best help the tenants, he said.
In the meantime, 60-year-old Beverley St. Laurent, who lives on the first floor of 90 Carden with her husband Andre, said she’s been packing her things and trying to figure out how they could possibly live in a tent.
On ODSP, they also are unable to take the payout, and can’t afford the sky-high rent prices in Guelph, where a one bedroom apartment averages at $2,000 a month.
Earlier this week, an outreach worker suggested she move into a retirement home until a better option comes up.
“I can’t believe they actually asked me to go into an old age home at my age, and then to move again when something comes up” she said.
“I want to go into my housing. I’ve been waiting for eight years,” she said, referring to the centralized wait-list.
“It doesn’t have to be the Taj Mahal. I know how to paint, I know how to clean. I know about carpentry. I can make do with whatever,” she said. “I just want a home.”
