Seniors fighting move-out order

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This article was published 02/08/2017 (2999 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Irene Soko opened the letter and felt sick to her stomach.

It was April 7 and a notice from Manitoba Housing told the 78-year-old she would have to leave the place she had called home for the last 36 years.

Soko is one of a group of seniors living in Gilbert Park who say they’re being unfairly kicked out of their homes and forced out of the community they’ve lived in for much of their lives.

“You wouldn’t think of Gilbert Park as the most desirable place to live, but after 36 years, it’s home,” Soko said. “We’re safe here. We’re comfortable here. One of my neighbours has lived here for 42 years. I don’t understand why they have made this decision now.”

The seniors arrived in their current units back in 2011, when renovations were being done on their previous homes in Gilbert Park. They say their Manitoba Housing property manager promised it would be the last time they’d have to move.

“We were told this would be our last move. This was promised to us face-to-face by the last property manager,” 67-year-old Bev Forbes, who’s lived at Gilbert Park for 27 years, said.

“They made it clear that we wouldn’t have to leave the area or our units,” Soko added. “Everyone was told this.”

Now, six years later, they say Manitoba Housing is kicking them out of the two-bedroom units they were approved to move into back in 2011. The units have small secondary bedrooms which the seniors use as storage space since they no longer have access to storage lockers.

It is because of these second bedrooms Manitoba Housing is making them move.

“It has come to our attention that there has been a change to your household and you no longer qualify for the unit you are living in,” reads the letter sent by Manitoba Housing.

That line — which makes many of the tenants angry — is proof Manitoba Housing is being dishonest, say Forbes and Soko.

“We all moved in here as single people,” Forbes said. “There hasn’t been any change with any of us. It’s dishonest and it’s getting to everybody.”

In addition, two of the tenants said they’ve previously tried to add a family member to their lease. In both cases this was denied, but now they’re being told they’ll have to move because there aren’t two people living in the home.

“At the time they knew what all our circumstances were, that we were living alone,” Soko said. “We were approved to move into these apartments. Now we get these letters saying our circumstances have changed, but they haven’t.”

Many of the tenants say they’re scared to leave their homes and have no interest in living in the places they’ve been offered. In total, they’re aware of eight seniors being forced to move, although they suspect there are more.

Their move date is “subject to availability,” which the tenants say means they have to be ready to leave whenever.

With the help of 75-year-old Chuckie Brunette, a Gilbert Park neighbour and friend, the seniors have banded together to try to fight the decision to move them from their homes.

They say they’ve reached out to Minister of Families Scott Fielding, Manitoba Housing and their property manager Debbie Cook, all in an effort to get a group meeting with the people behind the decision. For two months, they say, they’ve been ignored.

Both Manitoba Housing and Debbie Cook declined multiple requests for comment.

“They don’t care what we have to say,” Forbes said. “They’re not concerned about us. We don’t cause problems. So what the heck? Leave us be. How many years, in reality, do we have left to live?”

Many of the seniors say the uncertainty of the whole situation has been affecting their health, with some losing weight, getting headaches and having difficulty sleeping at night.

They say their support networks are located around Gilbert Park and that’s not something they can take with them when they move. They have family who are able to help them get groceries, doctors that are close by and friends that look out for them.

But what worries them most of all is being forced from the community they’ve spent decades living in, making memories in, raising children in and calling home.

“We’ve been good tenants all these years,” Soko said. “But we’re just disposable — one moves out, another moves in. They don’t really have to look at us as people. It’s unfair and I don’t know why this is happening. Every one of us was promised we would not be asked to move out.”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca