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We are demanding to STOP THE EVICTIONS and that we have the right to stay in our neighbourhood and prevent the destruction of a very tight-knit, low-income and racialized community from being torn apart.
There is family after family that is already struggling to pay rent to Timbercreek. Most tenants are paying market rent which is around $1,500. Having to move far away from your community and pay over $2,000 plus utilities and parking will make life unbelievably difficult for families. Having over 100 families compete on the market at the same time has driven housing prices through the roof in Ottawa, and there is nowhere for them to go.
One single mother of four, whose husband passed away just over two weeks ago, has no place to go. Timbercreek is charging her for her back door which was broken into, but she doesn’t have the money to pay them so they’ve put up a piece of plywood where her back door should be. She has had cockroaches for five years and Timbercreek has done nothing. Previously, she paid Timbercreek $700 cash to fix her broken bathroom counter, then was not given a receipt. She is being abused because she has language barriers and she is a single mother on subsidy.
Another single mother of four is undergoing major heart surgery in July and needs rest for three months after. Under extreme pressure, she found a new place far away, but it’s smaller and over $2,000 a month, plus utilities and parking. Only after signing the new lease did it set in that she doesn’t know how she will even pay for it. She has been overwhelmed with tears and lack of sleep since. She will have to work an extra job, her teenage children will have to go to work to cover the costs of housing, or she will risk losing her new place.
People are struggling, and many will likely end up in the shelter system. They are too afraid to speak publicly to the media, but they know the importance of their stories. We are struggling in Herongate and the City of Ottawa and Timbecreek don’t want to help us. They want to eradicate our neighbourhood and the community that supports each other, making life manageable.
This is the largest eviction and displacement campaign in Canada. If the government is serious about declaring Housing as a Human Right, we need to stop these evictions and prevent the displacement of a massive low-income and racialized community.