Vancouver: Many still can’t find a new place
Gerry Bellett
Sun
Single mother Brandee Wiebe says she and her three boys, including three-year-old Markus, are going to leave all their water-damaged possessions behind. Photograph by : Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
Judy Graves, of Vancouver’s housing department, checks to see that Kelly Thomson has a place to live. Photograph by : Bill Keay, Vancouver Sun
Almost a week after ceilings collapsed in a rundown Vancouver apartment building during a rain storm, forcing 81 people into temporary housing, many are still scrambling to find new places to live.
Those interviewed by The Vancouver Sun on Tuesday didn’t appear to have much hope of rescuing their belongings in a usable state from their former home at 2131 Pandora St.
They were still locked out of the building because of safety concerns and had no idea when it might be reopened.
There have been reports that a number of units had been broken into and belongings likely stolen, while others had suffered water damage or now have mould growing on furniture and clothes left behind.
“I’m going to leave it all behind and start over,” said Brandee Wiebe, 26, a single mother of three young boys who had lived the building for three years.
Her first-floor apartment was one of the most heavily damaged by water and she isn’t going back.
“The ceiling in the hallway caved in,” Wiebe said. “The water was everywhere, in the living room and bedrooms. It filled up the light fixtures and for two days we couldn’t touch the switches.
“Most of my stuff was damaged. They gave us three hours to pack up and I just grabbed all I could carry. Everything else was left behind.
“My TV, all my furniture, the kids’ things — there’s nothing I can do about it,” she said.
Like Wiebe and her children, the other residents have been temporarily housed in a number of motels along Kingsway.
For now, their rent is being paid by the provincial government, but for those with jobs the assistance will end today while those on social assistance may have until the end of the month before assistance is cut off.
A single mom on social assistance, Wiebe didn’t have householder insurance.
She has heard nothing from the owners about compensation for her damaged belongings, but would be asking social assistance for some help when she moves into a new apartment this week.
She is moving to public housing near the Ray-Cam Community Centre on Hastings Street that was found for her by the city and BC Housing.
In some ways, the unexpected eviction has helped her.
She was paying $1,020 a month in rent and utilities for a two-bed-room unit, while the family’s new home will cost her $420 a month in total.
But when she gets there later this week, all she and the three boys will have are the clothes on their backs and what few belongings she managed to salvage from the 50-unit, three-storey wood-frame building owned by Paul Sahota.
Sahota’s family owns several hotels in the Downtown Eastside as well as other apartments and rental homes.
Vancouver City housing advocate Judy Graves, who was out Tuesday meeting with Wiebe and other residents at the Court Motel, 2400 Kingsway, said there was no accurate information on how many persons have found other homes.
Graves and officials at BC Housing were working to find alternative accommodation for the displaced.
“For those who can’t find accommodation right away, we are hoping the provincial government will extend its help a bit longer,” said Graves.
Kelly Thomson, 38, who lived in the Pandora Street building for five years, has a new home on East Eighth — an apartment he found after pounding the pavement for four hours Saturday.
“The vacancy rate is next to nothing and it’s tough to find a place to live,” he said.
Thomson works for a cheque-cashing company and he left his old apartment last Thursday with just a knapsack and his cat.
He, too, is concerned about his belongings, which he values at more than $4,000.
“I went back there today but they wouldn’t let me in and no one is saying when they will,” he said. “They were actually shovelling water off the roof.”
Although Thomson didn’t think his suite was as badly damaged as others, water was seeping in through the walls before he left and he expects to find his clothes, bedding, furniture and books damaged by mould. He hasn’t any insurance, either.
Neither have Val and Don Rose, who with their two grandchildren, Nick, 2, and Brianna, 6, were waiting Tuesday to find a new home.
“We’re still looking, but we haven’t found anything yet,” said Val.
“I’m concerned about our belongings because we’ve heard some of the apartments have been broken into and stuff stolen. It’s pretty upsetting. They [the building’s owners] were told that the roof was a problem and it should have been done. We’re not sure if we have to leave here today or not. I don’t know where we’ll be going,” she said.
© The Vancouver Sun 2007