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City announces few extra days of shelter for residents displaced from 1616 Ouellette

Cots set up inside the gym of the John Atkinson Memorial Community Centre, which is being used as an emergency shelter for displaced residents of an apartment building at 1616 Ouellette Ave.  (Jason Viau/CBC - image credit)
Cots set up inside the gym of the John Atkinson Memorial Community Centre, which is being used as an emergency shelter for displaced residents of an apartment building at 1616 Ouellette Ave. (Jason Viau/CBC - image credit)

The City of Windsor announced Monday that it would extend the emergency shelter set up for displaced residents of 1616 Ouelette Ave. until Friday.

The shelter, operated by the Canadian Red Cross, was set to close Monday at 11 a.m. About 20 minutes before its planned closure, the city released a media statement saying they would extend the deadline.

As of Monday, about 30 people remained at the shelter set up at the John Atkinson Memorial Community Centre, the city said.

"It's just going to take time," Ward 3 Coun. Renaldo Agostino said of efforts to find homes for the tenants.

"Yesterday there were people that didn't have housing. Today they do. I'm certain that the people that don't have housing today will have housing tomorrow and the people that don't have housing tomorrow will have housing the day after."

Marda management, the company that is managing the crisis, said that there were only 81 people living in the building at the time it was shut down despite the fact that a sales brochure said the building had 121 units.

Agustino said that was because some of the units were "unlivable."

The city says anyone still in the shelter as of Friday who have not found other accommodations, "will be offered a space within the community's emergency shelter system."

Billie-Jo Steptoe has been living at the John Atkinson Memorial Community Centre since last Wednesday. She says it's been difficult living with so many "roommates."

"You don't get much sleep," she told CBC News on Sunday. "The situation is stressful."

Steptoe and other displaced residents of the apartment building at 1616 Ouellette Ave. were moved to the emergency shelter on November 22.

Displaced residents of the downtown Windsor building were without proper heat and electricity. The building's property manager has said residents will be left out of their units for at least eight months.

Jason Viau/CBC
Jason Viau/CBC

After previously being told by the City of Windsor that the shelter would be open for as long as was needed, the city had decided to close the shelter on Monday at 11 a.m. The closure would have left Steptoe and her fiancé — who both have disabilities — and Steptoe's 17-year-old daughter without a roof over their heads for the moment.

Although Steptoe, who is partly blind, and her family were offered an apartment last Thursday, she was unable to file the paperwork until this Friday.

Jerrod Lefler, another resident of 1616 Ouellette, did not have any place to stay when CBC spoke with him over the weekend, however, did wake up the good news that he had a place to stay at Glengarry, a not-for-profit housing development.

"They just told me I'm signing a lease at 2:30 today," he said.

"I'm very happy to know I'm going somewhere...  there's people in here that don't have a place to go."

Lefler said there are about 15 people who are in the same situation as him.

"People last night weren't sleeping," Lefler said. "Some people are crying. You can hear them crying because they have nowhere to go."

TJ Dhir/CBC
TJ Dhir/CBC

The City of Windsor said it's continuing to work on finding shelter for those residents who haven't found alternative accommodations.

"We've been operating the temporary location for two weeks, and these extra couple of days are going to allow more tenants to finalize arrangements," said Kirk Whittal, executive director of housing and children's services, in the media release Monday.

"We know this is a very anxious time for those remaining at the temporary emergency shelter, but we're committed to doing everything we can to help, and we can assure everyone that no one will be without safe shelter options."

In an emailed statement to CBC News, the Canadian Red Cross said they were supporting the displaced 1616 Ouellette residents.

"The Red Cross has provided emergency lodging, food and personal items," the statement continued. "The City of Windsor has advised they have been working with residents to find alternative accommodations."

Steptoe said that although she is grateful the city has taken action to help the residents of 1616 Ouellette, the situation at the building should have been addressed ahead of time.

"Our building wouldn't have gotten this bad if the city had stepped in and held a firmer hand way sooner," she said. "I feel like no one cares. We pay our taxes and we're just a dollar sign for them."