Every day, Newmarket senior Theresa Ardila has a knot in her stomach and chest as she worries about not having enough money and nowhere to live.
She is one of many York Region seniors impacted by the severe shortage in affordable housing.
When Ardila and her husband, Gary, applied to the regional government for subsidized housing in 2013, they were told the wait would be five years. Then it was an additional two, and two more after that.
The region recently informed Ardila that seniors who applied two years ahead of her are currently being housed.
With a monthly pension cheque of $2,400, the retired senior can't afford the high cost of rentals in Newmarket, which, according to Torontorentals.com, averaged $1,843 in April 2021.
Since leaving her apartment last summer, Ardila has been staying with friends or in motels.
If Ardila ever gets housed by York Region, she could be looking at a monthly rent of just $750 but she worries constantly about running out of money before she gets to the top of the wait list.
"I don't even have the words to describe it. I have a knot in my gut and in my chest all the time and I'm having trouble sleeping because of stress."
Ardila is not alone. There were more than 15,800 households on the wait list for affordable housing in York Region at the end of 2020 — over 40 per cent of whom were seniors — according to Christine Morrison, communications associate, strategies and partnerships, Community and Health Services, at the Regional Municipality of York.
In Newmarket, seniors housed in 2020 waited an average of 8.7 years, Morrison said in an email.
Yvonne Kelly, co-chair of the Social Planning Council of York Region, calls Ardila's situation a "tsunami of evictions and homelessness" and said it's very common.
"This is the state of the housing crisis. The region declared a housing crisis and this is what that looks like," said the social justice advocate. "This is why a lot of people don't bother going on (the wait list) because they're like 'I won't be around in 10, 15 years.'"
"I'm afraid I'm going to run out of money. I'm afraid I'm going to... yes (be homeless)," said Ardila.
But after seven years of living in an apartment with mould, losing her husband to lung cancer and the forced relinquishment of almost everything she owns, the retired 66-year-old is, for all intents and purposes, homeless.
Christina Bisanz, CEO of Community and Home Assistance to Seniors (CHATS), calls Ardila's situation a case of "invisible homelessness."
"Just because people go from couch to couch doesn't mean they're not homeless."
When Ardila's husband was diagnosed with lung cancer, the couple had been living in their Holland Landing home.
The cancer went into remission but when it was rediagnosed in 2014, they gave up their hard-to-maintain house and found a basement apartment close to Southlake Regional Health Centre. Gary was expected to live anywhere from six months to a year.
Their Newmarket apartment was five minutes from Southlake, making it easy for Gary to receive chemotherapy treatments at the Stronach Regional Cancer Centre and Ardila's medical visits for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and three previous heart attacks.
"I thought (the apartment) would be something I would be able to handle because, of course, we were expecting six to 12 months . . . He survived for almost seven years after the diagnosis," said Ardila.
Within three years, it became apparent the apartment had major water damage "to the point that if there was a heavy rain or the frost melted, (when) we were walking on the floor, the floor was squishing under our feet, under the floorboards," said Ardila.
Shortly afterwards, mould began to appear throughout the apartment, she said.
The couple, with their separate lung issues, began having difficulty breathing.
Health Canada's website calls indoor mould growth "a significant health hazard" and the Center for Disease Control lists cancer patients taking chemotherapy as an example of individuals who may be more susceptible to mould infections.
Ardila became increasingly concerned for her husband's fragile health and insisted the landlord arrange for an air quality test, she said.
The test result indicated the mould in the apartment was seven times the acceptable indoor level.
York Region's website states poor indoor air quality can result in difficulty breathing, eye, nose and throat irritation, worsening of pre-existing conditions such as bronchitis, emphysema, asthma and heart disease and even premature death.
The couple moved out while repairs were carried out but, said Ardila, repairs had only been made to certain areas and the problems quickly resurfaced.
"It was just bandaged as far as I can see because it wasn't long before it started to show itself again. There was still water coming in under the floor," she said. "It (the mould) was growing unbelievably; it had grown in just a three-week period."
Videos emailed to the landlord documenting the damage went unanswered.
Before Christmas 2020, Ardila received the grim news that Gary's cancer had metastasized to his liver and pancreas. After being admitted to hospital in February, Gary passed away in March at age 76.
Ardila said everything after that was "a blur" as she grieved her husband while dealing with her own health issues.
"I just felt my breathing was getting worse over the winter . . . I was really struggling with breathing and sleeping overnight and just my overall health."
In spring 2021, as the snow melted and the issues resurfaced, Ardila "was at a breaking point."
She sent photos and videos to the landlord showing water damage and mould in the "repaired" areas. The unit was so damp, Ardila used a heating pad to dry out the mattress before bed each night, she said.
Ardila contacted York Region Public Health but no visit was scheduled and Ardila said she wasn't informed as to whether public health would follow-up or compel the landlord to make changes.
"In most cases, public health follows up with the client, landlord or other agencies to address any issue(s) identified without needing to conduct an on-site assessment," public health said in an email statement when requested to comment.
She reported the situation, not for herself, said Ardila, but so it would be on file should anyone rent the unit after her.
"Her being concerned, after all she's been through, about the next people, this is the humanity of this. People are being hurt and yet they still care about other people," said Kelly.
That spring, Ardila received a one-year lease renewal from the landlord. The lease was backdated to Oct. 1, 2020 and had her signature on it. According to Ardila, she never signed a renewal and she alleges that her signature was forged.
In July, after seven long years of stress, breathing problems and emotional trauma, Ardila told the landlord of her intent to leave in August.
Public health advised Ardila not to take anything damaged by dampness and mould, but virtually nothing aside from some clothing and jewelry was salvageable, she said.
Ardila gathered what would fit in her car and left sentimental items, heirlooms, photographs and memories behind.
"To leave 65 years of my life, 76 years of my husband's life, mementos and keepsakes, and just walk away from that, you have no idea how that feels. It's indescribable."
Since leaving her apartment, Ardila hasn't been able to find an affordable place to live. Rent has risen significantly since they moved into their apartment seven years ago and after a lull during the pandemic, it's rising again.
"What people have out there for rent and what they're asking is atrocious," said Ardila.
In addition to rent, Ardila would have to replace the furniture and housewares she left behind and money is becoming scarce.
When her car broke down, Ardila depleted most of her savings to replace it and to pay for a week-long motel stay when she had nowhere to go.
She's "fearful" her savings will run out and her doctors, she said, are worried about her stress.
"We know that when older adults lose their tenancy, the chances of them finding new accommodation is significantly reduced. There's certainly a lot more instances of homelessness among seniors than we're perhaps aware of — they go and stay at friends' places until they have to move on," said Bisanz. "Elder care is not a priority."
After a staying at a friend's home in Scarborough and another motel stay, Ardila is at another friend's but it's a big family and slightly crowded, so it isn't a long-term solution.
"While it's not ideal, I'm very grateful to have a roof over my head and food and people to talk to but I need to move on because it's not an ideal situation here either."
According to Kelly, the new right to housing policy framework passed in Toronto — which makes it mandatory for certain new developments to include affordable rental and ownership housing units beginning in 2022 — is "a game-changer."
"When you get governments who can't just stand idly by and use bylaws as an excuse for not doing something because 'oh, but the bylaw.' Well guess what? Bylaws are made and bylaws are changed ... the (requirement for a certain number of parking spaces) is used so often to kind of get out of (building affordable housing) ... but low-income people don't often have a car, so just create the damn housing and people will come."
But future planning isn't going to help Ardila right now. She will spend the holidays back in Scarborough but after that she has no idea where she'll be.
"If I had to, I could go back to my friend in Scarborough and they could accommodate if I was really desperate because she said she would never let me go homeless. That would be my option if I can't find something."
"This is ridiculous. It's more than just where is she going to go, but honestly, after everything she's been through," said Kelly. "I'm not going to lie; I think this is a crisis."
In the meantime, as she continues her search for an affordable apartment, Ardila hopes to be contacted by housing officials telling her the wait for affordable housing is over.
"The stress is . . . if it doesn't kill me I don't know, maybe it'll make me stronger but . . . I don't know at this point."
