A Vancouver mother has started a petition in an effort to get BC Housing to address living conditions at her apartment in the Downtown Eastside.
Alicia Williams says she has been dealing with multiple infestations. Cockroaches can be seen hiding in every nook and cranny of her unit.
“It’s horrifying,” she told CityNews. “We had cockroaches crawling on the wall, crawling on us.”
Now staying at a hotel, Williams says she and her young family have been forced out of their subsidized government housing at the MacLean Park complex.
Williams says the dangerous conditions in the space have caused the health of her baby — who was born prematurely but thrived in the hospital — to deteriorate.
“It wasn’t until after she came home, and she started having repeated respiratory illnesses.”
But despite the horror she and her five children are facing while living in this environment, BC Housing insists the problem isn’t bad enough to warrant further action.
“I’ve asked them for a transfer, I’ve asked them for more ways to combat the issue before I move my children back into this place,” she said.
“They are telling me it’s safe, it’s habitable, and that I should just return — and I won’t.”
She says she has provided BC Housing with doctor’s notes that say it is unsafe and unsanitary for her children to be there.
Williams also says she has provided videos of how widespread the infestation remains even after a pest-control company treated the apartment twice in October.
“The scale of it is huge,” she said. “It’s widespread, it’s across every section of this complex.”
But the complex’s portfolio manager replied, saying, “There is no evidence to suggest that your unit is uninhabitable.”
Williams’ petition — which has been signed by 20 other residents — is calling on BC Housing to do more to address the issue, which she says is longstanding.
Other tenants tell CityNews of similar experiences in the building. Lorraine Holubowich says she tried to put on her sweater this morning, only to discover it was covered in ants.
“I panicked,” she said, visibly distressed. “I ran to the kitchen trying to keep the ants in a place where they already are and shake them in the sink so that I could get dressed.”
In a statement to CityNews, BC Housing said it takes tenant concerns seriously and is committed to ensuring they are addressed in a timely and appropriate manner.
It says that since September, cockroaches have been found in three of the units in the complex, and all have been treated.
“In some cases, tenants may be provided with a respite unit if the pest problem or treatment warrants it, or while we declutter and clean the unit to prepare for treatment,” said the statement.
Meanwhile, Williams remains concerned.
“I should be worrying about what’s going to happen for Christmas, but I need to worry where me and my kids are going to go to next, because BC Housing wants us back in this unit.”