“If I’m being completely honest with you, I don’t know if there’s anything we can do. I’m trying not to cry, but I’m frustrated. This is our first home. We have nowhere else to go.”
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Rachel Torrie is waiting as long as possible before telling her two young sons that their family is impacted by the latest round of evictions from the Glen Elm Mobile Home Community.
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After getting notice last last week, Rachel and her husband Matt are worried the news will be especially overwhelming for their eight-year-old son, Michael, who struggles with anxiety.
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“It’s a community. It’s the one place I’m safe telling my son ‘Yeah, you can go outside to play,’” said the stay-at-home mom as she sat at her kitchen table with the letter in front of her.
“There’s a whole bunch of different grown ups that can help keep an eye on (him) in the community.”
The family of four, along with their beloved four cats and one dog, will need to leave what has been their home for the past five years.
Rachel says a number of others in the community also received eviction notices from Glen Elm Properties that same day, March 13, due to issues with the water and sewage pipes. They will need to leave before June 30. This is on top of 14 homeowners who were handed their notices for the same reason on Jan. 21 and were told to be gone by April 30.
The Leader-Post reached out to Glen Elm Properties to confirm how many additional notices were issued last week and what the status is of homes that have not received an eviction notice. It did not respond by deadline Monday.
“It’s frustrating. It’s stressful because now we have three months to find a home and trying to get a mortgage takes time,” said Torrie, adding that their 1970s prefabricated home likely won’t withstand the move to another community.
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The property managers had warned residents in a letter on Feb. 4 that homes on rows A to D are at a “high risk” of water and sewage system failure and an inspection would be conducted on the pipes. Homeowners were in limbo for weeks.
In the March 13 notice, residents were told that the inspection showed the sewer and water lines had “failed or are in a state of imminent failure.”
“Regrettably, this means we are unable to maintain safe and habitable rental conditions, including essential sewer and water services,” management said in the notice.
The letter also said that if the sewer system fails entirely before June 30, homeowners will receive an immediate notice to vacate.
Fear becomes reality
Denise Mihell is one of the residents who received the “high risk” warning letter on Feb. 4.
She’s been on guard about a possible eviction ever since, having told the Leader-Post on March 6 that she goes from being “angry to being really sad and freakout out.”
“Was I planning on staying here the rest of my life? Probably not, but when I left it would have been my choice to leave,” said Mihell at the time. “I would have decided, not be pushed out.”
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She received an eviction notice on March 13, she shared in a recent email.
And others who thought they were safe are also receiving notices.
Homes on rows E and F in the southeastern edge of the community were previously told they are not affected by the apparent infrastructure issues in a Feb. 4 letter from property managers. They are connected to a separate city sewer and water system.
But resident, Randall Edge, lives on the west side of row E and also received the March 13 notice. Edge is president of the Glen Elm Retirement Community Residence Association and has been trying to meet with the property managers to explore alternatives to eviction to no avail.
How the Ministry of Social Services is responding
All of the residents in the community received a hand-delivered memo on behalf of the Ministry of Social Services the same day the second round of evictions were served. The memo, delivered without an envelop and dated March 5, outlined details for housing and income assistance programs.
“The Ministry of Social Services is here to help,” a ministry spokesperson said in an emailed response Monday.
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“We proactively asked the manager of the trailer court to distribute letters to ensure residents who may need support throughout this situation have information about relevant programs and services including the Saskatchewan Housing Benefit, social housing and income assistance programs.”
For the Torries, their future remains uncertain.
Beyond losing the family friends they made in the community, Rachel say it would also be hard to change schools. Their four-year-old Nicholas — more often called Nicky — has delayed speech and requires the additional supports his school provides.
“If I’m being completely honest with you, I don’t know if there’s anything we can do. I’m trying not to cry, but I’m frustrated,” Torrie said.
“This is our first home. We have nowhere else to go.”
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