Help Amanda With Living Expenses

Last year, on a cold winter day as New Year’s Eve approached, Amanda, a tenant in east Ottawa, was about to be evicted. It was -17 C. She had fallen behind on her rent after quitting her job to take care of her dying fiancé. After calls for help to her city councillor and MPP fell silent, several of us, tried to make sure this eviction could not take place.

More than a dozen of us from community organizations across the city tried to halt the sheriff from proceeding with her eviction and even tried to raise money so Amanda could pay her arrears. We were ultimately unsuccessful and despite our best efforts, Amanda was forced out into the cold, during a global pandemic by her landlord Martin Bertrand who happened to be friends with her city councillor.

After the eviction took place, we were able to successfully secure a place for Amanda or several months but now she is in need again has nowhere to go and is worrying about money as she waits for her ODSP approval.

The Ottawa community showed her so much solidarity last year now we need to do it again. Amanda doesn't deserve to be at risk of homelessness on the streets once again this Winter. Please consider donating.

A little word from Amanda:

"Almost a year has gone by now, life has been hard on me. Since he has passed I've been diagnosed with heart failure. This now means I can no longer work, I am waiting on ODSP to approve my case. In the mean time I'm on OW which is not even enough to live. Now I am faced with homelessness as winter arrives. My heart is literally broken now and I'm almost ready to call it quits. I'm tired of fighting for every single thing in life. I gave too many years away and now I don't know how many more years I have left."

To give you more context here are some media stories of what took place:

CBC Ottawa: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-tenant-eviction-december-2020-1.5857271

Radio-Canada: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1760172/amanda-proulx-eviction-explusion-logement-rue-loyer-impaye

Le Droit: https://www.ledroit.com/actualites/leviction-damanda-proulx-na-pu-etre-evitee-57d7fe0fc1d131ec2df3a15ea185683f

The Leveller: https://leveller.ca/2021/02/ontarios-eviction-crisis/

Spring Mag: https://springmag.ca/ottawa-police-evict-grieving-widow-in-midst-of-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR3t3DSR8bXkWMIjQas1WleseGzjtB-rnMaHltqbVz5hX3jCHJ1bAWVJzRU