- S
Immediate emergency: $3,200.
$20,000 longer term help needed over the next six months.
-----------------------------------
Update at Friday Nov 29:
Thanks to the wonderful people who
donated, I was able to get everything out of "auction status". However, my present part-time job (caring for disabled seniors) is not paying enough to cover all expenses. I am in the process of moving all belongings to a more affordable, Canadian-owned storage company.
The storage company which I am leaving behind seems to be much more focused on maximizing profits than on customer satisfaction. I suspect that their "late fees" and "disposal fees" are simply another revenue stream .
I am having some unexpected difficulties in making this move: having enough money available to rent a cargo van; finding friends whose own hectic schedules will allow them to help me load and unload the van.
Unfortunately, the longer my belongings remain with the "old" storage company, the more risk of having the lockers fall into auction status again.
-----------------------------------
Update at Monday Oct 28:
Many thanks to the folks who have donated.
Two lockers are still in arrears. The locks will be cut today and they will be placed on the auction website in a few days.
I still have a little time to pay the past due amount, and remove them from the auction.
One donor has had difficulty completing his transaction on the GoFundMe website. If you experience this same problem, please send an email to me at [email redacted] or [email redacted] and I will provide you with another way to make your donation.
-----------------------------------
Dear friends and neighbors,
You all know me as that "busy cup of tea" from the High Park Residents'Association.
After more than eight years of volunteering my time, energy, money and passion toward the improvement of my community, I find, to my surprise, that I must now ask you to help me.
I haven't told you about this before. Partly because I am a very private person, partly because there is still a stigma surrounding homelessness.
But if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.
This began six years ago. A property manager at the building where I was living began to harass me. After three years, the situation blew up. I decided that I had had enough and decided to move out of the complex. The property manager continued to harass me as I packed and prepared to move. This was a chaotic situation. I could not work during that time. I began to dip into my savings.
There followed, soon after, a Landlord and Tenant Board hearing, which the property manager won by bringing fabricated evidence into the hearing, telling obvious lies, and by having the good luck of appearing before an inexperienced adjudicator, who did not recognize her lies.
I was feeling traumatized by the entire experience. I had been mistreated by both the property manager and the Landlord and Tenant Board. I no longer trusted the landlord and tenant system in Ontario.
A kind friend allowed me to stay with her. I have a roof over my head, but technically I have been homeless for the past three years.
All of my belongings---personal and professional---were moved into storage lockers.
Further obstacles presented themselves:
Head injury:
In the Spring of 2017 I tripped on an uneven section of City sidewalk. I did a faceplant, landing on my forehead on the concrete.
Luckily, there was no brain damage. But my eyeglasses were smashed. It took an amazingly long time for the new glasses to be completed and delivered. I cannot work on-set without them. I was forced to miss the entire summer's busy season.
Broken arm:
In 2018 I was assaulted by a man who has mental health issues. This resulted in a broken arm. The doctor advised me not to lift anything heavy for four months. To do so could risk reinjuring the arm. My job involves regularly lifting heavy bins and moving heavy clothing racks. I could not work for that entire summer.
My savings dwindled.
With the exception of the head injury incident and the time spent recovering from the broken arm, I have been working part-time. But in May 2019 a job contract fell through. This turned out to be the straw which broke the camel's back.
This created a very large gap in my cash flow. I have not been able to get caught up.
My savings ran out. The available credit on my credit cards ran out.
Before all of this happened, I was the perfect citizen. I never missed a rent payment. I was never late on a credit card payment.
Out of a possible score of 900, my credit score was 814.
But now, for the first time in my life, I cannot make my credit card payments.
And I am now seriously behind in the rent payments for my storage lockers.
The self storage business is brutal. When you are late paying rent, the late fees accumulate on top of the late fees from the previous month. This can make it impossible to ever get caught up.
And if your rent is more than 30 days late, the process of putting your locker up for auction kicks in.
This is the reason that I am asking for your help. I am on the verge of losing the contents of my storage lockers.
I could probably survive without furniture, clothing, and all of those beautiful objects which I love. But I cannot risk losing the items which I need to earn a living.
I am a costume designer. I need my equipment, materials, and research books.
A career in the film and television industry is largely seasonal work. The busy months are June through September. This year, I have not been having much luck finding other types of work to see me through the Winter.
$20,000 would help me to stabilize my life.
However, I am in very urgent need of $3,200, so that I can get caught up on the locker rents.
Can you please help?
------------------------------------
The photo which I have chosen to place at the top of this page is not a photo of myself.
You all know what I look like, already.
I have chosen a photo which represents my community work.
This is a photo of the site just North of High Park, at Pacific, as it used to appear. I used it to demonstrate how a Natural Heritage area can be protected by a buffer zone which would provide 50% tree canopy, while also being occupied 50% by buildings which have small footprints.
In my community work I have focused equally on protecting neighborhoods and protecting the environment.
After I moved out of the apartment, I continued my volunteer community work:
• The Bloor West Village Avenue Study
• The High Park Apartment Neighborhood
Area Character Study
• The Biodiversity Strategy
• The Pet Friendly Design Guidelines for High Density Communities
• At present I am a Party in the joint LPAT hearing -- coming up in January 2020 -- for the Great West Life and Minto development proposals in the High Park North area.
I would like to put my homeless experience to some good use, in the near future. Perhaps I could provide the City with some feedback, as it continues to open new shelters.
Thank you for reading this post.
Lorraine
$20,000 longer term help needed over the next six months.
-----------------------------------
Update at Friday Nov 29:
Thanks to the wonderful people who
donated, I was able to get everything out of "auction status". However, my present part-time job (caring for disabled seniors) is not paying enough to cover all expenses. I am in the process of moving all belongings to a more affordable, Canadian-owned storage company.
The storage company which I am leaving behind seems to be much more focused on maximizing profits than on customer satisfaction. I suspect that their "late fees" and "disposal fees" are simply another revenue stream .
I am having some unexpected difficulties in making this move: having enough money available to rent a cargo van; finding friends whose own hectic schedules will allow them to help me load and unload the van.
Unfortunately, the longer my belongings remain with the "old" storage company, the more risk of having the lockers fall into auction status again.
-----------------------------------
Update at Monday Oct 28:
Many thanks to the folks who have donated.
Two lockers are still in arrears. The locks will be cut today and they will be placed on the auction website in a few days.
I still have a little time to pay the past due amount, and remove them from the auction.
One donor has had difficulty completing his transaction on the GoFundMe website. If you experience this same problem, please send an email to me at [email redacted] or [email redacted] and I will provide you with another way to make your donation.
-----------------------------------
Dear friends and neighbors,
You all know me as that "busy cup of tea" from the High Park Residents'Association.
After more than eight years of volunteering my time, energy, money and passion toward the improvement of my community, I find, to my surprise, that I must now ask you to help me.
I haven't told you about this before. Partly because I am a very private person, partly because there is still a stigma surrounding homelessness.
But if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.
This began six years ago. A property manager at the building where I was living began to harass me. After three years, the situation blew up. I decided that I had had enough and decided to move out of the complex. The property manager continued to harass me as I packed and prepared to move. This was a chaotic situation. I could not work during that time. I began to dip into my savings.
There followed, soon after, a Landlord and Tenant Board hearing, which the property manager won by bringing fabricated evidence into the hearing, telling obvious lies, and by having the good luck of appearing before an inexperienced adjudicator, who did not recognize her lies.
I was feeling traumatized by the entire experience. I had been mistreated by both the property manager and the Landlord and Tenant Board. I no longer trusted the landlord and tenant system in Ontario.
A kind friend allowed me to stay with her. I have a roof over my head, but technically I have been homeless for the past three years.
All of my belongings---personal and professional---were moved into storage lockers.
Further obstacles presented themselves:
Head injury:
In the Spring of 2017 I tripped on an uneven section of City sidewalk. I did a faceplant, landing on my forehead on the concrete.
Luckily, there was no brain damage. But my eyeglasses were smashed. It took an amazingly long time for the new glasses to be completed and delivered. I cannot work on-set without them. I was forced to miss the entire summer's busy season.
Broken arm:
In 2018 I was assaulted by a man who has mental health issues. This resulted in a broken arm. The doctor advised me not to lift anything heavy for four months. To do so could risk reinjuring the arm. My job involves regularly lifting heavy bins and moving heavy clothing racks. I could not work for that entire summer.
My savings dwindled.
With the exception of the head injury incident and the time spent recovering from the broken arm, I have been working part-time. But in May 2019 a job contract fell through. This turned out to be the straw which broke the camel's back.
This created a very large gap in my cash flow. I have not been able to get caught up.
My savings ran out. The available credit on my credit cards ran out.
Before all of this happened, I was the perfect citizen. I never missed a rent payment. I was never late on a credit card payment.
Out of a possible score of 900, my credit score was 814.
But now, for the first time in my life, I cannot make my credit card payments.
And I am now seriously behind in the rent payments for my storage lockers.
The self storage business is brutal. When you are late paying rent, the late fees accumulate on top of the late fees from the previous month. This can make it impossible to ever get caught up.
And if your rent is more than 30 days late, the process of putting your locker up for auction kicks in.
This is the reason that I am asking for your help. I am on the verge of losing the contents of my storage lockers.
I could probably survive without furniture, clothing, and all of those beautiful objects which I love. But I cannot risk losing the items which I need to earn a living.
I am a costume designer. I need my equipment, materials, and research books.
A career in the film and television industry is largely seasonal work. The busy months are June through September. This year, I have not been having much luck finding other types of work to see me through the Winter.
$20,000 would help me to stabilize my life.
However, I am in very urgent need of $3,200, so that I can get caught up on the locker rents.
Can you please help?
------------------------------------
The photo which I have chosen to place at the top of this page is not a photo of myself.
You all know what I look like, already.
I have chosen a photo which represents my community work.
This is a photo of the site just North of High Park, at Pacific, as it used to appear. I used it to demonstrate how a Natural Heritage area can be protected by a buffer zone which would provide 50% tree canopy, while also being occupied 50% by buildings which have small footprints.
In my community work I have focused equally on protecting neighborhoods and protecting the environment.
After I moved out of the apartment, I continued my volunteer community work:
• The Bloor West Village Avenue Study
• The High Park Apartment Neighborhood
Area Character Study
• The Biodiversity Strategy
• The Pet Friendly Design Guidelines for High Density Communities
• At present I am a Party in the joint LPAT hearing -- coming up in January 2020 -- for the Great West Life and Minto development proposals in the High Park North area.
I would like to put my homeless experience to some good use, in the near future. Perhaps I could provide the City with some feedback, as it continues to open new shelters.
Thank you for reading this post.
Lorraine