Several years after the Monarch Place farce, public anger has again risen — this time relating to the humiliating, cold-hearted behaviour by an absentee condo association.
Handicapped residents of the housing complex were recently shut out of a shower room by the association, without discussion or compassion or any regard for human dignity.
It turns the stomach.
Monarch Place, a project that once shone as a wonderful example of affordable handicapped-accessible housing in Red Deer, has a sour history of betrayal that many in this community still remember.
Built in 2005 — with the help of a lot of public dollars — as an all-wheelchair-accessible housing unit, Monarch Place ended up being a nightmare for many of the people who took up residence there, and the many groups that helped build it, including the City of Red Deer.
Some of the 65 units in the building — which was specially designed for handicapped access, i.e. wider hallways — were to be subsidized and/or used as transitional housing for people fleeing abuse. Just 19 were to be rented at market rates. The affordable housing suites were supposed to be available for 10 years, minimum.
There was and still is a shortage of handicapped-accessible housing in Red Deer. When Monarch Place was built, during the boom, it was an essential facility given the extreme shortage of any kind of affordable housing in Red Deer. It was a project that drew upon the good faith and good will of the community.
Then a legal loophole got in the way, allowing the Innovative Housing Society to put the building up for sale as condo units, which were snapped up quickly by private investors, who then rented the units back to tenants or flipped them for fast profit. Soon after, residents, many disabled and on fixed incomes, began to see steep rent increases. It was heart-breaking.
Monarch Place was built with the help of a $1.3-million Canada-Alberta Affordable Housing Program grant, $500,000 from the City of Red Deer and numerous donations from the community.
The housing society decided it had to sell the building two years after it opened because it couldn’t afford the city’s $75,000 in annual property taxes. There’s more to this but it’s water under the bridge now.
Let’s focus on the current sad tale at Monarch Place, located on Kelloway Crescent.
Two women, on fixed and limited incomes and both wheelchair bound and residents of the building, told the Advocate that they were suddenly locked out of the shower room. They use it because their suites don’t have handicapped-accessible showers. They’ve been reduced to sponge baths from their aides.
Apparently, about 12 people were using the shower room.
They may have to start paying extra per month to use the shower room. One of the women is left with $300 monthly to buy food and pay bills after paying her $800 rent. It’s difficult for them to leave because it’s almost impossible to find accommodation that’s wheelchair friendly like Monarch Place.
The condo association decided to close the shower room, which had been unlocked, because it was being left in “atrocious conditions” and required extra cleaning.
The condo association is made up of the owners of the suites. None of the board members reside in the building.
The company that manages the property for the condo association has been caught in the crossfire of the issue. Sunreal Management didn’t decide to close the shower room, the condo association did. It’s not fair to make Sunreal the target.
As of Monday mid-afternoon, the Advocate has not been able to reach the condo association to ask them questions, such as:
• How could they charge a user fee to people who moved into the building on the assumption there was a handicapped accessible shower room at no extra charge?
• Why wouldn’t they have tried to consult with the shower room users to see if the cleaning issue could be resolved?
• Why couldn’t they treat their vulnerable tenants with a little more respect and dignity?
• Could they not, as some have suggested, set up an electronic password system to the shower room, and/or allow the users’ aides to clean it after use?
Shame on the condo association.
Mary-Ann Barr is Advocate assistant city editor. She can be reached by email at barr@www.reddeeradvocate.com or by phone at 403-314-4332.