Who TAPS helps

Who we help

Hello, I am a single 43 year old woman with three adult children aged 18, 21 and 25. My oldest child and I have muscular dystrophy. We have been sharing a place together so my son can save money to pursue his education.

We moved into a low-rent apartment in January of this year. We immediately encountered problems with the landlord. The landlord promised us in writing to fix major problems in the apartment within 30 days from when we moved in. Amongst other things, we didn't have a working toilet. When we maintained that he must do the repairs, he began to harass us.

In June we left for a short trip to Alberta to visit family. When we returned home, we found a lock on the door and an order of possession that said we would be trespassing if we entered the apartment. We had nowhere to go. We only had our clothes from the trip. All of my son's books for his course were inside, as well as our food and belongings. I couldn't believe this was happening.

We went to TAPS for help. John, the tenancy advocate, helped us gather information and represented us at a hearing to decide whether we had been legally removed from our home. We won that case. Since then, the landlord has appealed seven times and seven times the tenancy advocate has represented us. We have won all of the appeals.

TAPS are the only people who have helped us. Each time we have come into the office we have been treated with respect and we have been given the support we needed. TAPS has kept me sane in this insane time.

We thank TAPS from the bottom of our hearts. We have learned a lot about our rights. We don't know where we'd have been if TAPS had not been there for us. Now I can see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Mary,
TAPS client