The Window and Door Store has donated a storage unit at its Fort Frances location to act as a collection point for furniture and household goods for tenants displaced by the Rose Manor fire.
The move is part of a community effort led by Melissa Pearson and Joanne Smith, who have also launched a GoFundMe campaign to help tenants into safe housing before hotel stays funded by the District of Rainy River Services Board (DRRSB) end Nov. 15.
“The first priority with the money is to make sure that everybody is safe and housed come the 15th,” Pearson told The Times.
Rose Manor, a 35-unit rent-geared-to-income seniors’ apartment building on Sixth Street East, was evacuated after the early-morning blaze on Sept. 22, which claimed the life of a 92-year-old resident. At least two apartments were gutted by the fire.
Pearson, a coaching consultant who spent 20 years working in social assistance programs, is not related to any of the tenants. After the fire, she said, she couldn’t stop thinking about the displaced residents, many of them seniors on fixed incomes.
“People can’t just be left with nothing,” she said. “I know personally how generous our community is and how we rally around people in their time of need.”
Tenant Lorraine Friday said the support has made a real difference as the displaced residents deal with high emotions and uncertainty in the aftermath of the fire. “She’s very thorough and caring,” Friday told The Times on Oct. 30. The day before, she said, Pearson had personally helped her fill out an application for Aboriginal housing.
Smith also reached out offering to help, and now she and Pearson are co-organizing the fundraiser. Donations go into a separate bank account, and the organizers plan to pay service providers and businesses directly where possible.
DRRSB said on Oct. 30 that more than 25 of the 31 displaced tenants have secured some form of housing. But Pearson said the work isn’t finished. “We’re 11 days out, and we still have people who do not have a place to live beyond the 15th,” she said on Wednesday.
The campaign has raised about $4,000 as of Nov. 4.
The money will first cover deposits, moving costs and other expenses standing between a tenant and a safe place to live. Many tenants have no family to help them move, Pearson said. After that, the focus shifts to tenants without insurance who need beds and furniture, and anything left will be shared among all tenants.
No insurance settlements have been finalized, she said, and tenants without insurance have lost everything. DRRSB is offering displaced tenants up to $1,200 per household in start-up assistance through the provincially funded Homelessness Prevention Program.
The money can go toward furniture, beds and other household necessities, or toward last month’s rent. Tenants can use it now or save it for when they move back into Rose Manor, and DRRSB said it is waiving some of the usual paperwork.
But “$1,200 doesn’t go very far these days,” Pearson said. One tenant paid about $1,000 for a bed alone.
That is where the storage unit comes in. Pearson asked Jessica Ogden, a part-owner of The Window and Door Store, whether the business could help, and Ogden donated the unit. “Their family has just been amazing,” Pearson said.
People with furniture or household items to give can contact Pearson or Smith by phone, text or Facebook. The pair keeps a list, picks up smaller items and books times to collect larger pieces. TV stands are among the items most in demand now. Clothing is welcome, though sizes vary; many tenants’ laundered clothes are still smoke-saturated.
Donations should be clean, in good working order and “the kind of thing that you’d be happy to give a friend,” Pearson said. Anything the pair can’t use will go to the Rainy River District Women’s Shelter of Hope’s donation drive this month.
“We’re just everybody supporting everybody,” she said. “This kind of stuff is what restores my faith in humanity.”
Housing is the third need. Under DRRSB’s Rent Supplement Program, tenants pay rent based on their income, and DRRSB pays the rest to the landlord. The program follows the same rent-geared-to-income rules as DRRSB-managed housing such as Rose Manor.
A single person would generally qualify for a one-bedroom unit, DRRSB said, and one living in a two-bedroom unit would be considered “overhoused.” Pearson said that kept a man who was living alone from getting the supplement for a two-bedroom apartment she had found him.
Pearson has also contacted all levels of government and called a recent meeting she held with the Town of Fort Frances “very productive.” She is still waiting for answers regarding provincial help.
“I’m grateful that they’ve provided this assistance to these people thus far,” she said of DRRSB, “and also grateful for the efforts that they’re making to try to secure housing.”
“I remain hopeful that something good is going to come,” she said. “And I’m not going to quit advocating either.”
How can you help?
Donate online at gofundme.com/f/help-our-rose-manor-neighbours-get-back-on-their-feet.
E-transfer directly to: communitysupportff@gmail.com.
Furniture and household items: Melissa Pearson at: 807-275-6439 or Joanne Smith at: 204-880-3636, by phone or text. Alternatively email: communitysupportff@gmail.com.
Studio or one-bedroom rentals: Pearson, or DRRSB at: 807-274-5349.
