a i edt AL SL eat A dL LN Wanted: 4 bedroom home for $550 by Oct. 15 when the sheriff comes E Atiba Gordon-Saunders, 4745 Gothard St , Vancouver, writes: ~ With six years of experience as President , manager, chief cook and bottle washer, at Vancouver’s only housing relocation service, The Red Door Rental Agency, Iam cer- tain that there are ten thousand Stories more dramatic and more _ desperate than mine. But for the sake of articulating the problem one more time, here _ are my circumstances, for the benefit of us all. . . After renting the same four Toom house at Kingsway and Slocan for the past seven years, and after paying over $34,000 (yes, thirty-four thousand dollars) in Tent and thereby paying off a Protest rally at VIA Rail Local 326 of the Canadian Brotherhood of Railway, Transport and General Work- €rs has called a demonstration Outside the CN station in Van- couver Oct. 14 to protest the Cuts in VIA Rail service an- nounced by transport minister Jean-Luc Pepin in July. The demonstration and rally has n set for 7 p.m. ! The CN station, which also serves VIA Rail, is one block Cast of Main Street at Terminal Ave. Hard Laken LETTERS substantial portion of the property mortgage for the owners, and after putting over $4,000 of my own money into renovations and repairs for which the landlord was never billed, not including the installation and upkeep of a well yielding vegetable garden, and the tending of nine seriously neglected fruit trees, and after being late with my rent only six times in 84 rental payments, my landlord-was sur- prised, even shocked, at my becoming angry (damned furious, in fact) when he decided to evict me. In my days at Red Door I had even assisted this landlord in the management of his other 10 pro- perties and taught him to fill out the forms which he used to evict me, with the required two months’ notice. He also knew the legal re- quirement for an eviction, that. is because he needed to move into my home (his house) himself. You see, he needs this four bedroom house with a one bedroom hardship suite in the basement for himself, his wife, and their two children, an in- fant in arms and another under three. ‘Now, I’m not saying that it isn’t ” his property and that he doesn’t have the right to move into it. Nei- ther am I disputing the legality of his paperwork. My anger is based on the fact that after seven years of - occupancy. he could have had the ‘decency to have let me know his plans for his property. After all, to him it is property; to my children and myself, it is home. Further, he knew first hand of some of the events in my life in the past 14 months which have made a move for me at this time to be an extreme hardship and totally over- whelming. He knew that I had taken into my care two adolescent children when their mother, who is my sister, had a nervous breakdown. I took these children into my care without assistance from the ministry of human_resources, Jewellery & Watch Repairs : Reasonable charge 254-7678 GLOBE TOURS We will professionally look after all your travel needs. We specialize in tickets, tours, passports, permits ee ~iand:-reservations): Call us today GniG9 910 NO Za for prompt personalized service. . The complete travel service 9X2 dO because it was expected that family members would look after each other regardless of their economic status. : He knew that I had been forced to. go on welfare because human resources wouldn’t subsidize my y care costs so that I could go to work, even though I hada jobto go to. Day care costs for four children would have run in the neighbor- hood of $450 per month. Moreover one of my children is under three and I know of only two day care centres in the city which take children under three, and both have extremely long waiting lists. He also knew that I had to hide my sister’s children after the same welfare department which denied me any assistance for their care threatened to apprehend them and to determine if I was fit to have them. E And on top of all this he knew that my father had died, that I had travelled to Prince George to iden- tify the body of my sister, and that I had separated from my husband. I have now entered into serious debt related to the burial costs of my father and sister within the same year, for which it was im- possible to receive any assistance from any government source. In a virtuous attempt to pay something to everyone, I had both my telephone and electricity cut off, although the electricty is now rein- stated. Knowing all of these things my landlord could have had the com- mon decency to have told me about this eviction six months ago, or he could have given me six months from now to move. He didn’t, but the real problem ~ for myself and thousands of others is this: Where do you go when you are on a fixed, limited income and can afford to pay no more than 75 percent of your income for rent, which would be $550 per month, - and still be able to feed and clothe a teenage boy, a boy and a girl, both 11 years old, and a two and one- half year old boy. Of course this budget takes no account of other luxuries like heat, light and com- munications. ; I could not possibly cram four children of this age span into a two bedroom house, unless it had a full basement which I could convert in- to sleeping rooms. It has been suggested that I could look for a two bedroom place for myself and my children and allow my sister’s children to become foster children in more “‘stable in- come families’? where they would both become a greater expense to the province, and be split from their only remaining family at an important, and traumatic, time of their life. : I am not prepared to do that and so, with no disrespect intended to my landlord and former friend, I am prepared to wait for the sheriff to come and remove us on Oct. 15, because there is simply no where to go. Desperate times call for desper- ate measures, and the desperate times are here and now. To that end, I would like to place the fol lowing advertisement: WANTED, by Oct. 15 or the day the sheriff comes: Not ahouse, - but a home; four bedrooms or two to three with convertible basement or attic; for a Black, single parent woman, temporarily: on social assistance, with four children; a maximum rent of $550 per month and a minimum tenancy of one year; in East Vancouver preferably, with enough space for an 11-year-old cat who won’t last much longer at any rate — but I’d rather give up the cat than my niece and nephew. References are available, depending on the mood of my former landlord of seven years, or from a variety of other sources. s _ Anyone who knows of anything remotely resembling this can con- tact me by leaving a message with Harry or Jonnie Rankin at 872-2128, before 9 p.m. mravoe eathnal iva 6 TWO VIEWS ON ACHIEVING AN INDEPENDENT : CANADIAN TRADE UNION MOVEMENT | A debate and discussion with PETER CAMERON _CAIMAW regional vice-president for B.C.-Alta. and oo: JACK PHILLIPS _ Monday, Oct. 5, 1981 — 7:30 p.m. Swedish Hall, 1320 Hastings St. Vancouver $2 Admission to cover costs : ‘Sponsored by the Trade Union Forum = - RANKIN, ROBERTSON & DONALD Barristers & Solicitors 3rd Floor, 195 Alexander St. ~ Vancouver, B.C.‘ V6A 1N8 © 682-2781. Offers a broad range of legal services including: — - @ Personal Injury and Insurance Claims eo Lakotrtaw ae @ Real Estate and Conveyancing © Criminal Law i : couver, B.C. V5K 125 : fans: aba lens - 363.1221 @ Divorce and Family Law @ Estates and Wills aS one _ CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING COMING EVENTS OCT.2 — 50th anniversary of the Progressive Russian press in Canada. Banquet and concert with Soviet artists and guests. Russian Peoples Home, 600 Campbell Ave., Van. Cocktails 6 p.m., dinner 7 p.m., concert 8 p.m. For tickets ph. 255-6488 or 253-8180. Also avail. at Co-op Books or Global imports. OCT. 3 — 7 p.m; Oct. 4, 6 p.m.; Oct..7, 4 p.m. See Hannah Polowy and Sylka Olkovick interviewed on the Clare Culhane Show, Channel 10, on their trip to Hiroshima and other Japanese cities. Topics are child education and peace and dis- armament in Japan. OCT. 17 — Dance for peace. 8 p.m. Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Ave. Adm. $3. Proceeds to Cttee. for Continental Conference of ‘North American Youth for Peace, Detente and Disarmament. OCT. 25 — Mark this date on your calendar now. In concert with inter- nationally-acclaimed Chilean folk group Quilapayun from Paris. 8 p.m. at the Orpheum. Sponsored by Canadians for Democracy in Chile. Tickets $8, $5 OAP. At Co-op Books or phone 254-9797, 980-7263. NOV. 7 — Banquet & dance com- memorating the 64th anniversary of the Russian Revolution. 6 p.m. Russian Peoples Home, 600 Camp- bell Ave., Van. Tickets available soon; watch for details. ‘ NOTICES CHILDREN’S ART and poster contest. Paint, draw or sketch your impressions of a peaceful world. Or illustrate in poster form the need for young people to fight for peace. Three prizes.in each category. Open * to children 5-18. Send entries to Donalda Viaud, B.C. Peace Coun- cil, 712-207 West Hastings St., Vancouver, V6B- 1H7. Entry deadline Oct. 16. Sponsored by B.C. Committee for the Continental Conference of North American Youth for Peace, Detente and Disarmament. COMMERCIAL CONDOR’S PAINTING. & build- ing maintenance. Free estimate. Phone 433-1145. A progressive firm owned and operated by Chilean Canadians. Reasonable rates. - ELECTRICAL, plumbing, appli- ance repairs. Don Berg. 255-7287. ROOF REPAIRS — New roofs. Reasonable. 277-1364 or 277-3352. GRAMMA PUBLICATIONS. Complete printing services. Brochures, menus, leaflets, etc. Special rates for the progressive movement. A union shop. 1595 W. 3rd Ave., Van. 733-6822.. LEGAL SERVICES RANKIN, STONE, McCMURRAY & BOND, Barristers and Solici- tors. 157. Alexander St., 2nd.Floor, “Vancouver. 682-3621. HALLS FOR RENT RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME — Available for rentals. For reserva- tions phone 254-3430. WEBSTERS CORNERS HALL — Available for banquets, meetings, etc. For rates: Ozzie, 325-4171 or 685-5836. UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CUL- TURAL CENTRE — 805 East Pender St., Vancouver. Available for banquets, weddings, meetings. Ph. 254-3436.