Dear editor:
I have an issue I feel needs to be reported on.
I, and many others, are in a situation with the Moose Jaw Housing Authority. They have not been cooperative and won't help in any way now that they have put me in this situation (by providing a residence of theirs).
They moved me into the unit I am in now knowing it had a roach infestation, and now that they know the bugs are still active, they won't move me because they said now I am at risk of spreading them.
I have seen numerous baby (bugs) and a couple of adult bugs. The (Moose Jaw Housing Authority) came to do one treatment but will not give me any info on the product being used, as I do not agree with chemicals.
I just moved into this unit July 28 with my four kids from Prince Albert. I really do feel they (The Moose Jaw Housing Authority) thought I was some dirty person with four kids moving from one housing authority to another and wouldn't even notice the bugs but I am a very clean and organized person.
Upon moving in, I was finding dead dried up bugs in the drawers and on the carpets, but I had no idea what they were. They would crumble in a napkin when picked up. I figured, since the unit sat empty for almost two months and it was summertime, it was just regular beetles.
I met the neighbours in a separate building beside me and they told me about the lady that had lived there before me having bugs so bad that she left with nothing but her kids and their clothes they had on. And the neighbour attached to her (duplex and the same girl now living beside me) took a bunch of her stuff that had been put into the back alley.
Just the other day I went into the neighbours for the first time when she invited me in, and at one point she left the room and I was looking around. I looked over my shoulder to a plate of food and there was a roach right there! After I finished my smoke, I went right home to change my clothes and put my shoes in the sink to disinfect them.
I was having a panic attack and crying, and called my mom and told her what happened. I know now for sure she has them and it could be where the bugs in my place are coming from. I went and bought a $40 pail of diatomaceous earth powder and put it pretty much everywhere in my house.
I was cooking supper and starting to feel better about not seeing any bugs since putting the powder down in the morning. No more than five minutes after, I saw a bug come out from behind the oven on the wall. Another panic attack and I got upset. I then clean up everything and later on am sitting at my kitchen table, probably about 9 p.m., when all of a sudden I see an adult (roach) come scooting across the floor.
I saw this time exactly how they scoot and spread their germs across surfaces. Right away, I made sure no one was walking there and was searching for ways to disinfect my floor.
I thought of the powder I just bought. You can mix it with water and spray surfaces, so I try that but clogged my sprayer. Then I decided to just dump it on the floor and spread it out with a cloth and put a fan there to let it dry. I go look a few minutes later and the floor is all white like I spilled flour. I then called my boyfriend, who works away on the road, as I was very upset and didn’t know what to do.
It was Friday and night so I couldn’t even call the housing. My mind was in such a terrible state, I was ready to call the Police to help me.
I moved to Moose Jaw for a fresh start, not knowing anyone except my dad who is in Regina. I decided to start packing to leave the following morning and head back to PA.
On Saturday morning while getting everything ready, I see one (bug) on the shelf a little way away from my bed on the same wall. I flipped out and we got out of there quick.
I have since been in Prince Albert at my mom's house, which means my kids miss school all this week until I figure out what I am going to do.
Another issue is mice in other units that are not being taken care of. The neighbor I met when I moved to MJ was in a domestic violence situation and I helped her move and get out of there. She moved into new apartments with the MJ Housing behind Walmart. There were mice traps all over when she moved in.
Shortly after, she noticed there was mice poop on all her cans in her pantry and the mice were getting into her packages of food. She is also pregnant with an 18-month-old who runs around. (This person) is also a clean person, and is going crazy because the housing has not done anything for her.
We are told over and over they (The Moose Jaw Housing Authority) are short on maintenance men, so nothing gets fixed. This housing authority either needs to be shut down or a major upgrade needs to happen.
I have posted my situation anonymously in a Moose Jaw Facebook group and some people were saying they heard of many horror stories of roaches and bedbugs. We have now gotten snow and all my children's winter gear is in that unit in MJ. I'm not even sure what to do now because I've been told the roaches spread their eggs and bacteria everywhere, so people have to leave their stuff behind, so they don't take (the roaches) with them.
I have put in a complaint with the ombudsmen also.
Hopefully something will happen with the housing authority and people living in these situations will get the help they need. It's terrible some people can only afford low income and the low income is terribly run.
Kayla Anderson
The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Moose Jaw Today, the Moose Jaw Express, its management, or its subsidiaries.
