Trashed unit leaves not-for-profit desperate for financial help

CTV’s Colton Wiens finds out why a not-for-profit housing group is worried about the future after one of their units in Kitchener was severely damaged.

A not-for-profit housing group in Waterloo Region is sharing their concerns after they were left with a hefty bill when one of their units was trashed.

KW Multigroup Homes Inc. manages 60 affordable housing units in a complex off Century Hill Drive in Kitchener, Ont. Eleven of the 60 units are well below average rent, and the Region of Waterloo pays whatever the tenant can’t afford. The unit in question is a three-bedroom townhome that the Region supports, but is now vacated and in need of repair.

When KW Multigroup Homes Inc. did their annual inspection of the townhome, they found holes in almost every wall, a barbecue left indoors, eggs splattered on the walls and the fridge was missing.

“We noticed that there was nobody living here, their fridge had been stolen and food was just left on the floor right below where I’m standing here today,” Jim Dueck, a volunteer board member with KW Multigroup Homes Inc., said.

“This is a pretty tough looking unit, and we’ve got a lot of repairs here to do,” Jim Kuntz, another volunteer board member with KW Multigroup Homes Inc., said.

Rough repair estimates have come in close to $40,000. Dueck said they do have some reserves to help cover the cost, but if they don’t receive some financial help the organization isn’t sure how much longer they can keep managing the units.

“The long term is we’re volunteer board members. It’s a nonprofit. We hand the keys back to the region. The region has to invest an awful lot of money, because ultimately, that’s where it’ll go,” Kuntz said.

According to the board members, they’ve asked the region for help and were told to prepare quotes, but no promises have been made.

“Help in general. We’re a nonprofit organization. The region does talk about supporting new builds, but for the existing stock and the support here, unfortunately, there’s very little help for us,” Dueck said.

“In the long term here, we don’t have the funds to maintain this site. We recently just did a study, and we hired an engineering firm to go through the complete site and do a five, ten, 15-year plan. Based on the rents we have and the zero supports in place from the City of Kitchener or the region, this site doesn’t have the money to replace the stuff that we need,” Kuntz said.

In an emailed statement to CTV News, Region of Waterloo Housing Service said, “While we can’t comment on specific cases, we work with residents and housing providers across the community when issues arise to work towards a solution where all needs are met. The Region operates a rent supplement program for tenants in partnership with property owners in the private sector. If excessive damages occur, we follow a process to handle repairs including access financial support for the landlords.”

Dueck said the tenant that was in the unit has since been moved to a similar site in the region, but adds this kind of damage, without financial support, also means its not available for someone else in need.

“We’re six months out here, by the time we end up renovating this. Is there another family sitting in a hotel room somewhere that could have used this space or that the region’s waiting to support an in another unit? This is what’s important to us - housing people,” Dueck said.