Ottawa family dealing with mould issue in apartment grateful for support

Family offered help for mould problem Ottawa family with serious mould issue offered $30,000 to help with expenses to find a new home. CTV's Peter Szperling with the update.

OTTAWA — An Ottawa family, who has been dealing with mould in their south Ottawa apartment, is grateful for the support they have received from the community.

"I would like to say big very mighty, big thank you to everyone," says Nofisat Adeniyi.

Adeniyi lives with her three sons in a South Keys apartment. Her son Desmond turned to social media on Sunday to seek help for the family, saying they've been dealing with mould in their unit and it has taken too long to fix.

"I see my mom go through a struggle everyday; with three kids, it’s not easy," says 16-year-old Desmond Adeniyi.

He setup a GoFundMe page to help the family raise money to move out. After gaining online attention and the story, which originally aired CTV News Ottawa on Tuesday, they have been able to raise over $30,000.

"Yes! I was surprised, a big surprise!" says Nofisat Adeniyi, "We are free from the mess that we’ve been going through."

The family was so touched, they decided to pay it forward and donated $5,000 to another family in need, "A lady my son told me about," says Nofisat Adeniyi.

The recipient wants to remain anonymous, but when she found out from Adeniyi, "She was crying, she has three kids; I remember when I was, I can feel what she’s feeling - because I was once in those shoes."

CTV News Ottawa did reach out to the property management company for an update on the mould. In a statement on Wednesday, a spokesperson for COGIR Realty wrote:

"We respect the privacy of our residents and are unable to disclose any specific information regarding any of our residents. We can, however, let you know that we are working with the residents and are making every effort to resolve this matter as soon as possible," said Cogir Real Estate

The giving did not stop at just cash donations. "When I saw the segment, the thing that struck me the most was how easily the situation can be resolved,” says mould removal expert Charlie Leduc with Mold Busters in Ottawa.

Leduc is not involved in the case, but appeared in the original story, and after seeing the mould on TV wanted to help.

"This isn’t something that we typically do, but given the circumstance and given the fact that this has gone on way too long, our company is willing to go in and do this work for free," said Leduc.

The Adeniyi family may now have some options, and are grateful to the community for the support.

"Yes, It’s great news — you can see me smiling," says Nofisat.