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Families displaced by Bradford apartment fire put up in trailers at church

‘For now this is home,’ says Bradford apartment fire victim

Two of the families displaced by the devastating apartment fire in Bradford nearly two months ago are temporarily staying in trailers set up at Bradford Community Church, organized by WOW Living. 

“Three weeks ago, we approached Bradford Community Church (BCC) about the idea of putting an RV on their property to serve as a temporary shelter for a family from the 114 Holland St. fire,” said Jodi Greenstreet, founder of WOW Living and Out of the Cold Cafe. 

The church already had an existing trailer used for storage already, and in one week, the church and WOW Living along with various community partners, teamed up to turn it into a comfortable living space, said Greenstreet. 

BCC’s leadership team decided to take it a step further and purchase a second fifth-wheel trailer to help house another displaced family.  

“We now have two families living in these trailers while they continue looking for apartments,” said Greenstreet.

Oz Property Management said in a recent statement that residents of the 114 Holland St. W. apartment should prepare for at least another 12 months before the building is habitable again. 

Since the fire, no one has been allowed back inside the building, not even to retrieve important documents like identification, health cards, or birth certificates.

The March 22 fire displaced more than 100 residents, leaving many struggling to find new places to live. 

But for some residents, finding another home has not been easy.

“If people are on ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program), there’s a housing portion, and if you don’t use it, you lose it,” said Greenstreet. 

Some of the residents who lived in hotels for over a month were struggling to get approved for alternate housing, let alone find anything with affordable rent.

Donny Costello and his wife, Sheila, were assistant superintendents at the apartment building where the fire occurred and had lived there for four years. After losing their apartment to the fire, the couple bounced from one motel to the next, wondering if they would ever find another place to call ‘home’ again.

The Costellos are now paying $800 a month to live in the fifth-wheel trailer, which includes utilities and Internet. 

“It’s only temporary until we can find a place in Bradford that meets the rent, too,” said Donny. “And I love it... considering everything that happened, this is home.”

“When you don’t know where you’re going to live, it’s scary,” said Sheila. “We don’t know when we will ever be allowed back in (the building), so for now, this is home.”

Donny works at a Bradford Tim Hortons and when owners Jack and Perry Thornton heard he was struggling to find another place to live, they offered to help. 

“Jack bought all the hoses and arranged for the plumber to come and take care of the hookups, compliments of Dan from Bradford Plumbing,” said Greenstreet.

Other local businesses who helped transform the trailer into a ‘home’ were Helder Botas of Botas Electrical, who did all the wiring and installed the pot lights, and Mark Wigston of Wigston Renovations, who did all the flooring and baseboards (paid for by WOW Living). The church also paid for new ceiling tiles and donated furniture items such as couches and a water cooler.  

“The Out of the Cold (Café) and Jodi… they’ve been just absolutely wonderful,” said Donny. “Being here with Pastor Cory (of BCC), I feel so safe.”

Greenstreet and BCC will be doing weekly check-ins to ensure both families have what they need and will be making adjustments as more resources become available.

Currently, there is a rented port-a-potty on the lot for one of the trailers that do not have bathroom facilities inside, and the church has installed a shower in the basement which all tenants can use. The two trailers will remain on the BBC property and will continue to be used as temporary housing as special circumstances arise.

“If someone just needs to be here for a week, we can do that moving forward," said Greenstreet. 

The church’s property line recently had its zoning changed to ‘rural residential’, and the church is now interested in looking to add more affordable housing on the property. 

To date, WOW Living has been able to find affordable housing solutions for 18 people since the Out of the Cold Café opened in November. Of those, six are residents from the Bradford apartment fire. 

“Our budget (for rent) was just $600 a month (thanks to the Café sponsors) – that’s insane,” said Greenstreet, who is thankful for the community and their continued support of donations. “We didn’t have to pay for food or supplies… the only explanation for that is God and community."

WOW Living is in the midst of a fundraiser to help pay for a $50,000 mobile shower-washroom trailer for those clients in precarious situations to use and has collected over $30,000 through donations from residents and local businesses.  

“With the mobile shower trailer that’s in the works, this will provide the two families with a more permanent solution,” said Greenstreet.

To donate to the WOW Living initiatives, e-transfers are accepted at [email protected].

If a tax receipt is required, send e-transfers to [email protected], with “shower” in the memo.