An 86-year-old man was evicted from his apartment in Maple Ridge on Friday afternoon.
A uniformed bailiff and movers were on site at Royal Crescent Estates, packing out the chairs, lamps and boxes belonging to Lloyd Shewchuk. The octogenarian claims he has been evicted because of problems caused by a family member who is addicted to drugs had been staying with him.
“Apparently he scared some people in the building,” said Shewchuk. “He looks ‘sketchy,’ is the term that they used.”
Now Shewchuk, who has worked as a psychologist and still sees patients, faces an uncertain future.
“I don’t know where I will go. They’re piling my stuff out on the street.”
He wasn’t even sure where he would stay on Friday night. He has a compromised immune system, he said, and has had two bouts with cancer. The last, four years ago, left him with a colostomy bag.
“Where am I going to empty, on the street?” he asked, patting his belt line. He said it must be emptied every two hours.
A decade ago he had open heart surgery, he said.
Shewchuk said it is wrong to put anyone who is medically compromised out on the street in the times of COVID-19.
He said his family member is back in custody, and he should be able to keep his apartment.
Helping him load the truck was friend Jessica Wang.
“This is not fair,” she said. “He’s elderly, and he’s done nothing wrong.”
She noted his September rent has already been withdrawn from his account, and she will be advocating to ensure he gets it back.
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He had been at the Royal Crescent apartment for between five and six years, he said, and in May of 2018 management started to tell him he would have to leave if his family member continued to cause problems for other residents. The family member was jailed for two years, but when he got out, Shewchuk’s problems returned.
“Here we are, two years later…”
Anna Yu, manager of Royal Crescent Estates, located at 22577 Royal Cres., said it was a legal eviction, with a bailiff present.
Asked the reason for the eviction, and whether she had reservations about evicting an 86-year-old, she offered “no comment.”
Shewchuk has been looking for a place to stay, but has found the tight rental market in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows impossible.
He rented a moving van for a few days to store his household items, and was waiting on people to help him load it. Where it will ultimately end up remains uncertain.
ncorbett@mapleridgenews.com
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