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‘It’s been 3 months’: Evicted Maple Ridge woman struggles to find local rental

Woman seeking a home and an able-bodied person to help her move
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Brookside Gardens in Maple Ridge. (Google Maps/Special to The News)

A Maple Ridge woman with mobility issues and a son with special needs, is looking for a home to rent and help moving, after being evicted from her current accommodations.

Bobby Barnetts, who is over 60 and living with her 23-year-old special needs son, will be evicted at the end of December this year, and might even lose her son to the system, if she is unable to find a home for them soon. Barnetts has been looking for a house since September when she was first given a notice of eviction.

Barnetts moved to Brookside Gardens in Maple Ridge, after having spent 23 years in Burnaby. Accumulating and bringing over 23-years worth of stuff, she had since been trying to purge and pare down however, she was handed a notice of eviction stating her place had become a fire hazard.

“I have been trying to purge; it isn’t easy getting rid of sentimental things accumulated over 23-years, and that too with mobility issues and a special needs son to look after,” she said, adding that she had already cleaned out the carport, and anything that was on the outside and just needed more time to deal with all her possessions inside the house.

She has since been looking for a home to rent and move into. With no assistance from the government, unlike the first time around when she moved to Maple Ridge when her kids were still under 18, finding a home has been an impossible feat for her.

“It has been three months! It shouldn’t take this long to find a rental home,” she said, in a cry over the lack of housing in the city.

Barnetts had a lead on a home, however lost it to another renter while she was trying to figure out how to put down a deposit for the place.

“I am just so devastated. We were supposed to get that home. But now, if I don’t find a rental home soon, I will lose my son,” she said, adding that the government will take him away and put him in a home where he will be cared for.

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“As much as I don’t want him sent to a home, I obviously don’t want him living on the street. I am just scared now I will lose my son.”

Maple Ridge has seen a tough rental market over the past few years. According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, for a three-plus-bedrooms rental unit, the average rent for October 2020 was $1,670, and that has only gone up since, making it difficult for those in a similar situation as Barnetts, to find an accommodation.

Barnetts, who is on disability along with her son, is hoping that someone will hear her pleas and reach out to her with a two-three bedroom rental home preferably with enough space for her to put her possessions in, soon. She also has three therapy animals that she intends to take with her.

Anyone with leads on a rental property or willing to help Barnetts, can reach her on bubblescountry@yahoo.ca.

However, once she finds a home, Barnetts uphill battle will continue as she will also need help moving her possessions.

“For now, we just want to get out of here before Christmas. We don’t even need a Christmas. We just want to be together in a home peacefully,” she said.

ALSO READ: New supportive housing in downtown Maple Ridge will replace The Mods


Is there more to the story? Email: priyanka.ketkar@mapleridgenews.com
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Priyanka Ketkar

About the Author: Priyanka Ketkar

Priyanka Ketkar has been a journalist since 2011 with extensive experience in community-driven news writing, feature writing, and editing.
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