At the Limberlost housing complex, frustration builds

It was a social media post borderingon hyperbolebut fuelled by a longstanding, deeply felt frustration.

RowaMohamed spent her adolescence as a resident in the social housing townhouse complex at 1481 LimberlostRd., off Gainsborough Road and west of Wonderland.

Her parents and four siblings still live in the complex composed of 160 units that are rent controlled and geared towards low income earners.

On Thursday, she posted posted this to Facebook:

The response was immediate.Mohamedis politically activeandran for a council seat inWard 12 last fall. On social media, she's connected toa handful of London city councillors.

The Limberlost complex isoperated by the London & Middlesex Housing Corporation (LMHC), which manages more than 3,200 social housingunits in 31 different properties.

Former Ward 13 councillor Tanya Park responded toMohamed'spost, asking"What's Happening?"

In her response,Mohamed stuck to her strong words:

In subsequent comments on her post,Mohamedtagged Ward 7Coun. Josh Morgan and Ward 13Coun.ArielleKayabaga. Morgan offered to raise the issue withLMHCCEOJosh Browne.

Mohamedsaid she turned toFacebookafter calls toLMHCon her family's behalf weren't getting action.

"That's the only thing that apparently works," she said. "On myFacebookthere are all these lovely citycouncillorsand people I have contact with, but I know my mom's friends in this neighbourhooddon'thave that type of contact. I was really frustrated, and I talked about it."

After Mohamed's post reached LMHCbrass, a team of four employees visited Mohamed'sparents unit on Thursday, speaking to them about problems with mould on cupboards.Mohamedwas also there Thursday, going door-to-door through the complex to pollresidents about any problems they had with maintenance, rodents and mould.

There were no shortage of complaints.

"These are poor, disenfranchised people who often don't have anyone to advocate for them," said Mohamed.

And what of her Facebook post about the complex being "invested with rats" that are "destroying the units"?

It turns out this was a mistake.Mohamed says she meant to say mice, not rats.

Among the four LMHCemployees who visited Mohamed's parentsThursday wasSarah Campbell, the directorof community development.

Campbell said there's no evidence of a rat infestationat Limberlost. She said there has been one rat complaint recentlyand it's believed to have been caused bya pet rat whose offspring travelled through common walls andinto a nearby unit.

Still, Campbell admitsresponse times for maintenance complaints are far from ideal. As for the underlying cause of the delays, she points to budget constraints.

"Our funding is very cash-strapped, we have an aging infrastructure and limited budget," she said. "And therefore that prioritization system does limit the ways that we can respond."

Campbell said it takes between two days and two weeks for LMHC staff to assess a problem after receiving a complaint. If it can't be fixed by maintenance staff, contractors are called in. The work orders are prioritized. Problems that pose an immediatehealth or safety threat dealt handled first. Campbell admits it can take months to complete maintenance work that isn't deemed urgent.

Rat in the kitchen

AndreaBrennan, a 19-year resident of the Limberlost complex, was the resident who filed the rat complaint.

In the fall of 2016, of Brennan found a baby rat in the suite she shares with her daughter and six-year-old grandson.

She knew the problem was bigger when shefound another rat in her basement and her cat showed a sudden interest in a crack between two floorboards under her kitchen sink. Brennan says she called, but no one came until months later, in the spring of 2017.

LMHCcontacted a pest control company, but they installed traps for mice, not rats.

Workers were able to keep the rats out of her unit by blocking the crack where they were coming in. But Brennansays it took constant pressure to get that work completed.

"I was frustrated," said Brennan. "I said 'fix my unit. I've been there 19 years. Fix it.'"

Other problems

And while LMHCpoint to budget constraints, RowaMohameddoesn't buy it.

"We've been hearing that forever," she said. "There's always budget issues. That doesn'texplain why not even a little bit of improvement is happening."

"Limberlostis made up of incredible people, there's an amazing sense of community here. I don't think it's fair to lay the burden of the solutions to people who live in this neighbourhood. I want to remove any sort of premise that people in the neighbourhood need to be complaining in order for things to get better."

Campbell admits there are other problems at Limberlost, including drug dealing that led to the installation of cameras in the courtyards and a lack of safe spaces for children. Last year, a playground at the complex was removed for safety reasons.

LMHCwants to do more

Campbell said LMHCwants to do more to address the problems, and said the organization will be asking London city council for more money when the next four-year budget cycle starts in the spring.

There are plans to do more than be a landlord. One idea is to provide programming for kids by partnering with local service agencies

"We recognize that much more support is needed for this community and yet at this point, we're funded as a landlord," said Campbell."But we want to be doing so much more."

Response from London & Middlesex Housing Corporation

Below is an interview Sarah Campbelll of LMHC did with London Morning host Julianne Hazlewood about the problems at Limberlost.