A 28-year-old disabled man has until the end of July to find a new place to live in or around Vancouver – trouble is he can’t find a place in his price range that is wheelchair accessible.
Aaron Busch has been living in New Westminster since December. He started out paying his landlord $720 a month for rent, laundry facilities and three meals a day as his suite does not have a kitchen or laundry. Shortly after, that increased slightly and his meals were decreased to two a day. It was in late March that Busch sent a formal lease agreement to his landlord and that is when he received an eviction notice in return. It appears his landlord wants to have the basement suite for some of his relatives.
“I’ve been having anxiety and panic attacks,” said Busch about the situation.
Has has been looking for a new place to live, but either he cannot afford anything, or none of the rental places are wheelchair accessible. “Even if I offer to raise the money to build a ramp at a place the landlord tells me they are not interested,” he said. “It’s a little disheartening, but I can’t pressure them to change their minds.”
He wants to stay in Vancouver so he can pursue his love of acting.
Busch said he has contacted BC Housing, outreach workers, government workers through the Ministry of Social Development, the Coalition for People with Disabilities, Mental Health, Fraser Health, third party housing societies and Co-ops, and he has had no luck with any of them.
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If he cannot find a place to live before the end of July he will have to try and find space in emergency shelters, or he could be forced to live on the street. “What would I do if I couldn’t stay at a shelter? What happens if the shelter it isn’t wheelchair accessible or if it’s booked solid? I’d be stuck wandering the street. Pretty soon my wheelchair wouldn’t have any power and I would be completely immobile. I can’t just get up and walk to the nearest bus stop,” he wrote on his campaign page.
Now Busch has started an online campaign to try and raise some more money so he can afford some of the other places to live. “My situation is turning critical and I am going to need an absolute miracle just for a mere extension of my predicament. I won’t be using this money for anything except it’s intended purpose,” he wrote.
For more information about Arron Busch’s campaign, visit his FundAnything page or his Facebook page.
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