Hamilton Indigenous Housing

Al Loft the cleaner is no longer employed here, dunno the reason why he was canned but I did hear from the rumor mill of his demise, he was fired for being too nice and another was his contract was not renewed.  Personally I would be glad when they get rid of Joesph Antone..... nobody likes him.  Ingrid and I had a phone conversation last month and she asked if I was a vigilante...LOL can you imagine that. She doesn't know it yet but I took that statement as a compliment.  "Yeah Ingrid I'm Robin Hood"  I take from the rich and give to the poor.  LOL I use to think the tenants were strange but now I think the staff are also.  I sent Janis Lewis a thank you e-mail.....she read my suggestion and acted on it.  *High Fives Janis*  :) See ya at the New Year

It's been awhile since I've posted comments about Native housing.....well friends....a few weeks ago the annual inspection went smoothly, there was a incident a week ago where a tenant seriously injured himself on the premise but he's recovered.  I did send Janis Lewis a letter in regards to the staff not being able to react well to emergency first aid situations, I hope she will take the suggestion. Danny Joesph has been evicted...I wish him luck.  The rumor mill is buzzing........see you soon. 

I sent 2 e-mails to Janis Lewis in regards to this place..I do hope she sees the light and work on some improvements.  If not then perhaps public opinion might be the answer. 

One thing I noticed while being here is Urban Native Homes goes through employees like I go through socks. ie: wear them a few times then toss em in the trash.  :P The latest casualty is Stephanie Hager...a friendly and caring young lady who IMO seems to really want to help the tenants.  She's been off on sick leave for a long time and I thought Oh Oh!....I'll bet they will fire her.  And Guess what....I would say I'm 99% right.  Yesterday around noon I passed the office I noticed Ingrid and her having a heated discussion....then later she was seen leaving the building in tears and carrying her belongings in a box. Like I said in my previous post, morale is low for the staff of Koo Gaa Da Win Manitou. Farewell Miss Stephanie and may good luck follow your future.

Morale among the staff seems to be low in the land of Koo Gaa Da Win.  Is there any happy employees in Urban Native Homes?   Sheesh.

I heard Joseph was called out by a tenant the other day....it seems he's not doing his job..(no surprise there :P)  Bonnie was upset that Joseph doesn't do his follow ups...it's frustrating when a tenant goes through the proper procedures and see's no results. :( On another topic....I say goodbye to tenant Loretta.....RIP you will be missed. It was nice as representatives of Urban Native Homes that Ingrid and her husband showed up for the funeral reception.

A few days ago I had my annual review with the housing co-coordinator and all went well then we talked about "the weasel" in hopes of arriving to a solution. Doesn't look good, it's been 3 months since the blow out.   I personally think he has no social skills as an outreach worker and he proves it every time we pass each other in the hallway. Update Oct/ 2011  Perhaps I was a bit too hard on Joesph, when I think about it he did mention it's Ingrid's job to reply to my letter and the old gal never did.  In a way she threw Joesph under the bus. 

When I ask the superintendent of the building a question I get a cold response and nasty attitude. In all my years on this planet I've never came across anyone so rude. Could it be the person is anti-social and not happy with their job?  If so then the person should look elsewhere for employment. It's no wonder why tenants are not comfortable when she's around. :(

More drama for me today I was on my way to Urban Native Home Inc to pay the rent and I think I lost my house keys on the bus. Thank God..when I got home the office was open I got a replacement but I'll be billed $25.00.....Oh well I learn my lesson to never use cheap plastic key clips from now on. A special thanks goes to my new outreach worker Stephanie Hager for her quick responds in getting my replacement set of keys. :)

I hope one day we can truly say there is a haven where older natives who experienced homelessness can find a place to call home and have the resources available for the best quality of life in their golden years. Koo Ga Da Win Manitou Housing Complex has a long journey in order to reach that goal. Perhaps more funding is needed or better trained/experienced outreach workers who can relate to tenants concerns and health issues. Programs that would interest all tenants as a whole would be nice. Most important we tenants must try to get along with their neighbours. (as the good book says "Love thy neighbour") I've been here less then a year and I've observed alot, we have a diversity of tenants living in the building from different reservations and walks of life. Some have problems with alcohol, prescription drug addictions, physical disabilities and slight mental disabilities. The one thing we all have in common is our health concerns, from chronic back pain to deadly...