Hamilton Indigenous Housing

This holiday season has been exceptional for good olde Tony.   I’ve attended two major Christmas dinner functions and my fellow tenants seem to be in good spirits @ the KMHC building.   Unfortunately there are two tenants going through a rough time health wise and my thoughts are with them.   Last week at a Christmas dinner function I ran into former Urban Native Homes Director Janis Lewis-Deeley.   She was one of many greeters at the event she smiled and said hello to me.   It was a nice gesture on her part so I responded back in an equally pleasant manner.   In the past whenever UNH’s hosted a dinner function for the tenants she would ignore me completely.   Earlier this month the KMHC tenants attended the Native Christmas dinner hosted by Hamilton Regional Indian Centre.   I donated two large shopping bags of non-perishable food items then our group of eight sat together and feasted on turkey with all the fixins.   We shared a few la...

The KMHC tenant intercom system is different and outdated from other residential complexes.   Tenants who live here have to physically open the front door to allow their guest entry.   At first it was an inconvenience but now I’m used to it.   Then something out of the ordinary happened earlier this week and I had to wait a few days to cool off before I wrote this.   On Monday just before noon a friend from out of town came by for a visit he’s a prominent company executive and investor and I’ve known him for many years.   While waiting for me to open the front door my guest was accosted by tenant Dean King (no relation to me).   In a snarky tone Dean asked who he’s waiting for and asked my friend’s identity.   It’s none of Dean’s business why my guest is at KMHC.   A few minutes later my friend told me what happened and I was livid.   Dean assumed he’s a reporter for the Hamilton Spectator, I didn’t witness this so I asked my friend coul...

Keeping with the critique theme on my blog site, last week I wrote a letter to H.O.W. Lynda Jones complaining about the misuse of the “24 hour Notice to Enter Unit” and a few other issues.   I felt my tenant issue was overdue and in the end I describe Urban Native Homes Inc. as a Mickey Mouse Organization.   Grey FOB Key A KMHC tenant asked me to write about her predicament and I’m more than happy to oblige.   What would you do if you lost or damaged the small FOB key that unlocks the building entrance doors!   You would go to the office ask for a replacement then perhaps be billed for the replacement….end of story.   Well hang on to your keychain folks.   H.O.W. Lynda Jones chooses not to follow procedure instead the tenant must pay $25.00 up front in order to get a new FOB key.   I thought is she for fucking real!   One time years ago I lost my building keys on the bus so I called Darryl the maintenance guy and he came to the build...

Today is National Aboriginal Veterans Day in Canada. To be honest I wasn’t aware of this date I assume all those who served in the wars are remembered on November 11.   We have two male tenants at KMHC who served in the military so whenever the opportunity arises I listen to their stories. :) My step father was in the Canadian Armed Forces he served, fought and survived WW2.   After the war he obtained a job as a bulldozer operator for an excavating company in Toronto.   I have strong memories of him as I grew up, he was a disciplinarian and tough on me yet there was a gentle side to him.   He was the typical Canadian fisherman every Friday after work he would load up his big old 1960’s Pontiac Parisienne with his fishing gear and bring (drag) me along.   I say (drag) because I didn’t always want to go.   Georgian Bay was filled with many of his favorite fishing spots, he taught me all aspects of freshwater fishing and today I miss it.   He wo...

My Kitchen Area. Well readers I’m elated to announce after many moons I finally have the right size refrigerator in my unit. Due to past experience I wasn’t sure UNH’s would respond to my second maintenance request for a refrigerator exchange from a vacant unit next door.   So I took the initiative to ask tenant Mr. Longboat after he moves out could I exchange refrigerators he agreed and left the keys on the table.   I decided to clean the interior and exterior of both fridges which are in good working order thus the KMHC office won’t freak out.   Surprisingly last Monday I received a phone call from UNH’s staff member Missy regarding my work order request.   I gave her the update on the refrigerators then we moved on to the shower door repair.   This morning Dr. Phil arrived with his medical bag and we worked on fixing the shower door.   Yipee!   No more drafty showers and water spraying on the floor.   I am a squeaky clean happy tenant. :) ...

Last week at the KMHC front entrance Marilyn Wright of De dwa da dehs nye>s Aboriginal Health Centre in Hamilton dropping off bushels of fruit and vegetables for the native elders.   I took what I could use from one bushel and put the rest back for the other tenants.   Unfortunately there is one tenant who doesn’t know the meaning of sharing.   The woman grabbed two bushels and claim one is for another tenant.   Ugh!   Her actions annoyed me but I looked away and proceeded to my unit.   Thank you Marilyn Wright for thinking of us. :) Last week I ran into tenant Howard in the hallway he’s respectfully the longest resident living at KMHC.   He wanted to speak to me and to my surprise he asked my permission to do his laundry after 11 pm.   The laundry room is near my unit and the machines are quite noisy at times, picture a train passing your home at high speed.   I replied sure keep the laundry door closed there will be no disturbance....

Contractor At Work.  Urban Native Homes Inc. downsized staff especially maintenance and the effects are apparent. ie: A refrigerator brakes down and the UNH’s office handed out gift cards to the tenant to compensate for the spoiled food.   The proper procedure is to have a appliance supplier handy for such emergencies and funds available to pay for the replacement.   Also contract maintenance to the KMHC grounds was the shits this summer. Last Friday KMHC tenants received a “24 Hour Notice To Enter Unit” taped to their doors announcing there will be unit inspection carried out by a hired contractor on today’s date.  That’s fine with me last time we had a unit inspection was years ago when we had a superintendent.  So yesterday getting ready for the inspection I gave my unit a complete shakedown and prepare to ask questions regarding maintenance to my unit and will there be a follow-up.   I plan to be present when the contractor knocks on my door....

Please support your local food bank Native Women’s Centre emergency food bank program is cutting back to every 60 days for long time food bank users.   From my understanding the cut backs are necessary due to the large volume of users.   I highly praise the program they do a remarkable job for the native community I mean how many food banks in Hamilton actually deliver to the applicant’s home in all kinds of weather!   Two women are assigned to drive around the city in a white unmarked van delivering food boxes.   I was surprised after speaking to the ladies to hear some natives get verbally abusive with the delivery personnel which is why a NWC agreement is issued to each applicant.   Fuck up by being disrespectful then the food bank user risks suspension or completely cut off.     I’m glad to announce none of the KMHC tenant elders are among the abusive group. Two KMHC tenant elders are working on a bake sale for the first week of November. ...

Beware!  The Borrower.  :) Here's a Native superhero comic character and the message has meaning.   There are a few natives @ KMHC who like to borrow stuff and if you’re lucky you may get paid on cheque day.    ;) A funny story - During the summer whenever I saw the tenants sitting on the park benches deep in conversation I’d try to sneak up and scare one.   I’d get a laugh watching their reaction and they knew I meant no harm.   It’s was great at first nobody was immune I was like a cat approaching its prey I moved with stealth and cunning until the tenants got wise.   Using their Indian skills they would stake out the area for sneaky Tony and one night my shenanigans backfired.   I was about to pounce on one unsuspected tenant when suddenly I was attacked from behind.   I didn’t see tenant Linda creep up from behind and poke me.    Scared the shite out me!……yep paybacks are a bitch.   The group of tenant elders...

I have a confession…the outside area of KMHC I call "the courtyard" is not real, it's next to a garbage shed and a parking lot. This spot has three old wooden benches, dried up wooden planters that desperately need refinishing and a tree rooted out.  I figure by naming it a courtyard the readers would be impressed.  Actually it's purpose is a sitting area for tenant native elders but that's not always the case.  Anyway here's a GIF of me taken a few weeks ago near the benches revving up the SoBi bike aka the blue Harley Davidson before a spin.   Thank you neighbouring tenant.  :) YES! Summer is over I can feel it in the air and that's ok.  I'm looking forward to the cool crisp weather and the most wonderful time of the year....Halloween.  :) Click out the link below for more pix and a video http://tinyurl.com/j6hohm2 Also please check my previous blog post it's been revised for more clarity.  tk

Warning! Non-Graphic Content. *Revised Post*  Take a look at the pix above is it offensive and does it merit calling the police?  I think not.  Last night @ 11 pm there was a knock on my door the police were responding to a complaint filed by HSC Ingrid Nosel about pictures taken yesterday afternoon of her van pulling out of the driveway.   At the time I notice her driving recklessly around the block a few times then stopped her van in the middle of the road with the emergency flashers on, got out and approached two female tenants sitting in the courtyard.  Later the tenants said Ingrid used my full name & asked odd questions about me and looked for witnesses but to no avail.  I asked my fellow tenants what was her demeanor like they described it as paranoid and erratic.   I figure Ingrid's next move is to get staff to check the security cameras which will capture nothing then call the cops.   These were my options: 1.   Say my c...

For the past 5+ years tenants have limited internet access in the community room.   I mean limited in the true sense of the word.   Some years ago there was a notice posted on the wall tenants who have internet in their unit were banned from using the KMHC computers which I thought was stupid.   Then there was another notice posted on the wall about internet trolls and UNH’s used Wikipedia.   I thought Really!! They are using that website as a reference. :P  Nobody paid any attention to the asinine notices and moved on.   There was a few times when I helped a fellow tenant search for general information by using a reputable search engine. Today there’s a notice on the community room door UNH’s has discontinued computer and internet access to tenants.   From what I’ve witnessed the regular group of tenants use the computers to play games, check their e-mail or look up information.   I doubt anybody went on porn and inappropriate chat site...