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The KMHC tenant intercom system is different and outdated from other residential complexes.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....