A broken elevator in your apartment building is a serious issue when your child is in a wheelchair, says a Maple Ridge mom.
It’s even worse when the elevator is regularly breaking down, and your child has special needs, and is prone to seizures, contends tenant Erica Forrest.
The artist moved to a downtown Maple Ridge apartment for a slower pace of life, but now she’s bringing a human rights complaint against her landlord, Rockwell Management of Vancouver.
“We’ve missed medical appointments because of this,” she said. “It leaves a vulnerable family more vulnerable. We’re trapped.”
“This is not an inconvenience, it’s a human rights violation.”
She contends the elevator in the aging building has broken down six times since January. She allows that the building management is always quick to fix it, and it’s generally stuck for about a day, in her experience so far.
Even so, it has reached a point where she is anxious about leaving, and facing the prospect of not being able to get back upstairs.
“I’m scared every time I’m in it,” she said. “If I leave, am I going to get back home””
It could be a life-and-death issue during an emergency such as a fire.
“It’s not safe living accommodations for us,” said Forrest.
Her son is non-verbal, bound to a wheelchair, has cerebral palsy and other special needs, and is prone to seizures.
“His last one was very serious – he was in the hospital for a week afterward,” she said.
She has asked management for a contingency plan, but nothing is forthcoming. She wants to hear what they will do if she is unable to get to her apartment – like that they will pay for a hotel room for the night.
Forrest has pressed the on-site management, and Rockwell, but says she has been ignored.
Talking to neighbours, she has been told breakdowns have been happening regularly for years, so she thinks it’s unconscionable management didn’t warn a mother with a child in a wheelchair before she moved in.
“If I had known, I would not have taken the place,” said Forrest. “We need a safe living space… now.”
One of her neighbours, who uses a walker, was trapped downstairs by an elevator breakdown.
Forrest wants to hold the building management to a higher standard. She acknowledges it must be difficult to maintain old elevators in aging buildings, but believes landlords and even government need to make it a priority. It’s an issue that impacts residents across the region.
In 2021, Vancouver city council dealt with this issue, attempting to ensure people with health and mobility issues have protection and support when elevators break down. A report from the city seniors advisory committee complained of malfunctioning elevators, and called it “an immediate danger to their health and safety.”
“Accessibility is a human rights issue for all vulnerable seniors and persons with disabilities,” said the Vancouver motion, which called for alternative access to all floors in the event of malfunctioning elevators.
The management on site at the Maple Ridge building offered no comment, and Rockwell Management has not returned calls.