A 91-year-old man named Isidoro Ventullo, who was recently evicted from his home, has found temporary shelter thanks to a significant outpouring of support from his community, city councillor Dianne Saxe, and concerned strangers. Ventullo had lived in a one-bedroom apartment on Clinton Street for 20 years before being forced to leave on Monday due to an eviction order that had been upheld on appeal in May, allowing the landlord to move into the unit.
City councillor Dianne Saxe stepped in to assist Ventullo immediately after his eviction. She helped him find a shelter that night and is actively working on a long-term solution for his housing needs. “Right now, he’s staying with friends, and we’ve worked really hard to ensure that when he is ready to move on, we’ve got a path for him,” Saxe stated.
While the eviction was deemed legal, it raises serious concerns about the treatment of seniors in housing matters. Laura Tamblyn Watts, the President and CEO of the advocacy group CanAge, expressed that such situations often disproportionately affect elderly individuals, leading to potential homelessness. “This needs to be a wake-up call for communities and governments to put together a plan to make sure that people can age safely in place and not just leave it to the emergency rooms or in fact, visit the cemeteries of people that we could have helped,” she emphasized.
Councillor Saxe reiterated the urgency of the situation, advocating for the city to be informed in advance of evictions involving vulnerable tenants. “One of the things we need, and I’m going to be approaching the Landlord and Tenant Board, is to say why don’t you notify us when you’re issuing an eviction order so that if these people need support, we’ve got a chance to provide it; we shouldn’t find out when the sheriff’s at the door,” Saxe remarked.
The plight of Isidoro Ventullo has resonated with many community members. Heather Campbell Pope, a viewer of CityNews who does not know Ventullo personally, was motivated to take action by creating a GoFundMe campaign. “A GoFundMe seemed like a way to channel the community’s compassion into action. As a seniors advocate, I also feel a personal sense of failure that we let him fall through the cracks,” she explained. Pope stressed that changes to the law are necessary to protect elderly individuals from being evicted into homelessness and highlighted the importance of establishing stronger frontline advocacy for seniors.
The GoFundMe campaign aimed at assisting Ventullo has raised over $5,000 to help him with moving and other related expenses during this transition period. The fundraiser is set to close on Sunday, reflecting the community’s eagerness to support one of its most vulnerable members.
