The Robert Orr-Duncan saga continues, sadly.
Almost immediately after the progress he made in getting his support dogs back, he has now been evicted from the Barrie Motel where he was staying.
And due to the circumstances surrounding the health of his mother, who is in hospital recovering from surgery, Robert apparently “no longer qualifies” to be assisted by the Salvation Army’s emergency family shelter program, as he is on his own.
The Salvation Army sent him notice on Tuesday (Dec. 12) to that effect and ordered him out of the room on the same day he was notified. They say it is due to his mother being admitted to Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre (RVH) "with no clear discharge date.”
I have obtained a copy of this notice and I find this whole situation extremely troubling.
When Robert, a 35-year-old man with autism, and others were evicted recently from the Days Inn on Hart Drive, a Salvation Army spokesperson said the organization was “disappointed in the amount of notice given to try and locate the families in our program.”
And then, with just a few hours' notice, he and his dogs were suddenly without accommodations again.
While I was visiting with Robert in his room that day to report his ongoing story, I briefly spoke to a person working on his case for the Salvation Army. Within an hour or two, he was given an extension by the Salvation Army and the Barrie Motel until 11 a.m on the following day, which was Wednesday, to leave the premises.
I understand the organization is overwhelmed by the rise in homelessness in our city and provides a valuable service in what they do, and they likely need to place another family in the motel. However, I also believe improvements need to be made to this program to treat people with the utmost compassion and humanity.
There obviously needs to be a better system for providing a safety net for someone who finds themselves in this situation through no fault of their own.
I’m not blaming any organization — they do good work. By reporting on this story, though, I’m just frustrated by the cracks in the system.
Robert has been caught up in a cycle of problems stemming from his ongoing battle to secure housing on even a somewhat reliable basis.
He and his mother were evicted from their apartment in February and found themselves in temporary shelter programs with the Busby Centre, and then the Salvation Army’s emergency family shelter program until they were forced to leave the Days Inn for the Barrie Motel.
He has had to fight back against 'no pet rules' as he tried to keep his two West Highland terriers, which help him and his mother. One is trained to lay on his mother and monitors her heart and blood pressure. If the dog senses any irregularities, it will reach out and paw at them. The other one helps Robert with his autism.
Unfortunately, he has lost the battle over his dogs and has now also lost his temporary housing.
Faced with being homeless along with his two dogs on the same day he was notified of his eviction, Robert’s world was about to completely collapse, leaving him on the street in the winter.
As a news reporter closely following his story as it dramatically changed each day, I became heartbroken over his plight.
He deserves so much better than this. He's employed, mainly as a dishwasher at a restaurant in Barrie, although only for about 17 hours per week, on average.
Up until a few weeks ago, he was looking after his mother, who's dealing with diabetes and its complications, which resulted in the recent surgery and a hospital stay.
Robert says she was due to be discharged today was placed into a rehabilitation program at the Barrie Manor Enhanced Care Community on Blake Street. But he says the transitional care rehabilitation unit is just a 60-day program. After that, he's unsure where she'll be able to reside.
The stress of these urgent problems, one after the other, are weighing heavily on his shoulders. It's obvious.
He's a stronger man than I am.
As a general rule, journalists don’t get involved with the stories and subjects they report on, but with no other family or friends in his life to lend a hand, I felt I needed to step in. So I broke the rule.
On Wednesday at 11 a.m., during a blizzard, I loaded his belongings into my car, drove him to another motel that accepted dogs and checked him in for the next few nights, paying for a room for him until Saturday morning.
And then more baloney reared its ugly head. The clerk at the motel desk, after learning I was getting a room for a person who was without housing, told me they had a rule where a Barrie resident could not rent a room there.
Look, lady, I was born on a Monday, but not last Monday, as I like to say when someone tries to pull the wool over my eyes.
And due to the fact he wasn't paying, she also told me he couldn't stay there by himself. The only way to remedy this was for me to stay there as well.
I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing.
Not wanting a confrontation, which could end up causing Robert to lose out on a room, I agreed. I said I was going to be there as well.
I'm actually spending time there, albeit not sleeping there, writing this column and assisting him with the issues he's facing. So that will qualify, I'm thinking.
So, Robert has a place to rest his head for now until Saturday with his beloved dogs.
What happens after that? I don’t know.
Robert doesn’t know, either.
He's trying to get in touch with a pet rescue volunteer who offered to foster his dogs for a month. As of Thursday morning he was still trying to reconnect with them.
Robert is also looking for anyone in the Barrie area who can step up and foster these beautiful, loving and well-trained dogs. I have spent time with them and they are heart-stealing sweethearts.
I wish my wife and I could take them in, and to be able to help out again, but it’s just not possible with us right now or we would in a heartbeat.
Our governments and organizations in the province and our city like to throw around the word “community” all the time, but we need to actually be a community. Actions instead of words is another saying.
Admittedly, I’m clearly not an expert in the area of social housing, but if my words and actions can help shine a light on these urgent problems, then I feel I’m doing my job.
We as a “community” are failing and much more needs to be done. Obviously, there is no “magic bullet” that will end the homelessness of families and individuals who find themselves in this situation due to countless different social factors.
And don't kid yourself, most of us are ever only a few catastrophes away from finding ourselves in the same boat as Robert.
What is it they say again? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you...?
I'm certainly not religious, but those are words I have always lived by.
Let’s at least try harder to help and treat people with respect.
Kevin Lamb is a staff reporter at BarrieToday.
