Balmoral Hotel's broken elevator fixed, residents no longer stranded, after CBC investigation
Residents confined to wheelchairs or walkers were stranded on upper floors, unable to buy food
Residents trapped in a single room occupancy hotel on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside are able to leave their homes again, following a CBC investigation.
With the building's sole elevator out of commission, disabled residents of the notorious Balmoral Hotel had been stuck in their rooms since October 10.
After the CBC posted and broadcast a story about the problem, the elevator was serviced and is now back in order.
Some of the Balmoral's residents have also received free groceries, thanks to a local food delivery company.
"I thought, you know what, I might as well do what I can and help them get their groceries," said Leesa Letnick, owner of Smart City Foods.
Letnick said she heard about what the Balmoral residents were going through when a customer bought food to be delivered to the hotel.
She decided her company would buy about 20 food boxes — a truckload — and she would deliver them to the hotel herself that very night.
Letnick also decided that anyone who wants to contribute can buy a $20 or $45 food box for Balmoral residents — a donation the company will match until the end of the weekend.
In total, more than 50 boxes of food have been provided to residents.
Voted worse SRO in Vancouver
The Balmoral is home to about 200 low-income tenants, who already live with cockroaches, rats and bed bugs. It has eight storeys of single room occupancy units, with approximately 23 rooms per floor.
The average rent for a 200-square-foot room is $675 a month, per person.
Many of the Balmoral's tenants are on disability pensions and confined to wheelchairs or walkers.
Just last year, the Balmoral was voted the worst SRO hotel on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside by a convention of SRO tenants.
If you have information on this or any other story we should investigate, email us at investigate@cbc.ca.
With files from Eric Rankin