色色啦

It’s partly why more than a month after being evicted from his apartment in Little Italy in the midst of a heat wave,聽he has yet to find a permanent place to live.

“You have coffee, grocery shopping. You can go to (doctor’s clinic),” Ventullo said of the community where he chose to age in place two decades ago. “I have a cane. Where else am I going to go?”

The Little Italy neighbourhood is home to Ventullo’s social network, restaurants whose servers know him by name and where he’s mapped out safe walking routes for running errands.

Last month, the Star reported that Ventullo had lost a two-year battle with his landlord,聽who evicted聽him from his ground-level unit on Clinton Street where he had lived for 20 years. His peers and the local councillor’s office argued it was a bogus eviction disguised as necessary renovations.

Since then, a聽local resident has taken聽Ventullo in聽and an聽聽has raised $11,450 for him.

But in a recent interview in a nearby restaurant with Ventullo and his niece Luisa Tedesco, it鈥檚 clear that his living arrangements are far from settled, with the search highlighting some of the most pervasive challenges facing someone his age who might have to move away from the neighbourhood he calls home.

A sense of independence and identity

Every morning,聽Ventullo walks around Little Italy, often sitting at parks or in local eateries for hours where he doesn’t always eat. He doesn’t return to where he’s staying until the evening because he says he doesn鈥檛 want to be a burden to his hosts.

It鈥檚 more than just politeness 鈥� it鈥檚 also a means of keeping himself mentally sharp by interacting with local residents. “If you don’t talk to people, your mind goes like this,”聽Ventullo said, making circular gestures beside his head.

Over the four-hour interview and brunch, where a freshly shaved and neatly dressed Ventullo only had water, he still insisted on no one else but him paying the bill.

Tedesco, who only learned of her uncle’s eviction from reading the news, said he’s always been reluctant to seek help. “His entire life, he’s been fully independent and taking care of his own business,”聽she said, adding she’s even thought about buying him a proper wallet, but knows he鈥檇 never accept it.聽

Now, something as simple as having his own kitchen with an old stovetop he knows how to use, or a personal landline because he doesn’t have a cellphone, are gone.

“Losing that independence to even just pick up the phone and call people is hard for him,” said Tedesco, even if Ventullo won’t admit it.

With Ventullo not having a driver鈥檚 licence and the TTC not being fully accessible, moving in with Tedesco in Etobicoke would make it difficult for him to regularly commute back to the community he鈥檚 built the last years of his life around.

Ventullo鈥檚 sense of belonging in Little Italy is common among people his age, according to Raza Mirza, chief operating officer at non-profit HelpAge Canada, relocating someone like that can at times have a detrimental effect.

“You’re taking a plant that’s taken root somewhere for 20 years, you’re unpotting it and you’re putting it into a different place,” said Mirza, who’s also an assistant professor at the University of 色色啦鈥檚 Institute for Life Course and Aging.聽“There’s no guarantee that plant is going to thrive in that new environment.”

Moving people at Ventullo鈥檚 age is a disruptive life event that can sometimes lead to them becoming isolated and experiencing loneliness,聽straining their mental health, which puts them at a , especially men.

That risk of failing in a new environment is particularly pronounced in large Canadian cities where housing availability is low: “We’re talking about aging in place, aging in the right place,” Mirza said. “But we’re also talking about ensuring that (seniors) have the ability to choose their home and express their own autonomy and their own preference.” Those can be difficult to achieve in a place like 色色啦.

础驳别颈蝉尘听聽the ability of older adults to access affordable and accessible housing.聽Prejudice against age or even the perception of it “can shake a person’s sense of identity,” Mirza said. “That’s the other piece here: ‘I’m this older person. I’m a burden.’”

Tedesco said her uncle is adamant about moving out of his temporary place by the end of the month to avoid inconveniencing his host family, a member of which is expected to undergo surgery soon.

The hunt for housing

However, that鈥檚 likely easier said than done.

According to the federal government’s聽聽from 2021, senior renters have to deal with unaffordable housing 鈥� costing more than 30 per cent of before tax income 鈥� at a higher rate than the total renter population 鈥� nearly 40 per cent versus 27 per cent, respectively.

Ventullo聽was paying $800 a month in rent for his Clinton Street multiplex unit, which was affordable on his income from Old Age Security and pension of about $2,000 a month.

Today, the price for a similar ground-level unit 鈥� where there are any 鈥斅爄s more than double. In other places, Tedesco said, one-bedroom apartments go for nearly triple.聽

“It’s just not affordable,”聽she聽said. “And even for the government to provide some sort of support there, how much support are they going to give him when rent is $2,000 for a basement unit?”

Even affordable basement or upstairs apartments pose a problem: Ventullo needs a cane to walk. Tedesco聽said given the city鈥檚 problems with snow removal, they worry about him getting snowed in while in a basement unit.

Meanwhile, he鈥檚 never lived somewhere with an elevator.聽

“We are also talking about a building on Augusta, but he doesn’t want to be on an elevator in fear for being stuck,” she said.

Any long-term care or nursing homes are out of the question. “No, no, no, no, no,”聽Ventullo said at the idea, shaking his head.

Ventullo, who doesn’t have children nor a spouse, is also adamant about maintaining his integrity. “I can wipe myself, I can cook myself,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 bother no one for 60 years.”

Mirza said Ventullo鈥檚 response is common in his situation: “It’s hard for folks, especially maybe men of that older generation, to feel as though they’re the recipient of services, care and support and not in any way able to give back.”

‘Passing the buck’

Inadequately supporting the elderly population in general is an international problem that corresponds with the larger erosion of public supports, said聽Amanda Grenier,聽professor and research chair聽at聽U of T’s faculty of social work and Baycrest Hospital with聽expertise in gerontology.

“So you see a growing population of older people in situations of homelessness,” Grenier said, adding that there鈥檚 a higher risk of them ending up in the city鈥檚 overburdened shelter system. “And that’s the other thing: a shelter is not a place to grow old.”

While the city and the federal government have declared housing a human right, it’s a “contradiction” in practice given cases like Ventullo’s, said Grenier.

The city has programs in place for tenants facing eviction, but they offer short-term supports such as case management, financial assistance and referrals to legal aid. This includes the city case worker assigned to help Ventullo.

Navigating the bureaucracy has been a challenge, Tedesco said. “It’s extremely confusing or unclear where to access information, who to speak to,” she added. “There’s a lot of passing the buck around as well.”

A day after the interview, Tedesco said she was able to convince her uncle to be open to exploring senior’s homes 鈥� but location will matter. Little Italy is still his home, she said.

“His needs are just so basic.”