Residents of a northside seniors’ home have been struggling for about two months without an elevator in their six-floor building.

“This is a disgrace for our seniors really. I am very saddened by that. It has been a long time,” Connie Wynnuk said as she was visiting her 82-year-old mother in the Romanian House complex on 97 Street and 134 Avenue.

“My heart breaks for all these people really.

“It has taken away any mobility that she has getting in and out of here. It makes it very difficult.”

For many residents the challenge of climbing up and down the stairs has changed their lives.

Fern Soos said she has taken to hand washing her clothes because it is too difficult to get to the laundry room on the sixth floor.

“I am too tired to go up the stairs, up and down,” she said.

Soos, who had a hip replacement, does make the trip every two weeks but stops at every level for a break.

“I take a shopping bag and carry everything in the shopping bag and I go stair to stair.”

Soos said another resident has left behind some shopping at her unit because it was too difficult to take it up the stairs.

“She can’t carry everything so she dropped it here. She will pick it up later she told me.”

On Saturday MLA for Edmonton-Decore Chris Nielsen stopped by Romanian House to see the situation for for himself.

“We need to find out the details of what is going on. Then I can bring that forward and see what kind of remedies we can get in place there to fix this quickly so that they can get back to their lives.”

According to notices in the building work began on the elevator on April 22 and was expected to take five to six weeks.

With files from Josh Skurnik