Rona Achilles’ apartment is filled with boxes and bags stuffed with all her belongings. Apart from a few books and papers scattered on shelves and tables, some shoes and a computer — on which she watches political speeches and browses Facebook — plastic bottles of medical pills are the only other things visible in her living and study room.

“I thought I’d be out of here last November,” said the 68-year-old, who has lived in the second floor apartment on Delaware Ave. for the past 22 years. “I’d rather not spend another winter in this place.”

Achilles is dying. After beating cancer twice in her life, she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer in January 2017. Doctors at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre told her it’s terminal.

She doesn’t know exactly how long she’ll live, but she wants out of here before her final days on Earth.

Seven years ago, Achilles applied for a space in the city’s subsidized housing program, as rent costs were becoming unaffordable for her after she retired. When she found out about her condition, she submitted the documents necessary to be placed on the priority lists — including a doctor’s note.

“It doesn’t seem to make any difference,” said Achilles, who was placed on the priority list in the terminally ill category last September.

In addition to the rent costs, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for her to live in her current apartment, where she needs to climb 15 stairs. Sometimes she goes for weeks without stepping outside, she says. Unless someone visits, her cat Chelsea is her only companion.

She says she has expressed interest in at least 10 subsidized housing buildings across the city, and knows she’s been top of the list on a number of those places for a few months.

“I am dying. I don’t really see how anyone, a homeless youth or anyone else, can have priority over me,” she said.

The waiting time for subsidized housing can be more than 10 years, according to Housing Connections, the city’s department in charge of managing centralized housing lists. Housing is provided on a first-come, first-served basis, with some notable exceptions.

Priority is accorded to survivors of domestic abuse and human trafficking, terminally ill people who have less than two years to live, youth and people who are homeless.

Patricia Anderson from the city’s shelter support and housing administration said there were about 1,000 people on the terminally ill category waiting list alone at the beginning of this year.

“Turnover in social housing is very low and there are almost no new rent-geared-to-income units being built to add to the supply,” Anderson said.

She said applicants in the terminally ill category can have different waiting times, depending on which building they want to live in and what kind of unit they qualify for. Right now, it’s about nine months for bachelor and one-bedroom apartments on average, and one year for a two-bedroom apartment.

That pales in comparison to those on the centralized waiting list, where people can wait seven years for a bachelor’s unit and more than 10 years for a one- or two-bedroom apartment, Anderson said.

Last year the city had about 3,200 families in subsidized housing, 222 of them in the terminally ill category, she said.

In a detailed letter to Toronto’s ombudsman last June, Achilles recounted her struggles to pay rent and survive. Her apartment near College and Dovercourt costs her $1,400 a month, leaving her with a couple of hundred dollars from her monthly pension. She relies on the financial support from her son and sister for groceries and other needs.

Susan Opler said her office has received the letter and has been consulting with housing officials behind the scenes to address Achilles’s issue. “We still have our file open and we’re still working on it,” the city ombudsman said.

“I can certainly appreciate the great distress that the uncertainty is causing for Ms. Achilles, and that’s going to be exacerbated I’m sure by her very serious health condition. But she should rest assured that it’s not being ignored. People aren’t dragging their feet.”

Councillor Mike Layton said Achilles’ case is illustrative of municipal and provincial shortcomings when it comes to providing care and affordable housing to those in dire need, such as terminally ill individuals.

“Clearly, we aren’t well equipped enough to address even the most severe cases,” Layton said. People in the subsidized housing priority are on a “very long list” themselves, and may not be able to find a room when they need it.

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“It’s very unfortunate,” he said, adding he wouldn’t be surprised if people on the terminally ill category pass away while still waiting for housing. “This is something we’ve been trying to turn around for many years, but we’re still falling further and further behind.”

Meanwhile, Achilles waits for a solution.

“It’s a massive crisis,” she said of the city’s housing situation. “I don’t think anybody knows or realizes really how bad it is.”