Ashley Reid and her three daughters are spending their Easter long weekend at a west-end motel wondering if they’ll have a place to live in a week.

Reid has kidney cancer and a child who is asthmatic and another who has autism. She was relocated from an emergency shelter to a motel earlier this month after she raised concerns about the building staff allegedly not respecting social distancing protocols, especially after a positive COVID-19 case was identified at the building last month, which made her fear for her safety.

She believes she is being punished for complaining about what she says were staff putting people at risk — something the shelter disputes.

“It was completely done out of maliciousness because I stood up for my human rights,” Reid said.

Carol Latchford, executive director of Red Door Family Shelter, where Reid was staying, says that’s not the case.

Latchford confirmed the shelter had a positive case of COVID-19 and says staff were wearing personal protective equipment when escorting the infected individual out of the shelter.

She said they relocated Reid and her family because they felt the shelter wasn’t the right place for a high-risk person with immunocompromised children.

“This was what we hoped would enhance her privacy and ability to self-isolate ... the shelter didn’t feel we were equipped to meet her complex needs, and we’re working with the city right now to find more suitable long-term accommodations,” Latchford said.

Now Reid, who says she was told the move would be for two weeks and then other accommodations found, is worried she and her family will be homeless after April 15. She said they’re all staying in one room, are stressed out and it’s taking a toll on the family.

“My daughter’s birthday is on the 11th,” Reid said. “So now she’s spending her birthday unsure of her livelihood and everything.”

Reid said her complaint originated over a utility dispute.

According to Reid, after a fire broke out in another unit at the shelter, staff introduced a rule that they were to enter each unit at night to make sure the stoves were off, a move Reid objected to.

“They continued to have staff come in and out of my unit during the beginning of the pandemic, knowing that they were putting my life at risk,” Reid said. “If I were to be exposed to it, it’d be more than likely I would not survive due to my condition.”

Reid says her kidney cancer is in the terminal stage and she also suffers from fibromyalgia. She and her family have been without stable housing for about 14 months.

When the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, Reid’s doctor told her it is imperative the family self-isolate as she and her children would be at high risk of complications if they contract COVID-19.

When there was a confirmed case of COVID-19 at the shelter, Reid panicked. Her doctor sent a letter to the building’s administration urging them to adhere to physical distancing after Reid says staff insisted on entering her unit to monitor the stove.

Red Door staff confirmed in an emailed statement that a staff member does enter each unit nightly to turn off the breaker which controls the stove.

Reid says not long after her doctor sent the letter to administration, she was told she would be relocated.

Last Thursday, a Red Door Family Shelter staff member showed up to Reid’s door with two Toronto police officers and said she had to pack up her essentials and vacate the unit. She left the unit and moved into the west-end hotel Friday.

Latchford acknowledged there’s no guarantee Reid will be able to find a housing unit within two weeks and may be moved into a different hotel or other emergency accommodation.

In an email, the city’s Shelter, Support and Housing Administration division said the city has a tight rental market that is made even more challenging now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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“Some of our usual housing supports may not be available or have been redeployed to support other essential functions,” the statement said, adding the city is working to help people find housing wherever possible.

Reid said she has no faith in the City of Toronto to find her a place in two weeks and says the relocation happens at the worst possible time.

“I could end up on the street ... It’s a known fact that there’s no units (in Toronto),” Reid said. “So they literally took away the only facility I had to put me back into another homeless crisis that’s even more severe and detrimental to my life.”