Heat in a community housing building in Toronto’s east end has not been working properly — if at all — for more than two weeks.

The building lost power during the ice storm on Dec. 22 for a few days. When it came back on, neither the hot water nor the heat came with it.

“I had to boil water to pour into the cold water in the tub to bathe my girl,” said Arielle Jackson, a mother of a 2-year-old, who lives in the Toronto Community Housing complex at Eglinton Ave. E. and Markham Rd.

Residents thankfully got their hot water back on Dec. 30, and the heat came back on Tuesday afternoon, a TCHC spokesperson said.

The thermometer read 18C in Jackson’s unit and a degree cooler in her bedroom.

“Trust me, when the sun goes down, it gets really cold,” said Jackson, 23, after the previous night’s outdoor temperature dropped to -27 with the wind chill, leaving her exhausted and her daughter wheezy.

Jackson has slept with her daughter under three comforters to stay warm, and they have gone to a friend’s house during the day to get out of the cold.

The issues stemmed from the ice storm before Christmas.

“We continued to have problems with the hot water heating system, due to the radiator pipes bursting,” said community housing spokesperson Sara Goldvine. “As a result, while all units have had some heat, the system was operating below capacity since the ice storm.

“It was really stressful. My daughter has asthma and it gets worse in the cold, wheezing badly,” Jackson said. “Why did it take so long? I don’t think the city really cares about us.”

The vents in Jackson’s apartment were warm to the touch Tuesday, but air wasn’t flowing out. She bought two space heaters, leaving her short on rent this month.

“I’m so grateful that I can go to my friend’s place, but I don’t like imposing,” Jackson said. “It shouldn’t take more than two weeks to fix heat. It’s ridiculous. I mean, how is this acceptable?”

On the weekend, pipes burst, leaving many first-floor units flooded and residents fed up.

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“Just because we live in community housing doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be treated properly,” said Mary McCafferty. “I have a little heat, but I wouldn’t say my place is heated.”

The situation left people scrambling for some form of heat. Many bought or borrowed space heaters, others turned their stoves on for hours, while still others ran hot showers.

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