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Harriette Large, 51, has lived there for seven years. She rents an apartment on the fourth floor with money she gets from a provincial income support program.

Photo by Dave Lazzario

“That’s my whole income now, just to pay the rent,” Large said. “They’ve been increasing it little by little. This one’s a big chunk of it.”

Before coming to the MacDonald building, she lived on the street for a few years. She’s not sure what her options are come November.

“I have family, but it won’t be suitable. I prefer to have a roof over my head than having to sleep outside,” she said.

Her friend, Delores Joan King, 58, has lived there just as long.

King is waiting to hear whether her social assistance cheque will be increased to help with the rent hike. If it doesn’t, she doesn’t know what she’ll do.

“I lived on the street before, but my husband and I always worked. Because we didn’t come from Edmonton, we didn’t have any references to move into any other place,” she said.

Her husband has since died. When he went into hospital, friends came by her place to help her tear out the carpet which she says was infested with bed bugs. She let building management know. She said they promised to replace the flooring.

That was in 2010. The concrete remains bare. An occasional cockroach scuttles past.

All three residents said the rent increase, besides putting low-income people in a tough situation, isn’t worth what they’re getting anyway.

A walk through the halls suggests they may be right. Carpets have been ripped up and replaced by paint over the concrete flooring. Walls have graffiti in some places, holes in drywall in others. The elevators are often out of service, meaning older or less mobile residents in top floors can’t easily get downstairs.