The CMHA, meanwhile, said that privacy rules prohibit it from discussing specific cases.

“I can’t confirm or deny whether somebody is a client,” branch executive director Tara McKendrick told Niagara This Week on Monday. “We wouldn’t be able to speak to that.”

She said that her agency is among those calling for measures to find more affordable housing in Niagara. “Affordable housing is an ongoing concern for many people,” she said.

While being unable to discuss Traver’s case due to privacy, McKendrick said the CMHA is “dedicated to ensuring we’re working with individuals and their families to address those needs and balances of individuals and families with the needs of the community.”

Traver, who grew up in St. Catharines, said that about ten years ago he left a job making video games with former game designer Silicon Knights after becoming disillusioned, and said his 15-year marriage fell apart.

He ended up packing up a trailer attached to his bike with survival gear and heading to the East Coast. After returning to Niagara, he moved between couch-surfing and staying at motels, and found himself homeless when the motel on Lundy’s Lane he was living in closed.

He was “outlaw camping” on the Niagara Parkway, scouting locations during the day and camping at night, packing up and leaving as daylight approached each day.

Traver, who said at one point as a teen ended up in the former Norris psychiatric wing at the old St. Catharines General Hospital, eventually got into therapy at the Niagara Falls Community Health Centre, where he began his art therapy.

When he got his psychiatric diagnosis two years ago and was told to get off the booze and drugs, “I got clean,” he said. Traver does take medicinal marijuana prescribed for his anxiety.

He was doing volunteer work at Greater Niagara General Hospital, something that he said was doing wonders for him emotionally. “I was getting my confidence back,” he said.

But when he received the letter telling him he needed to leave by Nov. 11, those gains fell apart.

“It totally destroyed me,” he said. “All the hard work I’ve put into it, they take it away from me. I was right back where I was a decade ago.”

“It made no sense to me,” said Traver. “I was doing so well, and now they’re going to uproot me with the winter coming?”

Traver said that he lodged numerous complaints over the noise at his building, because he said the banging went on until all hours of the night in some neighbouring units.

But he said he doesn’t want to be uprooted and fears if he becomes homeless again, he will spiral down into a dark place he won’t be able to get out of.

“I’m probably going to disappear and die,” he said. “I should be allowed to stay.”

Hogarth said she and Ted met with CMHA officials last Tuesday, but that nothing was resolved.

On Monday, Traver filed an appeal over the Nov. 11 termination of his occupancy, writing to McKendrick and CMHA Niagara board president Jennifer Fisk to ask for more time to work with a new support worker to find a suitable and affordable place. “Without this extension, I will be homeless in less than a week,” he wrote.

Traver said in his letter that he signed an occupancy agreement in September of last year “under duress and without informed consent,” and said the occupancy termination notice has sent him into “crisis mode,” afraid that he’ll lose everything.

“This apartment has allowed me my own space, enjoying the simple things like cooking in a kitchen and sleeping in a bedroom, something I did not have for years,” he wrote.

Traver, who turned 50 on Monday, said the stable housing has had a positive impact on his life.

“This past year, I’ve made great strides in my sobriety, mental health and artwork,” he said in his letter.

The CMHA’s McKendrick said that her agency puts the well-being of its clients at the top of its agenda.

“We would always explore options and give choices before putting somebody in a situation where their recovery or progress is compromised, and continue to offer support,” she said.

Hogarth said Traver’s letter was also sent to Niagara Falls riding MPP Wayne Gates’ office.