\u201cIt’s warmer outside than it is inside,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s 14 Celsius inside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a damp and grey day, which would be exacerbated by the knowledge that there was nowhere warm to escape to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The woman has bought a gas generator, but she said it\u2019s not powerful enough to run her electric stove or a heater. Instead, she\u2019s heating water on her barbecue and having a sponge bath. The lack of power means the well doesn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She can at least put the radio on and charge her phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019s remarkably upbeat for a person whose home has no electricity or water, but is clearly putting on a brave face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI paid good money for my home. It was supposed to be my retirement,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is very stressful. I put all my money into this place, and now I can’t even sell it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\u2019s one of 11 tenants at the trailer park, which had its power cut off last Friday by Technical Safety BC. The provincial regulator first warned the park’s owner, Carol Goldstone, that the electrical system was dangerous and in desperate need of upgrading five years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Residents say they only heard of the electrical issues in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI bought this place in 2019. (Goldstone) never disclosed any of this,\u201d she said. \u201cOtherwise, I wouldn’t have bought in here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The woman has been to see family and filled up large jugs of water. It works, but is very much a temporary fix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She worries about what will happen in the winter. Aside from the lack of heating, the pipes will freeze, and flushing the toilet with a bucket won\u2019t be an option.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moving the trailer to another park also isn\u2019t an option. It’s too old, and other parks won\u2019t have it. Renting is simply too expensive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the other side of the park, Kye, who didn\u2019t want to leave his last name, is heading out. He has the heat blasting in his truck to keep warm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s been a little chilly the last couple nights,\u201d he said. \u201cThis morning’s probably the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He says he\u2019s waiting on a portable solar AC power station, which can also be charged from a regular outlet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can go to my mom’s place and charge it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt charges in less than an hour.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kye is younger than most at the park and says he\u2019s lived there for 12 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019s been using his camping stove to heat up water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s a slow process for me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also seems remarkably resilient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don’t need too much, I guess,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll stick it out and do the best you can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across from Kye\u2019s trailer, Denise Harder is putting on a brave face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She\u2019s living in her trailer with her 84-year-old mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s been a struggle,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a gas camping stove on her deck, which she\u2019s been using to cook with, and her sister has been bringing her water. She said she can\u2019t afford a generator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Her mother is bundled up in her winter coat on the coach, drinking a hot cup of tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe’re just really super tired, and we just want our power back,\u201d Harder said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She has no plans to move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTry getting an 84-year-old woman out of her home that she’s owned for almost 33 years,\u201d Harder said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot gonna happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some have moved on though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A senior who required oxygen, and therefore power, moved to an apartment in town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe wanted to live and die here,\u201d his former neighbour Lisa Cantafio-Anderson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His trailer faces out onto the fields and now sits empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cantafio-Anderson said another woman with a young child moved in with her mom. Another family found a place in Enderby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They still have their rent to pay, and still own the trailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One resident only moved there last September, paying $120,000 for their trailer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cantafio-Anderson lives there with her husband and 10-year-old son. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe don’t have much, that’s why we’re here,\u201d she said. \u201cThat’s why we’re not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The family have been going to her mom\u2019s for showers and to do laundry, and a friend lent her a battery to keep the fridge going.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not enough for constant power, so it’s hooked up for two hours and then off for four hours and then back on for two hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe got a fire pit out here to keep warm and\u2026 we have an (outdoor) cooking station,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Standing outside her trailer, she\u2019s wrapped up against the cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI’m under three heavy blankets in the house because the house is actually colder than it is out here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Only 10 minutes from downtown Vernon, the trailer park is a sleepy oasis, full of large trees and backs onto hundreds of acres of farmland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cantafio-Anderson has lived there for 11 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we first moved here, I loved it, and I was telling people it’s like camping 24\/7,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd now I am camping 24\/7.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She doesn\u2019t plan to move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe’re doing it because we’re determined people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s not easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s been so stressful,\u201d Cantafio-Anderson said. \u201cThen the not knowing what she’s doing or how this is going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n An online fundraiser was launched<\/a>, but it only garnered $2,100 of the needed $80,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cantafio-Anderson believes people think it a scam and that the money is going to the landlady.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe’re not trying to benefit her. We’re trying to benefit us,\u201d she said. \u201cThere’s 11 of us sitting here\u2026 (and) we need power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n With pad rents at Crown Villa going for $265 and $295 a month, residents question why Goldstone didn\u2019t increase the amount to cover the cost of essential repairs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe asked her to raise it. She turned around and said no,\u201d Cantafio-Anderson said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The electrical issue is one of many that has plagued the mobile home park in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the spring of 2022, the septic system started leaking and Interior Health ended up going in and fixing it. It then sent Goldstone a $20,000 bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goldstone inherited the park in 1988 from her father, who built it in 1974. Residents complain she hasn\u2019t kept things in order.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDespite ample opportunity and clear deadlines, the owner has consistently failed to make the required repairs, resulting in further deterioration of the electrical equipment posing greater safety risks,\u201d Technical Safety BC said in a statement when the power was finally cut off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Residents also complain that the 77-year-old didn\u2019t tell them about the situation with the electrical system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI tried not to frighten anybody,\u201d Goldstone said. \u201cYou don’t want to scare people and panic people because then what happens\u2026 they start selling and somebody comes in and picks (the trailers) up cheap because they’re afraid. No, I didn’t want that to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She says she tried to handle it, but couldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Goldstone has repeatedly said she doesn\u2019t have the funds to do the pricey repairs, and as she herself lives on the property, she also has no power or water.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n She bought a gas stove and has a generator. Like the others, she brings in buckets of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don’t want to whine. I’m not a whiner and a complainer,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also said she now has a plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI’ll tell you the bad press did me more good than it did bad,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Goldstone said she\u2019s been approached by numerous people who have talked about her repositioning her assets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She\u2019s very vague on the details, but says she\u2019d go into some sort of 50\/50 partnership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n BC Assessment has the 2.8-acre site valued at $800,000. Goldstone says she doesn\u2019t know how much the property is worth or how big it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"|\"](\"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_8227.jpeg?w=1024\" "\\"|\\"")
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