When strangers pound at the door of her downtown Toronto apartment, Janice Bellmore has learned to keep calm, make sure her lock is secured, and turn up the TV to drown out the noise. Calling security, in the complex she’s lived in for two decades, often feels futile.
It’s not unusual for unfamiliar faces to roam her building — a weathered concrete and brick apartment, with rusting metal railings looking over a wide courtyard connecting it to hundreds of other homes. In many cases, the people who enter this sprawling complex are desperate to find potent street drugs, tenants say. And it’s a reliable place to look, as vulnerable tenants having their units taken over by dealers is a chronic problem.
