Holiday Run/Walk event is on Facebook.
A Vancouver personal trainer is organizing a fundraising run/walk to aid those being forced out of their homes at the Courtyard Village Apartments in Rose Village.
Sherri McMillan, owner of Northwest Personal Training, posted Saturday on her Facebook page that she is organizing an informal 3-mile run/walk at 9 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 21. The event will start at Torque Coffee Roasters, 501 Columbia St., and proceed along the Columbia River.
On Dec. 2 — immediately after the December rent was due — some residents of Courtyard Village Apartments, a large complex of buildings at 2600 T St., started getting legal notices to vacate by the end of this month. The new owner, MF Parc Central, plans to make badly needed improvements and raise the rents accordingly.
Not everyone has gotten a notice to vacate yet, but the expectation is that as the work proceeds, all occupants will eventually be hit with the same notice. On Wednesday, crews were already removing landscaping as well as patio furniture and other items left outdoors by residents — even locked bicycles and barbecues.
“These are people who are already struggling to make it, and now they have to find a place to live, come up with first and last months rent all during the holidays when they are already having a difficult time getting presents for kids and making the season special,” McMillan said on a page promoting the event.
McMillan is suggesting a minimum donation of $10, but she said any amount would help.
“It’s a great way to help some people right here in our community during the holidays,” she wrote. “Together we can do a lot!”
Advance registration is not required and festive gear, costumes, kids and dogs are welcome, McMillan said.
