A mother of 4 with 2 grandchildren, living in Ottawa Community Housing, fears for her family’s safety after the ceiling in her daughter’s bedroom caved in.

Roxanne Houle has lived in Ottawa Community Housing for nearly 12 years and said recent concerns have been ignored by OCH; her children fear for their safety after witnessing part of the ceiling collapse.

Houle noticed cracks forming Sunday morning and called OCH for help; she was told a staff member would visit within 3 days.

“Wednesday morning, nobody showed up,” Houle said.The ceiling dropped 5 inches from Sunday with cracks growing. A maintenance worker showed up Wednesday telling Houle he couldn’t help her repair the ceiling issues and a contractor was required to fix the damage.

“Because it's too big of a job for the housing maintenance to do,” explained Houle after speaking with the man. “And I said ‘Are you kidding me?’ It's going to collapse.' ”

Wednesday evening, Houle said, water came down and within second of recording the imminent collapse, the ceiling caved in.  

Houle said her children are experiencing health problems and anxiety and are afraid to stay in the home until the ceiling is repaired. 

“I haven’t slept yet because I was worried,” said Houle. “My daughter, whose room this happened in, she's afraid to sleep in her room. She's been afraid to sleep in her room since it started.”

The gaping hole which is approximately a metre-wide and metre-long was sealed Friday morning. Houle said the delay contributed to the problem and the family’s anxiety. 

“She's afraid to sleep in her room. She's been afraid to sleep in her room since it started,”

“The health and safety is Ottawa Community Housing’s top priority,” said OCH in a statement provided to CTV News Friday afternoon.

“A maintenance worker responded to a leak at the property yesterday and issued a work order for the affected area of drywall to be removed and sealed until permanent repairs could be completed. That removal took place this morning. Given that the affected area needs to be dry for the remainder of the repair, the contractor will be attending the property early next week to complete the work.”

Houle said she has nowhere else to turn and is asking OCH to fix the ceiling properly to prevent another collapse from occurring.