When Ryszard Kaczmarczyk moved into Simcoe Terrace near downtown Barrie last fall, he assumed the money he would be paying for “room and board” would include covering the cost of the type of food he can actually eat.
The 63-year-old has been living at LOFT (Leap of Faith Together) — in the Simcoe Terrace retirement home, at 44 Donald St. — since October 2022. He said he has been following a vegan diet on and off for most of his life, but the last three years he has been fully vegan. The decision to only consume plant-based foods, he said, is due to a combination of religious, ethical and environmental reasons.
Despite the $950 he pays monthly, which he said is supposed to cover the cost of both the shared room and food, Kaczmarczyk says the facility is refusing to provide him with plant-based foods beyond supplying almond milk. That has left him forced to spend the little bit of money he has left to purchase other proteins, which he keeps in a small fridge or freezer in the shared room.
“I don’t know if I am getting anything or what I am getting until I go down (to the dining room)," he told BarrieToday. "They said (I) have to buy (my) own and supply it. If I am going to eat a meal, I have to go down beforehand — purchase the food, of course — and that would have to happen every day. I have been forced to eat cheese and eggs because I need my protein.
“Usually, they’re giving me sandwiches (like) a tomato and cucumber sandwich for lunch, and for soup on rare occasions it’s vegetable, but it is mostly meat-based," Kaczmarczyk added. "They were buying some plant-based cheese for a while, but they stopped.”
BarrieToday contacted several local representatives requesting an interview to address Kaczmarczyk’s concerns, however they went unanswered.
An emailed response from a communications representative with LOFT, based out of Toronto, noted that “LOFT Community Services and Simcoe Terrace are custodians of all health information under the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA).”
“Per the PHIPA requirements, LOFT Community Services cannot disclose any information about its clients, in oral or written format, that could identify them without their expressed consent. As such, we cannot confirm or deny that this individual is a resident and we cannot make any comment about the complaint made to BarrieToday,” stated Mona Lee-Tam, the organization’s senior director of development and communications.
Kaczmarczyk says what he pays in room and board accounts for 75 per cent of his income with the rest going to cover the cost of car insurance and storage for his personal belongings. So with little to no money to spare, finding enough to cover the cost of food has been stressful, he adds.
“The room and board is supposed to cover three meals a day plus snacks. My finances are limited,” he said, adding if it weren’t for donations, he would need to come up with an additional $150 per month for groceries.
This is his eighth address since August 2019, added Kaczmarczyk, who says he suffers from anxiety disorder, depression, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe learning disabilities. Having lived in homeless shelters in the past, Kaczmarczyk says he knows all too well what it feels like dealing with food insecurity.
“I am stressed every day and I have to wonder what I am going to eat," he said. "I am highly sensitive to stress hormones … but since I have been vegan, my health has gotten way better. I don’t like living here because of all of the stress. It affects my memory, it affects my plans because I am still trying to get back into the workforce, so I can’t move forward …and all that affects my health.”
Although Kaczmarczyk says he's actively looking for somewhere else to live, he is hoping to help bring some awareness to the issue.
“No one has taken them to task here or have stood up for their rights here," he said. "I am trying to not only help myself, but to stand up for others, as unfortunately a lot of people don’t have an advocate to do it or can’t do it themselves.”
