Fort Smith (Sep 15/03) - A Fort Smith elder has given up waiting for the territorial government to provide her with a new house.

"They let me down," says Maggie Kurszewski. "I'll never believe in those guys again."

The 68-year-old says the NWT Housing Corporation promised her a new house a year ago. She now says she will give her existing home to relatives and seek to move into new seniors housing units being built in Fort Smith.

Last year, Kurszewski launched a symbolic fundraising drive to publicize her need for a new house, saying she would like to receive a loonie from everyone in the NWT.

However, Tom Makepeace, the corporation's South Slave director, says a promise was never made to Kurszewski.

Instead, he says a misunderstanding may have led her to believe a promise was made. "She received a letter from the CMHC regarding a program, which she interpreted as a letter from us."

The CMHC letter may have been a thank-you for taking part in a housing repair program or advertising for a new program, Makepeace says, adding the corporation was "mystified" when Kurszewski stated in the media a year ago that a written promise had been made.

"There have been some misconceptions on what's been happening," Makepeace says.

Kurszewski admits she didn't have the offer in writing, although she does remember being asked to sign insurance documents on a new house.

She emphatically states there was a verbal promise.

"I could swear on the Bible that's what happened," Kurszewski says.

She says she was promised a $130,000 two-bedroom house to replace her existing home, which she describes as cold, old and rundown.

She plans to move out by the end of the month.

"I'm thoroughly disgusted with them," Kurszewski says of the housing corporation. "They play games with people's lives."

Makepeace says he understands Kurszewski intends to move into seniors housing, noting the elder may be more comfortable there than in her current home. In the past, the housing corporation helped repair Kurszewski's house, including a $30,000 boiler system.