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Arviat mom of six worries her family's health suffers due to mouldy apartment

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An Arviat mother whose home is overrun with mould said the problem is making her family sick.

Emilda Hallauk, 36, is worried about how the mould could affect her elderly father, who has respiratory problems, and her three-year-old daughter, who has been asthmatic since birth.

Emilda Hallauk says she “kept asking for help but got no response,” so she shared images of her home on social media.

“It smells like mud in this apartment,” she told Kivalliq News.

Home for Hallauk is a two-bedroom Arviat Housing Association apartment she shares with up to 13 other people, including her six children, her parents, two brothers and three sisters, although one sister now lives with her boyfriend because “we don’t have enough room,” she said.

She has been living in the home for 12 years, she said, and first noticed the mould issue about a year ago. She said the problem has been making her family members sick.

“My dad (who) is over 60 years of age started to lose his voice and get respiratory problems and my three-year-old girl has been asthmatic since birth,” she said.

“It really makes my head hurt,” she added. “Big time headaches.”

She raised the issue with the Nunavut Housing Corporation and the Arviat Housing Association about six months ago, she said.

Last week she shared images of her home on social media.

"It smells like mud in this apartment," says Arviat's Emilda Haullauk, who lives in the two-bedroom unit with up to 13 other people.

“I kept asking for help but got no response,” she said. “So, I just started to post pictures to get attention so my family will have a healthy lifestyle. I don't want them to be here.”

Two Arviat Housing Association staff visited her home on March 17 and said the problem would be taken care of, she said.

Hallauk wants the mould removed, but she is also open to moving to a “three or four bedroom” unit “because this little apartment is so small for my six kids.”

“I just want my kids to be healthy,” she added.

A representative from the Nunavut Housing Corporation declined to comment.

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