14 DAY TRIAL // A 89-year-old woman from Milford, Ohio, who has smoked for most of her life, has decided that she would rather move than give up cigarettes.
Beulah Toombs lives at the AHEPA 127 Apartments, a home for low-income seniors built under the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Section 202. The building went smoke-free a little more than a year ago, so the private owner changed the lease and stipulated that residents were not allowed to smoke inside their units.
“No smoking of any tobacco product in any of the residential units, patios, inside common areas, outside common areas, parking lots and all other areas that fall within AHEPA 127-I,” a notice sent to all residents in February 2013 read.
According to a Cincinnati.com report, existent residents were given a year to quit smoking on the property. However, Beulah didn't stop smoking, and, after other unhappy residents reported her, management deemed her behavior “non-compliant” and issued a 30-day eviction order on April 13.
When asked if the management's decision would make her quit smoking, she replied, “I don’t think so. This is my home, and I think you can do whatever you want to in your home.”
Now, she has to start packing her things and move away, although she is not very happy with the situation.
“I don't think it's right because this was my home for 10 years. You should do what you want to do,” the elderly woman said.
Mary Ann Burgoyne, Beulah's daughter tried her best to convince the building manager to not kick her mother out, and she even tried to enlist a senior-advocacy group, but all her efforts were in vain. She promised she would buy a “fancy” air purifier, but was told that her mother should stop smoking because this was “the future.”
Ms. Toombs says she has smoked for 70 years. She doesn't remember when she started, but it was definitely before the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, so it's hard for her to quit now. She adds that she only gave up cigarettes when she was pregnant.
“I quit when I had my five children for 10 years because the doctor told me it wasn't good for me and my kids smoking,” she told WCPO Cincinnati.
The woman is now moving to a new building, where the policy doesn't allow smoking in the apartments, but at least it has a designated smoking room.