A woman evicted from the Island?s only residential home for people living with HIV/AIDS has lashed out at the facility claiming it is dirty and has become a haven for drug users.

Sherry Saltus, who has been battling AIDS for more than a decade, claims the Light House facility in Smith?s Parish unfairly evicted her ? despite the fact that she had been paying rent to live there for the past six years.

She said there is little supervision at the home, little food and that staff treated her abusively in kicking her out while she was recovering from a serious operation.

Ms Saltus told she was evicted because she refused to share a room with another resident.

But she said the reason she did not want to share was that she had just come out of the hospital following a chest operation and was afraid of contacting new germs while in a weakened condition.

Despite sharing her feelings with Light House co-ordinator Carolyn Armstrong, she was told on June 14 to move into another room with female resident. When she resisted she said the Light House staff threatened to call the Police to remove her.

?The stress and the pressure did nothing to help my healing. It got so bad at one point they said to me, ?when are you getting out, we?re going to call the Police?,? she said. ?Mrs. Armstrong has caused me great pain. I just needed some time and consideration to recover from the operation so I could get my health back and finish my studies.?

Ms Saltus is currently studying at the Bermuda College to become a geriatric aide.

On June 26 she returned to the home find her belongings packed in trash bags and put out on the side of the street.

She left then but eventually worked out an agreement with the home to return, she told but she left again two weeks ago after she returned home to find a man sleeping in her room. The staff gave her a final eviction notice on July 14, and Ms Saltus said the eviction was unfair and threatening as she needed a place to recover from the serious operation.

Ms Saltus is now living with her father while trying to sort out her situation.

The 46-year-old grandmother is currently seeking legal advice on the situation and has been to the Human Rights Commission and the Ministry of Health with her complaints.

She said conditions at the home are sliding and it is failing in its important role in Bermuda.

It has come to the point where she no longer feels comfortable staying there.

?The residence is really going down,? she said. ?There is never any food in the fridge. It is dirty. There is no cleaning being done and people are using drugs, they are smoking and getting high. I am questioning what is happening.

?This is a place which is supposed to get people back out on their feet and to help them develop independence but there is no one to supervise what is going on and there is no spiritual guidance.

?People with a heart and a concern for others need to run that place, we cannot let people who need help suffer like that.? visited the home and took a look at the conditions and it appeared the home was being taken care of. Nine residents currently share the facility which has two shared bedrooms on the lower level and a shared bathroom, and three shared bedrooms on the upstairs level.

Ms Saltus said she had plans to move on and was preparing to leave the home at the end of the year but said she needs a job which will allow her to support herself independently.

She was on Social Assistance through Government but said she can no longer receive support because she no longer lives at the Light House.

She used to pay $980 a month for her room and said she did whatever she could to support other residents.

?I am a hard worker,? she said. ?I cook, clean, I socialise and talk with the residents. I did whatever I could to help keep this place going. I want to keep my studies up and for me to catch any germs at this point could really prevent me from continuing my courses in health care.?

Mrs. Armstrong said that staff explained to Ms Saltus she would have to share a room on June 14 with another single lady at the residence.

?Ms Saltus occupied a small bedroom and was moved to the larger room with the other lady, she became upset and said she couldn?t see it happening,? said Mrs. Armstrong. ?We didn?t press it because Ms Saltus was due to have surgery the next day so we left it. After a period of time, we revisited the issue on July 6 by asking her about a plan to put the move in place. Ms Saltus became irate and shouted, she wasn?t moving.?

Mrs. Armstrong said that on that day Ms Saltus was told she would have to leave if she was not going to share the room. On July 19 she presented her reasons for not moving to the board who did not deem her case as valid, said Mrs. Armstrong.

Allegations that drugs are used at the home are untrue as well, she added.

?It is absolutely false that people are using drugs. For a long period there was no full time supervisor, but we do have one now who has been there for two months and for the past year part time. There is no drug use at Light House and residents are subject to random drug tests.?

Kevin Monkman, Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Health said once an official complaint was received the situation would be investigated.

He would not comment fully on the situation, but Mr. Monkman said Ms Saltus can lodge a complaint on conditions at the facility through the Department of Health.

Ms Saltus first spoke publicly about living with the disease three years ago and has called for more awareness of the spread of the disease, which has been steadily rising according to last year?s United Nations World AIDS report.

She contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion after her youngest son was delivered via Caesarean section.

Today she must take a cocktail of 11 pills a day to keep the deadly disease at bay.

Light House co-ordinator Carolyn Armstrong told yesterday that she could not comment on the situation without first consulting the home?s board.

There are currently nine people living at the facility and another five individuals are on a waiting list.

Government offers some financial support to the Light House through a grant given to the charity STAR (Supportive Therapy for Persons with AIDS and their Families) but the charity must reapply every year. Light House is also supported through private donations.