鈥淣othing in life is permanent, not even our troubles.鈥�
Christal McFadden keeps this quotation from Charlie Chaplin close at hand.
A single mom of four children, one who is in university, McFadden had to give up the home her family had lived in for five years because the owner needed a place for a family member to stay.
She searched and searched and searched for another home.
She checked out co-op housing but was told 鈥淚 was too low-income to be in there.鈥�
McFadden receives a disability cheque as well as a child benefit, bringing her total monthly income to about $2,000. She says she was told she would need $2,500 to live there.
鈥淪o I鈥檓 too low income to get into low income.鈥�
She would like to see the people in three-bedroom units who have raised their kids move out to a one-bedroom, leaving the larger units for those with children.
Fiona Jackson, communications director with the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC, says some co-op housing receives a subsidy from the federal government, but it doesn鈥檛 subsidize all the units like BC Housing can.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e mixed-income communities. A big chunk have to pay full market price.鈥�
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McFadden looked at motels, but couldn鈥檛 afford them. She went to a bank to see about buying a trailer.
However, her mortgage and pad rental would have been 51 per cent of her income, and the rule is 40 per cent, she says. She would have been paying about $1,000 a month for shelter and she had no co-signer.
Ironically, she is now paying $1,300 per month for the temporary rental she is now in. Even though it鈥檚 a lot for her and was only available till June, she took it.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e sitting there thinking you鈥檙e going to be living in a hotel or a campground over the winter, you don鈥檛 say no.鈥�
Something of a go-getter, McFadden volunteers in order to help her girls participate in extra-curricular activities.
鈥淚 go to the food bank, I use Jumpstart, I go to Second Harvest, because I have to pay $1,300 for rent. I do whatever is necessary to feed my kids.鈥�
Her face colours with emotion as she talks about her children and the effects of the housing shortage.
鈥淎 lot of stuff goes on as a parent. How is this going to affect them in six months to a year? Are they smiling because they know mommy is scared? Kids are smart.鈥�
****
At a local campground sits a motorhome, a tent, a picnic table, a barbecue. Children bike down an adjacent lane, laughing.
At first glance, the Drain family鈥檚 campsite looks like a typical family vacation spot.
Closer perusal reveals it鈥檚 more than that. Outside, under an awning, sits a full-sized fridge and a microwave. Next to it is a wire-enclosed climbing area for two cats. A small storage shed by the picnic table is stuffed with belongings.
In reality, this campsite is evidence of the 鈥榥early homeless鈥� predicament that so many people in Salmon Arm and the Shuswap are facing.
The campground has been the family鈥檚 home from May to October this year. The parents and two younger children sleep in the motorhome. Two teenage boys sleep in the tent.
With winter approaching and the campground closing, last month they moved into a temporary home where the $2,200 a month lease payment will eat up every spare dollar. They have signed a contract in order to stay there until mid-April, with no option to sublet.
Why? 鈥淏ecause there鈥檚 nothing else and my kids are going to freeze in the tent,鈥� Rob says.
Then they will head back to a campsite that better meets their budget. If the campsite isn鈥檛 available until May, they may have to find something, somewhere, for a few weeks to fill in the gap.
Both Rob Drain and his spouse Niki work. He commutes to Vernon to work as a kitchen designer at a cabinet shop while she has a permanent part-time position with Interior Health.
Although previous homeowners, the Drains were renting a house in Gleneden for a couple of years. They were planning to rent to own a property in Salmon Arm but the owner became ill and the property was sold.
Rob developed some credit issues and so, at this point, the couple will need two to three years of tax returns in order to get a mortgage. They found themselves going back to renting.
The couple began looking 鈥� and looking.
鈥淎 family of six, a working professional couple making a decent salary combined鈥�, four children, two dogs, two cats. We found ourselves in this position where there was literally nothing,鈥� says Rob.
On some of the threads online about housing, 鈥測ou see dozens and dozens and upwards of hundreds of comments. The desperation is off the wall.鈥�
He said his family was one of the lucky ones because they have a 30-foot motor home, about 10 years old.
Rob says it鈥檚 risky to owe $2,200 a month just on accommodation.
鈥淲hat happens if I get sick or my wife gets sick? How do you come up with $2,200?
鈥淎nd how do you save? That鈥檚 my biggest issue. How are people able to save money to buy a house when you have to pay so much to rent?鈥�
He said during the rental search they鈥檝e heard 鈥渘o kids,鈥� as well as 鈥渘o pets.鈥�
鈥淥ur oldest dog came from our oldest kid鈥檚 dad who passed away. Our youngest kid got a dog for his birthday. What, I鈥檓 supposed to give away my animals to get a place to rent?鈥�
He points out one landlord said dog owners make the best tenants because they鈥檙e scared they鈥檒l lose the place and not find anything else if the pet misbehaves.
As for solutions, Rob would like to see longer-term mortgages 鈥� a maximum 40 years rather than 25 鈥� so payments could be smaller. He said that would benefit both homebuyers and developers building housing. If the developers pay less, so do their tenants.
****
Nicole Smith is an aboriginal support worker by profession, but she has been busy advocating for housing of late.
鈥淭his has gone from a municipal problem to a federal problem and nobody seems to be addressing it,鈥� she says.
She knows of 20 to 30 families who are moving between family members, RVs and tents.
鈥淵ou see 40 or 50 people going after some dingy little apartment, offering more money so they can have some place to live鈥� There are basement suites I wouldn鈥檛 want my children walking into, let alone staying for $1,300.鈥�
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She sees the extreme lack of housing as a silent problem.
鈥淪o many people are ashamed and embarrassed. It鈥檚 automatic, you鈥檙e not working enough,鈥� she says of others鈥� reactions. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time this was solved. So many people are silent because they鈥檙e afraid.鈥�
She says people are afraid of losing their children because they can鈥檛 find adequate housing.
She, too, has seen places that won鈥檛 take kids, or won鈥檛 take pets.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 narrowing the market for them even more鈥� There are so many barriers put in front of people on low income,鈥� she says.
She knows Christal McFadden well.
鈥淭o me, she is one of the greatest moms ever.鈥�
Smith would like to see more compassion in the community.
鈥淚鈥檝e always felt we were such a lovely small town that cared so much for each other. Right now I鈥檓 not seeing it or feeling it and I鈥檇 like to see and feel that again.鈥�
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Organization receives constant phone calls for housing
鈥淒esperate鈥� is how Dawn Dunlop describes the housing situation in Salmon Arm.
Executive director of the Salmon Arm branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Dunlop oversees 150 units of affordable housing operated by CMHA and SILA, the Shuswap Independent Living Association.
鈥淚 know that housing continues to still be desperate in this community. We get calls constantly from people looking for housing. We have a wait list for all our housing.鈥�
Dunlop sits on the city鈥檚 Social Impact Advisory Committee, which has made a recommendation that city council develop an affordable housing strategy.
On the provincial level, Dunlop says BC Housing has an open call for housing units right now, but it requires municipalities gifting or providing land. Then BC Housing will put modular houses on it and provide 24-7 support services for the hardest-to-house individuals.
Two thousand modular units are being built across B.C. Once a municipality provides the initial investment of land, BC Housing will provide support services and operate them.
鈥淭he ongoing operating costs, the ongoing subsidy cost, staff support, BC Housing will fund on a move-forward basis,鈥� Dunlop says, no
ting that cities are putting their submissions in and getting in queue.
鈥淚 have been working with some developers, community members and the city about if there is an opportunity for this to happen but the city must give land for this to move forward.鈥�
Mayor Nancy Cooper said at this time the city doesn鈥檛 have any suitable property available, nothing close to a bus route, shopping and other amenities.
鈥淐ertainly we have looked at properties in the city, but right now we don鈥檛 have one. We have discussed it a number of times, but we will be discussing it again if a call has gone out.鈥�
Dunlop said when a window opens for housing, it鈥檚 important to be ready in order to be considered.
鈥淗ow do we create an environment in the Shuswap that will encourage affordable housing development? How do we get ready? If we can鈥檛 move forward with this call, how can we move forward when the next calls come?鈥�
She says the need for affordable housing stretches across a continuum.
鈥淭here鈥檚 very much a need for seniors housing, people with disabilities housing and also family housing.鈥�
marthawickett@saobserver.net
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