91裸聊视频淣othing in life is permanent, not even our troubles.91裸聊视频�
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 91裸聊视频淚 was too low-income to be in there.91裸聊视频�
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.
91裸聊视频淪o I91裸聊视频檓 too low income to get into low income.91裸聊视频�
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 doesn91裸聊视频檛 subsidize all the units like BC Housing can.
91裸聊视频淭hey91裸聊视频檙e mixed-income communities. A big chunk have to pay full market price.91裸聊视频�
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McFadden looked at motels, but couldn91裸聊视频檛 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 it91裸聊视频檚 a lot for her and was only available till June, she took it.
91裸聊视频淲hen you91裸聊视频檙e sitting there thinking you91裸聊视频檙e going to be living in a hotel or a campground over the winter, you don91裸聊视频檛 say no.91裸聊视频�
Something of a go-getter, McFadden volunteers in order to help her girls participate in extra-curricular activities.
91裸聊视频淚 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.91裸聊视频�
Her face colours with emotion as she talks about her children and the effects of the housing shortage.
91裸聊视频淎 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.91裸聊视频�
****
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 family91裸聊视频檚 campsite looks like a typical family vacation spot.
Closer perusal reveals it91裸聊视频檚 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 91裸聊视频榥early homeless91裸聊视频� predicament that so many people in Salmon Arm and the Shuswap are facing.
The campground has been the family91裸聊视频檚 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? 91裸聊视频淏ecause there91裸聊视频檚 nothing else and my kids are going to freeze in the tent,91裸聊视频� Rob says.
Then they will head back to a campsite that better meets their budget. If the campsite isn91裸聊视频檛 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 91裸聊视频� and looking.
91裸聊视频淎 family of six, a working professional couple making a decent salary combined91裸聊视频�, four children, two dogs, two cats. We found ourselves in this position where there was literally nothing,91裸聊视频� says Rob.
On some of the threads online about housing, 91裸聊视频測ou see dozens and dozens and upwards of hundreds of comments. The desperation is off the wall.91裸聊视频�
He said his family was one of the lucky ones because they have a 30-foot motor home, about 10 years old.
Rob says it91裸聊视频檚 risky to owe $2,200 a month just on accommodation.
91裸聊视频淲hat happens if I get sick or my wife gets sick? How do you come up with $2,200?
91裸聊视频淎nd how do you save? That91裸聊视频檚 my biggest issue. How are people able to save money to buy a house when you have to pay so much to rent?91裸聊视频�
He said during the rental search they91裸聊视频檝e heard 91裸聊视频渘o kids,91裸聊视频� as well as 91裸聊视频渘o pets.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淥ur oldest dog came from our oldest kid91裸聊视频檚 dad who passed away. Our youngest kid got a dog for his birthday. What, I91裸聊视频檓 supposed to give away my animals to get a place to rent?91裸聊视频�
He points out one landlord said dog owners make the best tenants because they91裸聊视频檙e scared they91裸聊视频檒l lose the place and not find anything else if the pet misbehaves.
As for solutions, Rob would like to see longer-term mortgages 91裸聊视频� a maximum 40 years rather than 25 91裸聊视频� 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.
91裸聊视频淭his has gone from a municipal problem to a federal problem and nobody seems to be addressing it,91裸聊视频� she says.
She knows of 20 to 30 families who are moving between family members, RVs and tents.
91裸聊视频淵ou see 40 or 50 people going after some dingy little apartment, offering more money so they can have some place to live91裸聊视频� There are basement suites I wouldn91裸聊视频檛 want my children walking into, let alone staying for $1,300.91裸聊视频�
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She sees the extreme lack of housing as a silent problem.
91裸聊视频淪o many people are ashamed and embarrassed. It91裸聊视频檚 automatic, you91裸聊视频檙e not working enough,91裸聊视频� she says of others91裸聊视频� reactions. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 time this was solved. So many people are silent because they91裸聊视频檙e afraid.91裸聊视频�
She says people are afraid of losing their children because they can91裸聊视频檛 find adequate housing.
She, too, has seen places that won91裸聊视频檛 take kids, or won91裸聊视频檛 take pets.
91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 narrowing the market for them even more91裸聊视频� There are so many barriers put in front of people on low income,91裸聊视频� she says.
She knows Christal McFadden well.
91裸聊视频淭o me, she is one of the greatest moms ever.91裸聊视频�
Smith would like to see more compassion in the community.
91裸聊视频淚91裸聊视频檝e always felt we were such a lovely small town that cared so much for each other. Right now I91裸聊视频檓 not seeing it or feeling it and I91裸聊视频檇 like to see and feel that again.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌�-
Organization receives constant phone calls for housing
91裸聊视频淒esperate91裸聊视频� 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.
91裸聊视频淚 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.91裸聊视频�
Dunlop sits on the city91裸聊视频檚 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.
91裸聊视频淭he ongoing operating costs, the ongoing subsidy cost, staff support, BC Housing will fund on a move-forward basis,91裸聊视频� Dunlop says, no
ting that cities are putting their submissions in and getting in queue.
91裸聊视频淚 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.91裸聊视频�
Mayor Nancy Cooper said at this time the city doesn91裸聊视频檛 have any suitable property available, nothing close to a bus route, shopping and other amenities.
91裸聊视频淐ertainly we have looked at properties in the city, but right now we don91裸聊视频檛 have one. We have discussed it a number of times, but we will be discussing it again if a call has gone out.91裸聊视频�
Dunlop said when a window opens for housing, it91裸聊视频檚 important to be ready in order to be considered.
91裸聊视频淗ow do we create an environment in the Shuswap that will encourage affordable housing development? How do we get ready? If we can91裸聊视频檛 move forward with this call, how can we move forward when the next calls come?91裸聊视频�
She says the need for affordable housing stretches across a continuum.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 very much a need for seniors housing, people with disabilities housing and also family housing.91裸聊视频�
marthawickett@saobserver.net
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