The housing insecure need uplifting

 

Photo: Unsplash

Housing insecurity is not a new thing that’s going away anytime soon. Certain segments of the population by virtue of a life lived on the fringes will always be insecure given limited income reduces their opportunities to have the home of their dreams. For them, it’s a juggling act. One dropped ball could throw their whole existence into panic.

Thankfully, we do have systems in place that offer supports for those needing a hand up. Subsidized housing is one such mechanism but it does have drawbacks, if one can call them that.  As example, a single mother and her minor child live in a 2 bedroom apartment and she receives a sum based on the number of persons in the home. She and her child have lived in the same place for years, receiving a monthly benefit, often financial assistance through Health and Community Services. Once the child ‘ages out’ of the system of government support, Mom may have to move and with that is a reduction in her monthly income. Costs associated with moving may be prohibitive. Then what?  And where will she go?

The term ‘welfare’ conjures up all manner of negative connotations which is unfortunate because no one wants to ‘live on welfare’ as a life goal. It’s demeaning and it’s demoralizing; a punch to the gut especially when the individual may have a health challenge, whether physical, mental or emotional and is not and never will be able to contribute to the labour market in any sustained way. They can, however, contribute in other ways, if given opportunity. 

Those of us who can have a duty to be unbegrudgingly uplifting to those who struggle making dollars stretch to cover housing, food, other household maintenance amenities. There’s little left for discretionary spending and when there’s belt tightening, a single mother will most always meet the needs of her child before her own.

It is not our job to police how those of lesser means spend their money, regardless of where it comes from. In today’s world, television and computer, no longer considered luxury items, are a vital part of education and employment advancement; a significant part of daily life for the majority of us. An internet connected computer is often the way out of a challenging situation, like minimum wage employment that is no longer meeting the financial costs associated with living. 

What all of us can do is advocate for more enriching training programs that are relevant to the times in which we live and will hold the interest of students undertaking to educate themselves to be job ready in situations that allow them to show what they’re really made of. Setting the stage with education and apprenticeship allows participants to get on track to pay their own way, effectively reimbursing the ‘public purse’ that was available to help them when they needed it.                                    

By definition, affordable, with regard to housing/accommodations, is set at 30 percent or less of household income. According to Global News, “a report from a tenant advocacy organization shows that the number of of affordable units in New Brunswick declined rapidly from 2016 to 2021, with the New Brunswick Coalition for Tenants’ Rights releasing a report in early May showing that the number of units priced at $750/month and below and fell by at least 8,600 or 25 percent over a 5 year period. Units available during that time rented for $1,200-$1,499 doubled and those over $1,500 tripled.”

To be caught in the hamster wheel of chasing through each month focused almost exclusively on how to pay for it all is beyond stressful. You and I don’t have to be living in it to know that. Then add a child or two into the mix; small children may share a room, with Mom in the other. Fathers may or may not be involved, or the household’s Mom is actually a Dad playing a dual role. They can’t afford the luxury of wishful thinking when worry about how to put food on the table is foremost in their mind.

Many communities are under-serving those in most need of safe, health, clean and affordable housing for themselves and their families, which often may include the verboten cat or dog. When it comes to pet occupants, size does matter and sometimes concessions can be made if prospective tenants in financial crisis have previously demonstrated that they were respectful of previous home or apartment rentals with their pet in tow.  That respectful care will hold them in good stead if they find themselves in need of new accommodations and hope to include their pet. A person’s housing choices are often attached to the needs of a pet, particularly if the companion animal is the only emotional attachment the individual has in life. 

Prices have taken a huge jump as more and more outside investors are buying up properties with tenants already in place, and immediately doubling or trebling the rent. That practice is forcing people out of the places they’ve called home for years. There doesn’t seem to be much recourse as owners are not in the province and their agent/management staff field all tenant inquiries, sometimes not in a satisfactory way. As more of us become voice for those who feel they won’t be heard, changes will come. Be that person.

There’s health and safety in numbers.

  

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with Miss Lexie, a rambunctious Maltese and Mr. Malcolm, a boisterous Havanese. She can be reached via email at  Carla MacInnis Rockwell