Seems there is no escaping anymore

By – Kendall Worth!

In the past I have written about homelessness and the the shut down of People’s Park (aka real name Meagher Park). Since people were removed from that park, many homeless encampments have sprung up in Halifax/Dartmouth, and Lower Sackville. The number of tents set up in Halifax parks are more and more obvious to the public EYE these days.

 

 

Kendall Worth holding sign that reads: "I am visiting a homeless encampment. These encampments would exist less often if people had more money to pay rent and live on. There is no excuss for homelessness in this city, province or country. "

 Lately, we have seen more tents set up outside of City Hall/Grand Parade and in Victoria Park as well as several other locations throughout HRM. Homeless encampments are so obvious that the city that some (part of the financially better off community) h are calling those homeless encampments an eye sore. Some people I know keep skirting being homeless. For instance, Carrie-Ann who I wrote about here and here, recently got relocated against her will out of her former Westwood apartment into Assisi Hall on her University Campus. It was clear that if she did not take the new room she was assigned (and did not like) then her only other option would have been living in a tent. There is no excuse for a person in a wheelchair, or any human being in fact, to become homeless like this. It is much more difficult for a wheelchair user to live the homeless life then it is for an able-bodied person to live that same homeless life. If Carrie-Ann was homeless, , she would have found finding places like accessible washrooms (as one example) more difficult to access. Since the university insisted she move, and since she is not able to access income assistance, and there is no federal disability benefit, Carrie-Ann would have had no choice. I have a gut feeling these days that Carrie-Ann is only one out of many persons with disabilities who is at risk of becoming homeless, if the government continues to move as slow as cold molasses to address this housing crises.

On a couple of recent occasions I visited the homeless encampment at Victoria Park, and to my surprise I found a former Benefits Reform Action Group member, now homeless. Kathryn (her real name) invited me to come back to the homeless encampment in Victoria Park and interview her for my blog. She told me that she was homeless since the summer of 2022. That may seem like a long time but with lack of affordable housing this did not surprise me. I was able to go back and interview Kathryn after a couple of tries when she was not around, and those details appear at the end of this post.

The problems that lead people to have no choice but to put themselves at risk of becoming homeless these days are not limited to Carrie-Ann and Kathryn. However during my conversation with Kathryn explained that one difference between having your own apartments and being Homeless in an encampment, is that in the encampment, they may be homeless but they are finding community. Everyone in the tents at these homeless encampments,neighbouring each other are, are getting to know each other. This type of community is something they did not have when they lived in their own apartments. However, we can all agree that even with finding community, being homeless is no way to live. Being homeless is not good for their health. Also, there is a lot of concern when you live in a tent., about what to do and how to survive in the winter.

It seems these days the Housing Crises is visible enough that government should notice the impact of rising rents and the shortage of affordable housing. These day you even hear about working people becoming or being homeless. If working wages were higher -- like $20.00 per hour (latest CCPA living wage for Halifax is $26.50), and, if the income assistance rates were higher (at least double the current $950; and remember not everyone gets the $950, some gets less.) it might be enough as the money people are getting to live on, is just not providing what it cost to pay rent and live. More and more People are getting evicted from their apartments, for, if not Late rent payment then Reno-victions. How can they evict people in a housing crises? - Is the question at hand here. These days sources are telling me that families and young couples. Not just single people, are living in those tents. So what is clear it is not just people with serious mental illness anymore who are becoming homeless. As much as there may need to be improvement in the housing stock, the question is what is the government looking at when they say increasing the Housing stock? Not obvious that it is more affordable housing… just more General Housing?

In my conversations with homeless people, it is clear that they do not want to be homeless. However, with available apartments these days with rents starting at $1800 a month just for a Bachelor, or One Bedroom, and costing upwards to $3000 a month, where does money for them to pay rent come from? At this Round Table Discussion on April 19^th 2023, homeless people who were in attendance brought up How are we suppose to get an apartment when Community Services will not give us money to find an apartment? This speaks volumes as to the reason why something needs to be done: increase the Income assistance Rates, or make guaranteed livable, basic income available , as I wrote about here.

People are asking when is the homeless crises going to end? Also seems these days that anxiety is growing more and more among those in the community, who are about to become homeless, as well as among those who are already homeless. 

 

Kendall and Kathryn, Victoria Park , Halifax, NS

 

Now I want to return to Kathryn who I mentioned at the beginning of this post and who I did return to interview. Kathryn Cleroux, who invited me to come back to Victoria Park to interview her, tells me that prior to moving into Victoria Park she was living in her car and is currently getting no income assistance or any government help whats-so-ever. She is choosing not to even try to get back on income assistance, because she is tired of fighting the system, and decided she wants to be free from the system. She would not discuss with me the reason why Community Services made the decision to cut her off. She does report that she owes them $85,000. She would not say why – only that her anxiety went up and started getting out of control when asking her the questions if she has ever tried or even thought about appealing this through the Employment Support and Income Assistance Appeals process.

She passed me a note about what she wanted me to say which reads:

“The only support she has received from the government since removing herself from the system; is a letter asking for repayment of $85000.00 they say she received as over payment. They also said she is no longer eligible for government assistance. She is choosing freedom at Bum Park (Victoria Park) Halifax, NS”.

She also preferred to keep private the reason for her eviction from her apartment in Fairview, before becoming homeless. However, she did give me the OK to disclose that she was off income assistance since September 2022. Between then and July 2023 she had roommates that helped her with her rent and that is how she got to stay in her apartment until July 2023. Whatever the reason for eviction, she did not want to talk about it, so it is unknown.

There is no excuse for this homeless population increase to continue!

What can we do on the individual Community Level? Nothing!