The Christmas story seems unusually topical this year as it concerns a homeless couple for whom there was no room at the inn.
In the story, they do manage to find shelter in a small barn, but we suspect that today, at least in these parts, they wouldn’t have it so easy. For one thing, it’s likely the barn would not be zoned for human occupancy. If by chance it were, it would probably be rented out as an Airbnb. Either way the poor couple would be out of luck. If they made their way to Sechelt, they could try St. Hilda’s; but if the shelter was at capacity, even Rev. Clarence Li’s hands would be tied – angels or no angels. It would be a grim situation.
The homeless predicament in Sechelt will improve slightly this Christmas weekend following council’s decision Wednesday night to rezone the Upper Deck hostel on Wharf Avenue for use as a temporary 22-bed shelter. The new shelter will be able to operate 24/7 and offer services and amenities that were not available at St. Hilda’s, but it will add only about a half-dozen spaces – not enough to house one-quarter of the estimated homeless population on the Sunshine Coast.
Some advocates for the homeless remain extremely bitter about council’s rejection of the proposed site on Ebbtide Street, which would have housed up to 35 clients. And they point out that many of the homeless who will be left out in the cold this winter are seniors.
Seniors, it turns out, are in the frontlines of the affordable housing crisis plaguing much of the province, in which homelessness is just the visible tip of the iceberg. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie, who last week released her third annual report on seniors’ services in B.C., says the affordability gap for seniors who rent continues to widen. Rents for a one-bedroom apartment increased 6.7 per cent last year while basic retirement income rose by only 1.2 per cent. The number of subsidized housing units continued to drop while the waiting list increased 15.6 per cent.
“The economic reality for seniors who rent is the most dire,” Mackenzie said, noting that the poverty rate for seniors has risen by an alarming 24 per cent since 2005.
The housing crisis is hitting seniors, young people, young families and every other cohort. It’s holding a growing number of them in poverty and uncertainty, if it’s not driving them out of the province entirely. We can call on government to do its part, but the best hope lies in regular people, like the 2,000-odd property owners on the Sunshine Coast who could add secondary dwellings on their lots and change the game for renters overnight.
It’s something to think about this Christmas.
We wish you a joyous one, full of good cheer – and with a dry roof over your head.
