County Housing Plan

Council supports physical shelter space for those in need

At its meeting on Tuesday night, Council unanimously supported a motion put forward by Mayor Steve Ferguson that asked the Affordable Housing Corporation to search for a physical shelter space and the appropriate funding streams to support it. This came after Council reviewed a brand new County Housing Plan at the same meeting.

“Over the years there has been an awful lot of hand-wringing amongst social service agencies, councils, staff about how best to address the problem that we knew existed, but there was nothing specific in front of us until today,” said Ferguson.“I don’t recall a report to council that so clearly articulates and is a call to action to deal with the problem that will likely grow and expand in the months and years ahead,” he said of the County Housing Plan.

The plan was designed as a living document to assist the housing corporation and the 15 community agencies involved to apply for provincial and federal funding to improve housing opportunities, and support services, in Prince Edward County. It documents income and demographic trends and housing stock from emergency, supportive and subsidized housing to affordable rental housing stock and services that support residents with housing insecurity. The Prince Edward County Affordable Housing Corporation and the Prince Edward Learning Centre are co-leads of the Housing, Homeless and Income Security Action Team of the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan, with which the County Housing Plan will dovetail.

Housing security in Prince Edward County has become increasingly problematic with long waiting lists for subsidized housing, market rents increasing and vacancy rates of rental housing in the County being the fourth lowest in the Province amongst rural communities.

Currently, there are no service coordination measures available to County residents to mitigate the threat of eviction, have access to housing, or provide some form of stabilization.

Elis Ziegler, Housing Programs and Services Assistant, told Council that solutions can come from anywhere and be all things, including creating more housing, supplementing income, or even matching seniors with people who could live with them. “When we spoke as a group about it, the problem is there isn’t a wrong door, because there is no door. It’s just a start, and it’s something we can do and really look at what the solutions are for the County,” said Ziegler.

The provincial government recently announced nearly $2.5 million in funding for Prince Edward – Lennox and Addington Social Services. The County’s portion would be one-third. CAO Marcia Wallace told Council the funding is application based and that the County needs to have real projects with real ideas to secure its share.

Kathy Kennedy, executive director at the Prince Edward Learning Centre (PELC) stressed to Council the importance of emergency shelter and emergency support services for people that are homeless. “We are seeing unprecedented numbers of PEC residents sleeping on couches, living in tents, in their cars, sleeping in doorways, and sometimes in motels supported by Prince Edward Lennox and Addington Social Services or the Salvation Army,” said Kennedy.

She pointed to PELC’s annual income tax filing program, where 10 per cent of those who used the service were without housing or about to lose their housing. She also noted that 10 per cent of students in the INSPIRE program for youth employment experienced homelessness while in the program.

Naseem, a Canadian of Iranian heritage, came to Canada 24 years ago with hopes of a better future. She has since become homeless after serving as a nurse for 16 years. “My own health started to decline, and due to unforseen events, I lost my job and my home in the same month, becoming homeless in 2015,” she said. “I have been homeless within the region for eight years now due to inability to find affordable housing.As a result I have been forced to settle into living conditions were I would either be exposed to elements, or have no tenant rights or privacy.”

Naseem shared that a local resident took her into her home where she is presenty couch surfing. “Many people who are chronically homeless have a form of disability, lack of support system and community,” said Naseem. “They are on fixed income and can’t keep up with the price of rent and food prices due to inflation.”

Councillor Janice Maynard was supportive of the plan. “If you can help the vulnerable youth get that one step up until they can squirrel away enough money in the jars on the counter to get permanent accommodations, then that is what we need to do.”

In addition to having a plan that the County is backing, and in addition to being eligible for federal funding specifically for housing, the County Housing Plan will also help community agencies apply for and receive funding for their respective needs.