'A nice cosy nest to call home': Life in affordable housing

The Giri family is making a new life in P.E.I., after fleeing the South Asian country of Bhutan as refugees eightyears ago.

After about a year on the Island they moved into a subsidized three-bedroom apartment, through Kings Square Affordable Housing Corporation.

"It's very nice, very clean and beautiful," said Hari Giri. She lives here with her daughter, her brother and their parents five of them in a three-bedroom apartment. Her 94-year-old grandmother, Pabitra, lives in a separate apartment in the same building.

The Giris pay 25 per cent of their before tax income on rent. That percentage is considered an affordablecost for housing. And since they work seasonal jobs at a vegetable farm their rent changes depending on how many hours they work. The rest is covered by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

This leaves them with enough to buy food, clothing and pay for the car they use to get to and from work expenses they struggled with before moving here.

There are 120 families living at Kings Square in units spread over several apartment buildings and townhouses in Charlottetown.

CMHC'ssupport to Kings Square housing amountsto about $41,000 a month or close to half a million a year.

Long wait list, many in urgent need

It's not enough.

Bill Campbell helps manage the apartments. He gets requests every day from people looking for a place to live.

About 300 families are on a waiting list for a spot about 200 of them are in urgent need, he said.

"It's disheartening to see people coming into the office who have to spend most of their income on shelter. It's ridiculous," said Campbell.

Spending half your pay on rent, leaves no money for fresh fruit or vegetables, or activities for the kids families are just surviving, he said.

"I see how dysfunctional they are simply because they didn't have a nice cosy nest to call home a protective space they could retreat to when things are rough," said Campbell.

Affordable housing allows people to 'reach their full potential'

He's seen first-hand the difference affordable housing can make in people's lives how paying a reasonable rent reduces stress.

"When you have that, life is a lot rosier," he said, and people can "reach their full potential."

The concept is simple at Kings Square: some tenants pay low rents; others have rent geared to their income, up to 25 per cent of their gross pay, before taxes.

Most families make under $36,000 a year many make far less.

"If your income is very low and you can prove it, mostly through notice of assessments by Revenue Canada, we can go as low as $32 a month," said Campbell.

'They're survivors'

Campbell has been helping families find homes with Kings Square for more than three decades, and says the waiting list for units has tripled in the last few years.

"In the last two or three years there's been a noticeable growth," he said.

He knows many of the families who live in his buildings, and visits them from time to time.

"When you look at their circumstances, they're survivors," Campbell said.

Tenants are evaluated every year to make sure they still meet the criteria many stay for years, even decades.

'It's really disheartening'

Joe R. Myers was one of the first tenants to move into a Kings Square apartment about 30 years ago. He was in car accident in 1981 and has difficulty walking. He gets CPP and disability support, but he says, it doesn't go far.

At Kings Square he pays $211 a month for his one bedroom accessible apartment.

"I'm not doing too bad," Myers said.

He likes the location, close to the downtown, and says he couldn't afford an apartment at regular rental rates.

"There are a lot of people who can't work and can't afford an expensive place to live," said Myers.

Campbell says he hears about all kinds of situations: from newcomers with low paying jobs, to people unable to work because of health problems, to those losing their homes to marital breakups.

"They're having a tough go of it," he said.

He recalls a woman who came to see him recently, whose husband said she had to move out. "Here she is scrambling around, trying to find a place for her and the kids to live. I see that stuff too much. It's really disheartening."

"You can see the stress in their face. You can see the worry. And it's all because they love their children and they want their children to do better than they did in life," said Campbell.

He's frustrated by the shortage of affordable housing and wants to create more.

Hopes to expand

Kings Square is working on a proposal for a new 50-plus unit apartment building, which would house seniors, families and young people. He describes it as "a village" with a mixture of rents, to avoid the stigma that can go with whole buildings allocated for affordable housing.

"There would be people that would have subsidized rent, and people who would have market rent, all mixed in together." Campbell said.

The biggest challenge is finding land. One proposal was turned down by the city of Charlottetown in July because it was in an area zoned for industrial use.

Campbell, however, is optimistic land will be found. He continues to meet with all levels of government, developers and potential donors trying to spread his message about the need for more affordable housing.

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