Recent Developments

Finding decent and affordable housing in Kamloops is showing itself to be an arduous task. I have spoken with some of the outreach workers in town and they describe it as tiring and disheartening. There just isn’t enough! The vacancy rate is so low that landlords can be increasingly fastidious about the kind of tenant they accept. This isn’t entirely surprising considering the kind circumstance some vulnerable people can bring to a place.

But consider what ‘affordable housing’ means. CMHC says that

“Affordability, one of the elements used to determine core
housing need, is recognized as a maximum of 30 per cent of the household income spent on shelter.” (http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/inpr/imhoaf/index.cfm)

Consider this: the $325 housing allowance that income assistance allows means that recipients (singles) should have an income of not less than $1083.33. Are any of your clients receiving that much?? How many safe, decent places have you found for your clients on income assistance for not more than 30% of their total income?

Perhaps as we move to a more user-friendly resource, more landlords will see the value of having the supports that come attached to the opeple we serve. Maybe, there will be there will be a (perceived, at least) value in a coordinated resource in the city.

Let me acknowledge those who have compiled similar directories in the past (some very recently). Keep in mind that I don’t claim this as a complete list:

• ASK
• Interior Indian Friendship Society (with funding from the National Homelessness Initiative)
• People in Motion
• Elizabeth Fry Society