'We're not asking for the world': Some turn to tents in Lower Sackville amid housing crisis
Bill Pierce has been living in a small park just off Sackville Drive in Lower Sackville, N.S., for 65 days.
“They call us homeless, they call us hobos,” says the 56-year-old.
But what he really is, is a man down on his luck, facing numerous health challenges, a hospital ID band still around his wrist.
Tent residents at the park don’t have on-site toilet facilities, despite repeated requests to both the area’s municipal councillor and PC MLA.
Several new apartment buildings are just a short walk away, along with one under construction. But when asked what it’s like to find an affordable place to live in the area, his reply is blunt.
“Impossible,” says Pierce. "They’re building 17 buildings, and the lowest (rent) is $1,700 ... Like, I got all kinds of lines in the water, and I just can’t catch any fish.”
“I'm originally from (nearby) Beaver Bank, lived there 54 years,” he adds. “My place was sold, (they) put ($60,000) in it, flipped it for $200,000."
Not one to sit idle, he and other residents at the park have spent hours clearing piles of garbage from the woods left by others who lived there in the past, in exchange for gift cards and food.
Patricia Stephens-Brown is an outreach worker and founder of her own advocacy organization called “Have a Heart and Find THE Way.” She’s been helping those who’ve been living at the park over the past several years, a number that has recently increased.
“And it's not something that's just popped up suddenly,” she says. "There were many leads telling us that this was going to be getting worse.”
Stephens-Brown says the pandemic, inflation, and lack of social housing all created gaps that governments haven’t filled.
One example is the province’s Nova Scotia Targeted Housing Benefit, which she says fails to take current rent amounts into account when calculating subsidies for residents.
That means applicants are often expected to pay the difference, which for some, she says, is unaffordable.
“Housing first is the only strategy that gives a person a stable base to build their life from,” Stephens-Brown wrote in a recent op-ed. “Chipping away at this housing crisis will not resolve it.”
Social worker Rachel Smith agrees. Through her work with the Sackville Area Warming Centre, Smith says she is currently helping 45 people in the Lower Sackville area with housing needs.
“Most recently, we're seeing a higher influx of people being homeless for the very first time,” says Smith.
She says discrimination by landlords against low-income tenants, renovictions and lack of affordable alternatives are all playing a part in the housing crisis.
“Having private landlords is not useful right now,” she says. "Providing more crop of housing that is an affordable price is tantamount.”
At the park, there are signs of the kindness of strangers, dropping off food or other supplies.
“This is the kindness of others,” says Pierce, as a trio of friends dropped off fresh pizza and cookies. “It happens all the time, there are kind people.”
“We’re not asking for the world, we just need a little help,” he says, tears welling up in his eyes. “Come here, come talk to us, you'll be amazed.”
Correction
This is a corrected story. The original version incorrectly stated that requests had been sent to the local Liberal MP, when, in fact, they had been sent to the local PC MLA.
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