It鈥檚 a small space, especially for three people to live in, but it might more aptly be described as cozy, and the setting couldn鈥檛 be better 鈥� ensconced in bush and towering evergreens and surrounded by parkspace on a quiet Naramata street.
For Liz Bourassa, it鈥檚 the humble dream house she has lived in for the past four years with her 11- and 12-year-old children, but the family鈥檚 luck runs out at the end of January. That鈥檚 when Bourassa鈥檚 lease with the Naramata Centre Society, which owns the property, runs up, and she has been told the centre is not intending to renew the lease.
鈥淚 have no idea what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been here before, but we鈥檝e been from one terrible situation to the next. We鈥檝e moved constantly. We鈥檝e been here now for four years; it鈥檚 the longest we鈥檝e been anywhere.鈥�
Related: Motel fire highlights Penticton鈥檚 housing crisis
Bourassa works in retail and does cleaning work for others in the community, but she still needs the B.C. Housing supplement to make ends meet. Her experience exemplifies that of the low-income bracket in Penticton and B.C. more broadly, as a housing crisis sweeps the province.
鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing 鈥� nothing out there. Nothing affordable. It鈥檚 very expensive,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e able to sustain ourselves here. Very, very, very to the penny, but we鈥檙e able to do it here. But there isn鈥檛 room for more.鈥�
| It has been a constant stream of stress for Liz Bourassa since she was told she and her family would be forced to leave her small house on Naramata Centre land, where her family has lived for four years.Mark Brett/Western News |
According to 2016 data recently released by Statistics Canada, just shy of half of Penticton鈥檚 renters pay 30 per cent or more of their household income on shelter, a rise from one in three in 2011.
Related: Data show growing amount of income spent on housing
Related: Penticton vacancy dips below one per cent
What鈥檚 more, Penticton鈥檚 vacancy rate dipped below the one-per-cent mark this year, according to data from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation last month.
The options, Bourassa said, range from unappealing to fraught with personal safety concerns.
鈥淲e鈥檙e quite happy to live small, but I don鈥檛 want to live in the new Super 8 that鈥檚 there, I don鈥檛 want to go into a motel room again. It鈥檚 just not a healthy situation for kids,鈥� Bourassa said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to live in low-income housing. We鈥檝e been there, and that was a nightmare. That鈥檚 probably, by far, the worst place we鈥檝e ever lived.鈥�
Bourassa described issues with low-income housing, including a 鈥渂ig drug bust the week after we moved in,鈥� which she said is an unhealthy environment for her kids, Nicholas, 13, and Nina, 11.
Related: Super 8 getting more than social housing
鈥淚t was very devastating for us to live in these places, and we finally found a place where we鈥檙e very happy,鈥� she said of moving into the Naramata Centre.
With the snow line on the hills creeping closer to the city, and the city seeing a couple of snowfalls this year already, Bourassa said she didn鈥檛 like the other alternative.
But that alternative is not far from her mind 鈥� she pointed to the Western News report in September of families forced to camp out in the upper Carmi area after they were unable to find a new place to live in Penticton.
Related: The people of Carmi hill
Bourassa has had some help from the community. In particular, she noted a piano she said she can鈥檛 part with, which was found for free and transported to her place. Since receiving the piano, Bourassa said Nicholas has quickly found a talent on the keys.
The family is looking at how they might be able to make it work with an RV, which Bourassa views as the most viable option in which they can continue to feel safe and comfortable.
鈥淢aybe park it somewhere where I can provide security for somebody who鈥檚 not here during the fall and winter months and look after the house in exchange for hookups and things, and perhaps a piano,鈥� she said with a small, exasperated chuckle.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 really what it boils down to. We don鈥檛 really need much more.鈥�
Related: Moving forward from Highland Motel fire
Bourassa said she tried to bring that option up with the Naramata Centre, but was met with little interest from the group.
鈥淚 sent them a letter explaining our situation, how we needed time. I had a plan. We were thinking about an RV, but where would we put it?鈥� she said. 鈥淗ook-ups, and even in a park, there鈥檚 pad rentals that are a fortune.鈥�
Bourassa said she asked if the family could park an RV on the property 鈥渂ecause there鈥檚 tons of it鈥� and hook it up to utilities in exchange for odd jobs, work and security.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e just shut it all down without a conversation,鈥� she said.
Related: PIB man offering cheap campsites during housing crisis
| In their four years at the Naramata Centre house, Liz Bourassa said she has seen her children both grow and mature in the quiet community.Mark Brett/Western News |
The Western News reached out to current Naramata Centre Society chair Doug Woollard for comment, but he only said the society鈥檚 view is that 鈥渋t鈥檚 a private matter between us and the tenants, and we don鈥檛 have any comment.鈥�
Bourassa provided emails she said she exchanged with directors on the society鈥檚 board, spanning from late March to November, in which she pleads with the society to keep her place.
Related: City must 鈥榓tone鈥� for its part in housing crisis: city planner
In a set of emails with vice-chair Pam Rinehart鈥檚 name attached, Bourassa was told in the spring, as her last one-year lease neared its closing on April 30, the rentals had always been intended as a temporary space.
鈥淲e are not in the business of housing rental, our main goal is to get the centre back on its feet,鈥� reads a letter to Bourassa dated March 29.
鈥淗ousing for staff is crucial in a tight rental market, and we will need this property for staffing or programming in the near future.鈥�
Related: Cost of housing continues to skyrocket in South Okanagan
But an April email from Bourassa indicated the kinds of ways she has to fight to keep a roof over her head from day-to-day, let alone find a new place to live.
鈥淢y van is, right now, completely jammed with bottles and cans I have collected to cash in tomorrow, just so I will be able to put a little gas in the car and buy a few groceries until I get paid again,鈥� Bourassa wrote. 鈥淭his is how we live.鈥�
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dustin.godfrey@pentictonwesternnews.com
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