News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

By LeRae Haynes

Canadian Mental Health Homeless Outreach Worker Wayne Lucier said yesterday that we haven’t seen the last of winter weather yet, and that the pressing need for people to find affordable housing is on the rise, no matter what the temperature.

(Slumber Lodge has been suggested as a possible site for a monitored housing facility like Jubilee Place.) 

He said that there are a lot of young families just starting out, as well as a lot of older people, who are really struggling to find a place to live. “There just isn’t affordable housing available,” he stated.

“Six years ago most apartments went for about $500 and this year we have one-bedroom apartments for $700 a month. The average person on social assistance gets $610 a month. They’re allocated $375 a month for rent and the rest is supposed to be for food and utilities. Single people are having a really hard time.”

Another pressing need for Wayne’s clients is, if they do manage to arrange something for housing, they have no furniture or household furnishings.

Wayne said that they gladly take donations of items to help make a home comfortable, when they manage to find one. “What we’re looking for is furniture: things like couches, tables and chairs, beds and dressers. We need pots and pans, dishes and utensils, electric fry pans, blankets, TVs, radios and alarm clocks,” he continued. “I don’t take furniture that I wouldn’t put in my house—we definitely take items that are in decent shape.”    

He added that when you’re getting ready for some spring cleaning, downsizing your home, renovating or moving, donating to CMHA is easier than a yard sale.   

“We have a donated storage unit and can arrange to meet you and pick up donated household furnishings and furniture at Canadian Mental Health at 4th Avenue South. You can phone 250-305-4652 to arrange it.”

He said that Williams Lake amazes him all the time. “The Sandman Inn, the Overlander and Laketown Furnishings are so generous with us. When the motels renovate they call me and get me to come and pick up things like hide-a-beds and TVs,” he explained. “And when Bobby at Laketown sells a unit, he’ll see about getting the old one donated to us.”   

St. Vincent de Paul gives away warm clothes when they do lunches in Boitanio Park and they have a food bank once a week, according to Wayne. He added that another source of help in the community is Crosina Realty: once or twice a year they collect items from their clients and donate it. He said that they are also extremely grateful for the donated ‘Contain-it’ unit that they use when they get donations.  

He said that when temperatures get extremely cold like they did last week, Williams Lake is still a relatively small town and people have a heart. “If a person rents a place, he ends up with five other people staying there overnight. Unfortunately, when other folks are staying there, they trash the place and wind up getting evicted.

“Some of the older ones are taken advantage of when they get their own place. It’s not the renters that are the problem: it’s their friends. The renters can’t say no to their friends because they’ve been in that same spot too many times themselves,” he said.

“When people can’t find housing, they end up going back to very inadequate housing on reserves. Thank God we have the Friendship Centre: when it gets really cold and they fill up, the mats come out for sleeping.”

He explained that what Williams Lake needs is more monitored housing like Jubilee Place. “That can be the best thing that happens to people. They have security and cameras and a staff member at the gate 24/7. No visitors are allowed after a certain time. They also have activities, a computer room and a garden: it’s their own little community,” he stated.   

“We saw a big difference right away with our clients as soon as Jubilee Place opened. I see the Slumber Lodge sitting their empty and gradually deteriorating—what a great location that would be for another housing facility.”  

He said that the trouble with Jubilee Place is that it’s only for single people, and the numbers of young families needed housing will keep increasing. “There is no new housing on reserves: no new homes are being built.

“We have a lot of people sleeping on the floor because they have no bed and have only one pot to cook all their meals in. They’ll have microwave or a hot plate.    

“My experience is that when people have a roof over their head, they’ll move on in their lives,” he said. “It’s pretty hard to move on when you’re worried about where you’re going to sleep.”

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