The rental crisis is hitting people with developmental disabilities especially hard, as they try to navigate finding housing that’s increasingly expensive and out of their reach.
Camille Marquis wants more than anything to lay down roots in Ladysmith, where the developmentally disabled 37-year-old has lived for nine years, takes day programs like gardening and works at a local coffee shop. But bouncing between six different rentals in that time, has her desperate to find a secure place to live.
“It’s been super difficult. It can be a pain,” said Camille Marquis, who was born with a rare genetic condition.
“As you can imagine there’s nowhere they can afford to rent,” said Camille’s mother Sandra Marquis.
So the Marquis’ have worked hard for years with other parents of adults with disabilities in Ladysmith, like Sheila McMillan, whose 43 year-old daughter Amy has Down syndrome. Helping create a new subsidized BC Housing rental complex with the Ladysmith Resource Centre because their children’s disability benefits only afford them $375 per month for housing.
“It would mean independence. I’ve been moving in and out of a lot of places and I’m so ready,” said Camille Marquis.
“It’s a place for me to live, to have a chance to see what it feels like in the real world and not to be judged,” said Amy McMillan.
“The independence is a huge factor for Amy,” said Amy’s mother Sheila McMillan.
“We’re all very anxious on how they’re going to live, and where they’re going to live when we are no longer here,” said Sandra Marquis.
These parents say they had an agreement during the project’s planning, 12 units in it would be set aside for people with developmental disabilities.
“So we went ahead. We were doing fundraising,” said Sandra Marquis.
The 36-unit building will be completed this fall, but now parents say they have been informed there won’t be 12 units for people with disabilities, just two.
“And we thought there was some error you know and we just couldn’t believe the commitment wasn’t being honoured and I think the hardest thing was telling Amy,” said Sheila McMillan.
“It’s heartbreaking when people don’t have a chance, they don’t have a voice,” said Amy McMillan.
Yet according to the Ladysmith Resource Centre, no agreement can be found in writing. Officials say they must keep to the contract to offer units to low income seniors, families and people with disabilities, on a needed basis.
“If I could give them all of the DPP subsidy, what do I say to all the seniors in Ladysmith who got their names in and they’re hoping to get one of those DPP subsidies. What do I say to them?” said Ladysmith Resource Centre Board President Vicki Stickwood-Hislop.
As this community struggles to house its most vulnerable long term residents.
The families of adults with disabilities are still hoping BC Housing will find a solution, before tenants are chosen to move in, by September.
Skye Ryan
