A request for a renewed partnership and to come to the table and look at the issues of homelessness and affordable housing in the community.
That was the gist of the message delivered to the new Quesnel City Council on Monday night by the Executive Director of Seasons House.
Mel Macdonald says some recent research by BC’s non-profit Housing Association showed that 48 percent of renters in Quesnel are currently spending more than 30 percent of their income on housing and 21 percent are spending more than 50 percent
She says that leaves them with not enough money for the basics.
“Seasons Houses provides services to hundreds of people in the community, not just those who access us for shelter services.”
“We have lots of people coming in from the community; families and seniors, who come and access us for our food program because they are spending the majority of their income on their housing.”
Macdonald says Seasons House has been over capacity since the day it opened and they sleep between 10 to 20 people in the overflow area each night.
She says that’s because they simply have nowhere to transition people out into the community because people on limited or fixed incomes like pensions have nowhere to go that they can afford.
Macdonald says the best model for affordable housing is a mixed model where you have an apartment complex that features some units that are rented out at market value, some at a medium rent and some at a subsidized rent.