The
Parameters of Housing
Below information taken from - The Prince Edward Island "Housing and Data Trends. Published 5/17/2018 www.princeedwardisland.ca/poverty-reduction
DEFINITIONS OF HOUSING NEED
The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) defined housing need as made up of three factors:
- housing is unaffordable if it costs more than 30 percent of before-tax household income.
- housing is inadequate if it needs major repairs; and
- housing is unsuitable if it does not have enough bedrooms for the size and makeup of the household.
Households facing these conditions are considered to be in need only if they cannot afford to address them. A
household is said to be in “core housing need” if:
- its housing falls below at least one of the adequacy, affordability or suitability standards, and
- the household would have to spend 30 percent or more of its total before-tax
- income to pay the median rent of alternative local housing that is acceptable (meets all three housing standards.)
According to the 2016 census, over 10,000 households in Prince Edward Island had at least one housing need,
but fewer than half of those (4,880) were in core housing need.
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Joey Blacquiere - My Housing Journey
I'm
not sure when I stopped thinking of where I lived as just being
home and that being with either of my parents was a sure and
questionless thing. However, I do know that when mom died in 1988 and
when Dad remarried in 1990, I began to think of housing differently.
I started thinking of it in more independent terms of what I needed
as a place to live.
I
met Carol Clark on February 13, 1991 and we began dating. Carol lived
with her parents just outside of Kensington and she would travel into
Summerside and stay with me on the weekends. However, shortly
afterward I moved in with her into her parent's home as Carol's
father had a heart condition and needed help with the barn work.
While
I was living with Carol's family my Dad informed me that he had sold
his house on Ottawa Street to my brother Paul. He also wanted to know
if I wanted to live in the house with my brother but he told me I
would have to make a decision and let him know as soon as possible.
I
was no longer living in the house so I was surprised about how sad I
felt about the family house being sold. I really did appreciate my
Dad's offer of my being able to live with my brother, however, I
wasn't certain that I was ready to take on the level of shared
responsibility that co-managing a house would require.
None
of us can see into the future and unfortunately Carol and I broke up
in the spring of 1997 and I found myself in the uncertain and scary
place of no longer having a home.
After
the breakup I called Dad to let him know what happened and he started
calling around to help me with finding a place. After making calls,
Dad said that our options at that time were either a group home or
MacDonald's Community Care Home. I let Dad know that for me going to
the Group Home was not an option I was willing to consider but that I
would go with him to check out MacDonald's Community Care Home . We
went and I decided that I would stay there until a better option for
housing came my way. I moved into MacDonald's Community Care Home in
1997 and ended up living there for 7 years.
The
majority of the residents at MacDonald's Community Care Home were
seniors with serious health conditions that required supervision and
prevented them from being able to continue living independently.
While I there I was exposed to a lot of suffering due to illness and
a lot of death. As well, my level of independence had been
drastically cut – MacDonald's staff wouldn't set my meals aside for
me to reheat later so if I was not back by 4:00 P.M. my supper would
thrown out and it was a battle (that I finally won) to be able to
stay out past their curfew of 10 P.M.
This
all took its toll on me mentally and emotionally. I began to feel
abandoned by life and I wondered why my existence was reduced to
living this way. I did not feel like I was contributing to the life
of my community and so I felt worthless. When I was out in the coffee
shops and people asked me where I was living and I told them, they
would tell me that I did not belong there. It felt good to hear that
because it affirmed what I felt but it was frustrating to hear it too
because that was my reality.
Until...
A
new staff person was hired at MacDonald's Community Care Home. Her
name was Carolyn Norring. Carolyn let me know that she was going to
buy a home and she gave me an option to move in with her and have her
as a caregiver. I told her I was interested and gave her permission
to speak to my family about it.
I
moved in with Carolyn Norring on May 2, 2003 and I have been living
with Carolyn and her family for the past 15 years. I am also
attending a day program - Prepare Challenge Create Day Program and
work as a reporter on the news blog: EOV.
EOV
covers stories of interest to persons with disabilities and Islanders
in general. Housing I know is not only a concern for myself but for
many Islanders. It is empowering for me to work on stories such as
housing and give back to my community in a meaningful way.
My
future hopes for housing? I would like to see my housing
parameters expand have my own place and live more independently.
What I am envisioning is an apartment that is on the ground level in
a secure building in the Hill Crest housing area. Hill Crest
apartments come with fridge and stove, heat and sewer and have a
maintenance team that take care of all the maintenance, snow removal
of driveways, grass cutting. They also have an option to rent at an
extra fee washers and dryers that you have to install. Location is
important to me. Community involvement and independence is something
I take pride in and I want to be in close proximity to grocery
stores, coffee shops and all the businesses and organizations that I
most often frequent.
