To the editor,
I am 42 years old, have a family and also have two pets. We have less than 30 days and counting, in order to find a replacement home due to a renoviction from a home that we have rented for more than a year and half in Harewood.
We are going through a gut-wrenching and nerve-testing dilemma. Homelessness is right at our doorstep, unless we can find a rental that would be of the following.
Unfortunately in today’s economy especially in Nanaimo, families are pushed beyond what they can financially handle.
Buying a home is out of the question. Some of the rentals for two or three bedrooms are overpriced and would end up having a negative consequence. Remember folks, not everyone has or is entitled to a high-paid cushy job in Nanaimo. In fact, the jobs here are dismal, and barely make ends meet. Poverty is here and if landlords do not conform to true near homeless and homeless families, I fear that a huge action that will call out a revolt that would hurt everyone on both sides, because no one cares or is willing to compromise. This is just the sad facts, and something needs to be done as soon as possible.
I ve tried to connect with these recent local rental listings and landlords. One after the other are denying us a home.
With pet-friendly rentals, unfortunately many Nanaimo rental listings are set up in a way that there is no flexibility.
The Nanaimo housing crisis is adding fuel to the fire and just makes the search for a home all the more difficult.
The attitudes that we have been getting from landlords is horrifying. The homelessness is become more of a reality. Maybe a hotel would be our next option. They allow pets and can accommodate arrangements for a family to stay in a hotel for a few months.
I need to make this issue be heard and make people aware of the problem. The Discontent City story doesn’t compare to the amount of local Nanaimo families being forced to become the second or third wave of tent cities.
Jason Salt, Nanaimo
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