'Before I retired I put my name in': New St. John's seniors' home puts small dent in wait list
Anglican Homes Inc. opens 24-unit building, waitlist still tops 1K
A new retirement home in St. John's is creating more affordable housing options for seniors in the province, but a spokesperson says long wait lists mean many will still spend several years in limbo.
Babb Manor, which opened in the west end of the city in June, celebrated its grand opening on Wednesday with residents from its 24 units in attendance.
"It's certainly a help to offset the demand a little bit," said Kelly Manning, CEO of Anglican Homes Inc.
"But we're always running those numbers on our waiting lists, between 900 and 1100 people at any given time."
She estimates some seniors could remain on that list for as many as three to five years.
Demand high, stock low
Several residents, like Teresa Morris, transferred in from other seniors' homes.
"I'm not saying I'm smart or anything, but even before I retired I put my name in at St. Luke's and Masonic [Park]," she said.
"The word was out then [that] the homes were full and no new ones were going up. They had my name here for a long time."
The demand is particularly high for affordable housing, since many senior citizens live on fixed incomes and rental prices in the city are only just coming down from a housing market that peaked in 2013.
At Babb Manor, 15 of 24 units are subsidised housing, funded by the provincial and federal governments to the tune of $1.9 million.
Next door at the Senior's Resource Centre of Newfoundland and Labrador, staff have been handling calls from seniors desperate for information on how to get a spot.
"Demand for affordable housing is so high, and it continues to be high," said Kelly Heisz, executive director at the centre.
"There's a lot of demand and not a lot of stock."
When money is tight, corners are cut
Heisz and her team connect seniors with government programs and direct their concerns to the appropriate places.
During the housing boom of 2013, they received more than 400 calls about housing. Apartments that now run $800 per month were more than $1,000 at the time, and Heisz said people were desperate.
"When the housing crunch was on, rent was sky-high and seniors were calling us constantly and they were stressed out," she said.
Even with rental prices on the way down, money can still be tight.
The latest Stats Canada numbers show 28.5 per cent of single senior citizens live in poverty, a number twice as high as expected.
And according to Heisz, when money is tight, seniors look for ways to cut corners.
"What you end up seeing is they find ways to shave off costs. Whether it's going without a medication, or they turn down their heat, they find these ways to go without necessities."
Last July, the Department of Seniors, Wellness and Social Development said the federal and provincial governments had partnered with 60 private and non-profit sector groups to build 481 new affordable housing projects by 2019.