Shelter Nova Scotia can't keep up with demand for beds as rental costs rise
New CBC Radio Information Morning series explores housing problems and solutions
Every day, Linda Wilson hears from more and more people who fear rising rents in Nova Scotia will leave them homeless.
"People are trying to be proactive. They're calling in advance asking us about shelter beds," Wilson, the executive director of Shelter Nova Scotia, told CBC Radio's Information Morning on Monday.
"Some who are working, who are calling and saying, 'I'm afraid I'm going to be homeless in January or February. Can you help?'"
But Wilson said the heartbreaking reality is that her organization can't help everybody.
Shelter Nova Scotia operates two emergency shelters in Halifax. The women's shelter, Barry House, now has 17 beds. Metro Turning Point, a shelter for men, dropped to 30 beds from 55 since the start of the pandemic.
About 30 people are turned away every day, Wilson said.
"It's certainly the hardest time that we've ever seen," she said.
Meanwhile, the government money and energy that was spent in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic has largely dried up, said Wilson.
She said non-profit organizations like hers are now left to figure out what to do as winter approaches.
People are trying to be proactive. They're calling in advance asking us about shelter beds.- Linda Wilson, Shelter Nova Scotia
Many renters and advocates say Nova Scotia — Halifax, in particular — is facing a housing crisis with record-low vacancy rates and rising costs.
CBC Radio's Information Morning is taking a deep dive into these issues — and what can be done about them — in its new series Unaffordable or Unfit: Nova Scotia's Housing Challenge.
The series will explore the impact a lack of affordable housing has on renters, including people like Fabian Donovan, 63, who lives in an apartment in Spryfield.
Donovan called the building where he lives with a roommate "a total mess," with a laundry room floor that feels like it's ready to collapse.
"I believe, and a lot of people believe, that they're trying to bring the buildings down so people get sick of it and move out," he said. "Where are we going to move to?"
Not just a Halifax problem
It's a question people outside of the Halifax area are asking, too, said Amanda Piccott, a housing support worker with the Truro Homeless Outreach Society.
She said it costs between $800 and $1,000 for a one-bedroom in Truro, while income assistance is around $850 a month.
"We have the rental units that are in very poor condition. Landlords are increasing the rent by hundreds of dollars … it's used as an eviction tactic," she said.
Jim Graham, executive director of the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia, said there's no one culprit for the current housing challenges facing Nova Scotia.
He pointed to the rapidly growing population of Halifax, rising unemployment due to COVID-19, and an insufficient social welfare system.
"All of these factors have arrived at once to shine a pretty bright light on what's been a growing problem over time."
Listen to CBC Information Morning's full interview with Linda Wilson, Jim Graham and Amanda Piccott:
With files from CBC's Information Morning