On Friday I received an Email to Seniors 101 with a cry for help regarding the scenario below which is a variant on the desperate need for housing and understanding for far too many people in BC.
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“My friend is in the hospital in Duncan with a broken leg. Until her accident, she rented a room in a house, but she can’t return there because of the stairs.
The task of finding new housing is challenging and she is getting anxious as her discharge date approaches
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My friend is 57 years old, in frail health, uses a walker, and gets by on a disability allowance. Her budget for housing is $800/month. There are very few options in this price range on any of the usual online sites.
A social worker has stated that he can't help because there are "no housing listings." The local emergency women's shelters are not suitable because they have stairs. She is on waiting lists for seniors’ residences and assisted living facilities on Vancouver Island, but currently there are no openings.”
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This need is a huge problem in just about every community in the Province.
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We, collectively, need to deal with this issue not now, but right now..
We need to stop thinking of those in need of help as a sub specie.
Nobody woke up one morning and thought I want to be homeless and destitute today.
All it takes is some catastrophic accident or happening, be it medical, physical or mental, or financial and the world as you know it is gone.
Are you next to be totally crushed by circumstance?
We cannot totally prevent things like this from happening but as a society are we so uncaring that we can’t address and deal with this all too prevalent need of those around us.
We should decide that the primary need for all of us is a roof over our head with a door that we can lock. Without this all the support systems are doomed to fail.
So are you ready to be cast adrift in a way determined by fate as has happened to so many others around us?
Roy Summerhayes
Publisher/Seniors 101.
