Kelowna woman organizing peaceful rally for affordable housing
A Kelowna woman who has first-hand experience with homelessness is hosting a peaceful protest for change next month.
“There’s been a lot of factors pushing me to this point. I think one of them is I personally have experienced homelessness myself in Ontario," Monique Guimont said. "I have a very dear friend of mine who is being pushed towards homelessness because he is on disability and cannot work, so I feel like I’m advocating for him."
The protest for affordable housing will be held outside Kelowna City Hall, Sept. 6, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Guimont originally planned to hold it this month but with the wildfires and smoke, decided to move the date until it’s safer for people to come out.
She frequently sees stories on social media about people and families being pushed out of their homes, and living in cars because rental costs have increased to a point where they can’t afford it.
“That was the main reason that I wanted to do this, especially in Kelowna,” Guimont said.
In March, the city released its annual housing report outlining a world of outsiders and knowledge workers driving up housing prices while lower-paid service sector workers – those most harshly hit by COVID-19 layoffs – struggle to stay afloat.
READ MORE: Tough times ahead for struggling renters in Kelowna
Single people have to spend more than 30% of their income on rent in all Central Okanagan communities and for all housing types except for bachelor apartments in West Kelowna, according to a Regional District of Central Okanagan report. In the regional district, affordable housing means the cost of housing does not exceed 30% of a person’s gross income.
The average single-parent renter has to spend more than the affordable 30% threshold to house their children in two and three-bedroom apartments, according to the report.
READ MORE: House prices, rent beyond reach of many residents in Central Okanagan: report
Finding affordable housing was a huge challenge for Guimont when she moved to the Okanagan. She said she put a deposit down for a room ahead of her arrival, the person took the money and never gave her the room.
“I was devastated, and through that I was living off of my savings and living in hotels until I found a two-bedroom apartment in Vernon,” she said.
She said the apartment was one of the most unsafe environments she's lived in.
"We were paying $1,200 for a two-bedroom plus utilities and the place had never been cleaned. There were blood stains and glass and feces and needles in the hallways,” Guimont said. “People would break into the laundry room and steal clothes and they’d break into the back door, it was very stressful.”
The goal of the protest is meant to create a space for people to share their stories and have their voices heard, Guimont said.
“As a community our goal is to speak up when something is wrong and not always be OK with the status quo, especially when you can’t walk out your front door without seeing people struggling on the streets,” she said.
She understands there is a "perfect storm" of situations causing the housing crisis, but she wants politicians to do more.
“I’m an essential worker as well, we see all these signs saying ‘we’re in this together,’ and we put in all this effort to keep our communities safe and we still can’t afford rent,” Guimont said.
She hopes to hold a gathering every week if possible.
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