Dave and Connie at their Vernon campsite.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

When Dave wakes up in the night needing a pee he knows he'll have to walk a few hundred feet to the washrooms at the campsite.

It's a long walk for anyone who is half asleep and has a bursting bladder.  At age 74, it's too much for Dave.

"Twice I peed myself, I'd never done that in my life," he says.

Up until several months ago Dave and his wife Connie had their own apartment, their own furniture, and two vehicles.

Now they are living in a tent at a campsite in Vernon, unable to find a place to live.

"If you're gone for a weekend it's OK, but if you have to live in (a tent), it's horrible," he says.

iNFOnews.ca agreed not to use Dave and Connie's last name. He says he's embarrassed about their situation and doesn't want friends and family to know.

The bathroom example may seem crass, but it underscores the reality of their situation and the difficulties they face.

Sitting on a picnic bench under the trees at the campsite on a cool cloudy day, the couple relay their story.

They met in Vernon more than two decades ago before moving to Vancouver Island.

They recently gave up their apartment on the Island, sold most of their stuff and headed to Nova Scotia to be closer to family. Finding housing in Nova Scotia was very difficult and when their plans didn't work out, they headed back to Vernon, where Connie's daughter lives.

They never imagined they wouldn't be able to find a place to live.

"I never thought I'd see myself in this position," Dave says. "It's our own damn fault... we made a huge mistake."

"We didn't realize the rentals were that bad," Connie said.

While the couple has only been in town a few weeks they haven't managed to even secure a viewing for anywhere to live.

"I never expected it to be that bad, never ever," he said. "I thought I could leave this place and get another place next week. How hard can it be? A week or so to find something?"

The couple say they had no idea it would be such a challenge to find housing.

"I feel stupid that we allowed this to happen," he said.

For a person that has owned three properties in his life, the contrast to now living in a tent is startling.

"It's horrible for everybody," Dave said. "I'm still young at heart in my mind, but my body can't tolerate too much of this, I'm suffering every day."

It's mid-May, but it's cold for this time of year, and the couple say they spend a lot of time sitting in the car to keep warm.

Sometimes they sleep in the car if it's too cold.

"If we didn't have each other to latch onto we'd freeze to hell," Dave says. "For me it's awful."

Dave has polymyalgia and the cold doesn't do it any favours. He's stiff and sore and struggles to get in and out of the tent.

Connie says she has to put his sandals on him because he can't bend down.

He's already been on a dose of antibiotics and he knows living outdoors in a tent is not good for him.

READ MORE: NOWHERE TO GO: After a decade of renting Kelowna woman faces homelessness

Connie will turn 65 at the end of summer and get her pension. The double income will make some difference.

The couple says right now they are comfortable with $1,200 rent, and although they've had a few leads they haven't managed to even view a place.

And Connie and Dave's situation is becoming more common.

Turning Points Collaborative Society's housing charity director Randene Wejr said that seniors have become one of the faster-growing demographics of people becoming homeless.

Wejr said her staff have received a 30 per cent increase in calls from seniors in need of housing in the last six months.

Statistics from the province match what is happening in the North Okanagan. In 2017, nine per cent of the homeless population were seniors. That number jumped to 21 per cent in 2021.

Wejr said the number is sure to be even higher now.

READ MORE: KELOWNA BLUES: Musician being driven out by housing crisis

Wearing a baseball cap and sporting a grey mustache, Dave puts a brave face on his living situation.

"You just grin and bear it, you can't expect the world to come to your rescue," he says.

They are both adamant they don't want a handout., just an affordable place to live out their retirement.

"I've always been self-sufficient... we're supposed to do this on our own," he says.

But doing it on your own is tough when the vacancy rate means there is barely anywhere remotely affordable to live.

"These are not chronically homeless people that we are talking about," Wejr said. "These are people that have put their time in, they've worked... these are our parents, our grandparents, it's not who people think homeless people are."

The couple use the small charcoal barbecue for all their cooking.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

Dave and Connie are clearly very proud people who never in their wildest dreams thought they'd be in this position.

They should be enjoying their retirement, instead, they're adapting to living without power.

There are bags of charcoal lined up against their tent which they use to cook with on their $20 barbecue.

Every morning Connie lights briquettes and boils water to make coffee.

It's time-consuming compared to flicking the switch of a coffee pot, but Connie says she's gotten used to it.

They spend a lot of the day sitting in their car and the price of gas means they try to avoid driving.

While the weather has been cold, the summer will create its own problems with trying to stay cool and out of the sun at the campsite.

They have a cat, Kitty, who is an indoor cat. Now Kitty stays in the vehicle, but come the summer it'll be too hot.

Dave and Connie have looked at motel rooms but at $1,500 to $1,600 a month, they say it's just too much money.

The campsite charges $40 a night for a tent, which still makes it $1,200 a month. The couple got a deal, as it's off-season, but with summer around the corner, the discount price soon won't exist.

Dave says he can't tolerate living in a tent for much longer.

So where will they go? It's not a question with an easy answer.

So do they get depressed?

"Definitely," Dave says. "But we try to bring each other out of it, when I get depressed she gives me a pat on the back and a hug and I do the same for her."

The situation obviously takes its toll.

"I feel guilty being the guy and I put my wife through this crap, I'm supposed to be responsible and I can't even look after myself," he says.

Wejr says as a society we need to do better.

"These are the people we should be looking at supporting and revering that put their whole lives into our communities and yet they are being pushed out," she said.

READ MORE: HOUSING CRISIS: Family of 5 forced to live in small Vernon motel room

Used to a life indoors, Kitty has to stay in the car.

(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

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