The Gander, N.L., airport sign, now famous thanks to the Broadway musical "Come From Away," is seen through the fog from inside the airport on Thursday, July 6, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sarah Smellie

GANDER, N.L. - It's peak tourism season, and with the new Gander production of the Broadway musical "Come From Away" drawing visitors from afar, the central Newfoundland town is especially full.

But the added demand for accommodations is squeezing out unhoused people who've been living temporarily in hotels, highlighting a growing homelessness problem in the community that has long been hidden from view.

"There was this idea that homelessness didn't exist here, because it just wasn't as prevalent, it just wasn't as obvious," says Kim Beers, chair of the Gander Housing and Homeless Hub. "Part of it is sometimes because we have a lot of kind people — which is why 9/11 became such a big deal, because people open up their homes."

The number of unhoused people in Gander who are in regular need of emergency housing has "ballooned" in the past year, Beers said in a recent interview — "even in the past six months." About a year ago, there may have been eight or 10 people needing somewhere to sleep each night. That number is now close to 40, she said.

Gander has a population of about 11,800 people and it doesn't have an emergency shelter. Instead, the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation typically pays for those in need of housing to stay in local hotels.

The town has always had people and families without a place to live, Beers said. They likely got by sleeping on couches or in the spare rooms of homes owned by friends and families — a sign of the Newfoundland kindness underscored in "Come From Away." The play tells the story of the Gander residents who housed and fed thousands aboard planes diverted to the town's airport after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation was told in mid-May that the unhoused people in hotels would have to move, "due to upcoming reservations at the hotels," said Jenny Bowring, a housing corporation spokesperson, in an email.

About 39 people had to be moved, and the housing authority worked with community partners to find them somewhere to go, Bowring said. Four other families are still living in Gander-area hotels.

Plans are underway to issue a request for proposals to establish "shelter options" in central Newfoundland, she added.

One woman, who has bounced between two hotels with her young child since January, said she fled an abusive relationship and landed in the hotel system because she couldn't find an affordable place to rent. The Canadian Press has agreed not to name her in order to protect her child's identity.

She said some people living in Gander hotels were sent more than 300 kilometres away to St. John's, to stay at the city's main shelter. Others, like her, with children were told they'd also be relocated, but at the last minute officials found hotel rooms allowing them to stay in town.

"With Come From Away and all that going on, they were expecting a lot of business," she said in an interview. "And I think this is probably the most people they've ever had — there was one whole floor of people living there through (Newfoundland and Labrador Housing)."

The woman said she wants to remain in Gander, or at least nearby, because that's where her child goes to school, and that's where her family connections are. But she'd rather have a proper place of her own.

Living in a hotel room is difficult, she said: Her child can't have friends over and it's awkward to have a babysitter come to the room if she picks up shifts at work. She dreads going to job interviews, because employers will inevitably ask for her address, though she acknowledged that in such a small town, word gets around about who is living in a hotel.

The town needs to do something about its lack of affordable housing, she said. For people with low incomes or those who are on income support, rental prices in the town are "completely out of their league," she said.

Gander mayor Percy Farwell brought up the town's housing challenges without prompting during a recent interview. Unlike much of rural Newfoundland, Gander's population is growing, and the housing supply hasn't kept pace, he said. Immigrants, students and lower-wage workers are moving to the town, and there aren't many places for them to rent. Instead, some employers, particularly mining companies, have rented hotel rooms for their employees, which is adding to the demand on hotels, he said.

The town is looking at a number of ways it might help, from zoning changes to accommodate higher-density development, to encouraging developers to build affordable units, Farwell said.

He agrees that hotels aren't a good solution for the community's unhoused people. To that end, the town recently purchased a former Pentecostal church and invited proposals from community groups who could develop the spot and meet local needs — "not someone to come and put a casino in it," he said.

Provincial legislation governing the town's operations doesn't allow it to run housing facilities, he said. But the town can be a facilitator and put the pieces in place for other organizations to do so.

Farwell said Gander prides itself on being a welcoming community, just as it is portrayed in "Come From Away."

"We need to be an inclusive, progressive community that meets the needs of those who choose to live here," he said. "If you're at or below the poverty line, we need to be able to provide a place where it's safe for you to live, too."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2023.

News from © The Canadian Press, 2023