Lewis and Pauline Estabrooks in their home on May 13, 2022. Photo: Erica Butler

It’s hard to find places to live in Sackville, and in particular affordable places. An increasing population and in-migration is taking rental homes off the market. At least one building housing several units is slated for demolition. And Harper Hall, which normally houses somewhere in the range of 150-200 students, is closed for renovations in 2022. Combine those local factors with rising rental costs across the province and country, and that means the squeeze is on, especially for people on low to medium incomes.

But there are some rental units in Sackville that are resilient to rental increases and housing market ups and downs: four units in two buildings operated by Sackville and Area Housing, a not-for-profit group that has provided subsidized housing to Sackville residents since 1988.

For decades Lewis Estabrooks served as president of Sackville and Area Housing, sometimes using his skills as an accountant to manage the bills and mortgage payments, and sometimes contributing pure elbow grease to clean and paint units to prepare them for new tenants. In March, MLA Megan Mitton recognized Estabrooks for his service in the provincial legislature, calling out his “dedication and contributions to the Sackville community.”

This month, CHMA paid a visit to Lewis Estabrooks to ask him about his time with Sackville and Area Housing, which continues to this day. The 87-year-old is the vice president of the group, working with current president Alf Walker.

Click below to listen to a conversation with Lewis Estabrooks:

Lewis Estabrooks joined Sackville and Area Housing in 1996, after a call from his wife Pauline’s doctor, Marilyn Trenholm, asking him to help out the organization that had been formed by Douglas Oulton about eight years before. Trenholm originally pitched the position as a temporary one for a few months, but more than 25 years later, he’s still serving as vice-president for the group.

Estabrooks says he only realized what he had signed up for a few months after Trenholm’s call, when a legal sized filing cabinet showed up at his door. “That’s when I found out all the things that I’m taking over,” says Estabrooks. “So it was kind of a shock to me.”

That filing cabinet included paperwork on a mortgage for two duplexes held by Sackville and Area Housing, one that will be paid off in 2024, something Estabrooks says he hopes he is around to see.

These days the maintenance of the four units owned by Sackville and Area Housing is done by a property management company based in Moncton. But for most of his tenure, Estabrooks did maintenance himself or hired workers as things came up. In order to keep the apartment rents affordable, within 30% of household incomes, the project gets subsidies from NB Housing. That means submitting budgets each year to the province outlining expenses and income, and also making special applications for any major repairs. “To put on a new roof or siding or windows, we just didn’t have enough money to do it,” says Estabrooks, “so we had to go to Moncton.”

To make his own living, Estabrooks worked as an accountant at the Enterprise Foundry for 35 years until it closed, and he also owned a couple of businesses with his three brothers: BBL Brothers, a clothing and footwear store on Main Street, and the Sackville Harness Shop, just down the street. In addition to his leadership role with Sackville and Area Housing, Estabrooks is a volunteer with his church, and served for many years with St. John’s Ambulance. His colleague Alf Walker calls him, “a kind and caring man who volunteers his help to many of his community members.”

Estabrooks says his work with Sackville and Area Housing has been satisfying over the years. “It’s a great thing to be able to help families,” he says. “Me coming from a big family, I was used to working around things and helping out.” One of 16 kids, Estabrooks credits his upbringing with his attitude to work. “We were showed how to work and we had to work to eat,” says Estabrooks. “So that’s where I got my ambition from, my mom and dad.”

With the recent spike in housing concerns in Sackville, at least two new groups have been meeting to help come up with possible solutions, reminiscent of what happened back in the 1980’s, when Sackville and Area Housing was born out of a similar movement.

Estabrooks says he is hopeful there is a younger generation interested in taking on the cause, and has met with a member of both new groups to talk about the possibility of collaboration to tackle housing shortages and affordability issues.

“It’s nice to see somebody else coming on that would take over the responsibility,” says Estabrooks. “So I’m very pleased with that. And I think it will work out well for us if we get together on this stuff.”

“There is a need for housing,” says Estabrooks. “Not just Sackville, but everywhere, I guess. We’re gonna have to go at it. We’re just going to have to take it in our heart and mind to get that fixed up.”