The housing crisis in Sackville is growing and needs action, says group to town council
If there were any Sackville town councillors not aware of the developing crisis in housing in the region, that was put to an end on Monday night, after a presentation to council by the Tantramar Affordable Housing Initiative.
Sackville residents Reggie Beal, Ashley Legere and Alice Cotton gave an an eye-opening presentation on the situation being faced by some Sackville families, including testimony from Legere and Beal, who are both facing loss of their current homes.
“It’s very scary,” Beal told council. The home he’s been renting is being sold, and Beal needs to leave. But he says that after 6 months of looking, he can’t find an affordable place to go, even with a full time employment income. Beal works at Rose’s Independent alongside Mayor Shawn Mesheau, who said he’s familiar with Beal’s predicament. “It is an emotional situation,” said the Mayor Monday. “And it affects more people than we realize.”
Ashley Legere is a Sackville resident and Wellness Navigator with Ensemble Moncton. She found out this past weekend that she has three months to find a new home after the house she is renting was sold. The irony of her situation wasn’t lost on Legere. “My job is to literally find housing for individuals who are experiencing homelessness,” she told council. “And I’m going to be probably the first Wellness Navigator who is also going to end up homeless.”… Continue
‘There’s really nothing around’: Sackville residents struggle to find housing
A widespread shortage of housing has left one local resident – the owner of Sackville’s only bicycle repair shop – contemplating a return to his family in Ontario until an apartment becomes available locally.
Tobias Paul, owner of Barnyard Bicycles, said he’s lived in Sackville on and off for about eight years. When his housing situation changed in January, he found himself without a fixed address.
“Vacancies will always pop up in April when the students leave town,” he said. “But during that eight month period, when school is in session, the town is really in a hard lock.”
Paul, 28, said he’s even looked in Moncton and Amherst for a place to call home. He told CHMA he’s staying with a friend and thinking about heading back to Ontario to stay with his parents.
‘Massive jump’ in rent
Douglas Murray has lived in Sackville for 49 years. He’s currently looking for a new home because his apartment building in Sackville is slated for demolition.
But finding somewhere to live isn’t easy. Murray says the rent for available units tends to be about $150 per month more than what he’s currently paying, which he called a “massive jump.”
“It’s pretty disheartening,” he said. “There’s no cheap places to live in Sackville because anyone that gets a cheap place here hangs onto it.”
Many houses that were formerly rented out to students at Mount Allison University have been bought up in recent years, and the owners have converted those buildings into single-family households, according to the longtime Sackville resident. … Continue
Wednesday on Tantramar Report: Accessible housing is scarce in Sackville; Mitton on first day of legislature; COVID testing falls behind
Listen to Tantramar Report for the following stories:
Mitton talks fall legislature priorities
The provincial legislature reconvened on Tuesday, and hundreds of CUPE strikers marched to the legislature for the opening. Memramcook-Tantramar MLA Megan Mitton joins us on Tantramar Report to report back on the first day, talk about her priorities for the next two months, and weigh in on what is needed to end the CUPE strike. Read more about what Megan Mitton had to say in our web story here.
Accessible housing is scarce, and causing a crisis within a crisis
Finding housing is difficult enough these days without the added challenges of accessibility needs and low income. Rachael Hanakowski has been in search of an affordable and accessible apartment in Sackville since June. She and her partner Jack are in a catch-22, needing stable housing in order to sustain employment, and needing stable employment income in order to afford accessible housing. On Tantramar Report, we talk with Hanakowski and Ability NB, in search of solutions to the problem.
COVID updates: active cases drop, but so does testing
Public Health reported 40 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, with 14 of those cases in Zone 1. Ten of the new cases in Zone 1 are under investigation, and four are known contacts of previous cases. There are now 470 active cases in the province and 184 of those are in Zone 1.… Continue