Nipawin housing crisis only getting worse

“The rental prices are comparable to those in Saskatoon for a community in Nipawin, which is a lot smaller.”

Nipawin Oasis believes the town itself has to step up, stating there is a lot of ‘dilapidated housing.’

Lots of private landlords are buying up properties and renting them out, with one of the potential reasons to increase rental prices, trying to prevent destruction to said places.

A solution, according to Nipawin Oasis is more social housing.

Currently, they run supporting housing themselves, seven to be exact, for chronically homeless families.

Power, gas, water, internet, home phone, and rent are all compiled into one bill, as social assistance no longer pays utilities and rent directly for some clients who require it.

Nipawin Oasis views itself as a last resort.

“We are really the last stop for a lot of people, they’ve gone to every other place and been told no or we can’t help you, and when they come here, I think our main focus is having those basic needs met,” Leigh added.

Right now, they are dealing with about eight to 10 people a day giving them food bags, as well as donating reusable water bottles and winter clothes.

Nipawin Oasis is also referring people to other agencies and talking with people who are going through rough patches.

“As far as being able to house everybody, we’ve been really good with being able to house people, but it’s maintaining that housing, the lack of housing right now, and the application process and stipulation that’s the problem,” Leigh told northeastNOW.

“A lot of private landlords are saying they don’t want to rent to people who are on social assistance, so that’s yet another obstacle that people are having to face, trying to get on assistance is a frustrating task.”

If people have a phone, sometimes they are on hold all day, and if you’re trying to apply online, not everyone has access to a computer or the internet.

People also need an ID to apply, which some don’t have, and you also need an income to get a lease and get a rental place.

“The problem is you need that lease to get the income to pay for it, so our system is really backwards… we’re looking at one to two-bedroom houses with between 12 and 21 people in them, so we have lots of couch surfers and then that puts the family who’s taking people in at risk of eviction as well. We’re really struggling here to keep up with the demand,” mentioned Leigh.

As far as the Town of Nipawin is concerned, according to their Mayor, Marlon Zacharias, they are limited in how they address these issues.

They are currently working with developers in an effort to increase housing availability for their community, however, they know it is difficult to ask individuals or volunteer organizations to make major changes to positively affect this growing concern.

They also recognize this isn’t just a Nipawin concern and hope they will be able to approach both the Provincial and Federal governments and work with them to find solutions to what has become a long-term problem for far too many people.

“The Town of Nipawin has been experiencing ongoing concerns surrounding the topic of housing availability and homelessness, and recent increases in the overall cost of living have only magnified these concerns and made it more difficult for individuals and families to have adequate housing options,” said Zacharias.

“We appreciate and support all organizations that are working towards making improvements throughout our community for all the citizens.”

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by Ben Tompkins

Nipawin housing crisis only getting worse

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