For Corrina Bowers, fears that her family could soon be face life on the streets haven't gone away, but an outpouring of support from her community has her hopeful that the worst can be avoided B次元官网网址� at least for now.
Bowers, 22, lives with her mother and her younger sister at 4504 15th Ave., in Vernon, but not for long.
Bowers' landlord is doing renovations on her apartment building, and after an unsuccessful fight through the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB), the family is facing an eviction notice and will have to leave their home by Jan. 31.
Bowers and her mother, Robin Lessard, have done everything they can to find a new place to live, but it's proven next to impossible for a number of reasons.
For one, Lessard is terminally ill and was in palliative care at home. Bowers' mother was told in August 2023 that had a year to live. Last week, as her health was rapidly declining, she was admitted to hospital due to low sodium levels and poor kidney function.
Bowers told The Morning Star Jan. 21 that her mother's kidney function "is going back up, so that's a relief," but she's still in hospital for the foreseeable future.
It's uncertain how much longer Lessard has left to live B次元官网网址� it could be weeks, months or days. But instead of focusing on her remaining days with their mother, Bowers and her sister are stuck worrying about finding a new home.
Lessard spoke to The Morning Star after receiving a notice of eviction from her landlord, Andrew Rebeyka of Birchwood Peak Properties.
At the time, she said she and 60 other residents in three Vernon apartments were given notices to vacate by the end of September 2024. Some of them fought the evictions, claiming it was a "renoviction." Others took an $8,000 settlement and moved out by the date on their notice.
The term renoviction refers to an eviction carried out to allow renovations to be done to a housing unit, particularly in cases where the landlord completes minor repairs in order to get the tenants out and increase the rent on the units.
Since 2021, the RTB has attempted to crack down on renovictions by introducing a dispute resolution process in which an arbitrator decides if ending the tenancy is the only way to complete repairs, which must be necessary to preserve the lifespan of the unit.
Lessard and her daughter fought the eviction through the RTB, and that process extended their tenancy past the original Sept. 30 move-out date. However, the arbitrator ultimately decided the renovations were legitimate and upheld the eviction of Lessard, her daughters and 18 other tenants.
Finding a new place to rent has been next to impossible. Their rent at the 15th Avenue apartment, where they lived for 10 years, is little over $1,000. The median rent for a three-bedroom apartment in Vernon is now $3,000, which is 37 per cent higher than the national average, according to .
Bowers isn't able to work, as she's too busy caring for her mother and packing up their belongings for the impending move in little over a week, to where they still don't know. She gets just over $1,000 in disability payments each month. Lessard receives disability payments too, but landlords haven't been keen to rent to a 22-year-old whose mother and her income may be gone at any time.
An unaffordable rental market and Lessard's health aren't the only barriers to finding housing; the family also has three cats, and with her mother already dying, Bowers can't imagine parting with them, too.
"It's really hard," Bowers said. "I'm really stressed out."
But fortunately, since the family's story went out to readers last Thursday, the community has stepped up to offer significant financial support, which translates to more precious time for the family to find a new living situation.
Bowers launched a on Jan. 16. Since then, the online fundraiser has generated nearly $17,000, money that can be used to stay in a hotel or perhaps find a landlord to keep them off the streets after Jan. 31.
The family has been astounded by the level of support the community has offered them.
"I wish I had the right words to say right now to express my appreciation, and thankfulness for everyone that has taken the time to read our story, donate, share it or reach out to me. I truly appreciate each and every person that has taken the time to help us in any way," Bowers wrote in an update on the GoFundMe webpage at https://gofund.me/3804aaec.
The family is also being supported by Turning Points Collaborative Society in finding a place to live.
"There is a tremendous lack of affordable family housing in Vernon, and sadly this family is experiencing that first-hand," Laurie Case, Turning Points' executive director of communications, said last week.
One hopeful prospect of finding a new home has unfortunately fallen through.
Bowers said Turning Points connected her to an elderly couple who reached out to say they have a place for the family to stay.
"The place was absolutely beautiful, and the people were absolutely amazing and were so compassionate, but unfortunately it was a little bit out of town which worries me with mom's health and getting her to appointments, and getting my sister to school," Bowers said.
"We're going to keep looking. I'm not giving up yet."
Bowers' sister will soon turn 18 and is in her senior year of high school. Her graduation pictures are on Jan. 30. Their eviction is the next day, and life after that point remains a question mark.
Anyone who may be able to help the family with a place to stay can email Bowers at gizmou@icloud.com, or call or text her at 778-212-4839
