The lack of housing has created a crisis among our precious seniors

BY STEVEN KASZAB

The Canadian and American dream gave us a promise that should we study and work hard for some time, this effort would result in a benefit for us come our retirement, granting us a chance to rest and recreate as deserving members of the working class.

Well, that was the propaganda anyways, and many of us swallowed these pronouncements coming from our: governments, banking institutions, employers and centers of education.

Something totally different has risen in North America, where a greater majority of working class and middle-class citizens have found themselves victims to food insecurity, homelessness, lack of healthcare and the effects of depression, mental health issues, fatalism and fear of the future. Poverty, something you thought was rampant in some far-off land, has attached itself to you, a family member, or friend, and there is no real solution to your question asked; how can I get out of this situation?

The poverty rate for seniors in Langley City, BC is 19.1%, compared to 14.3% in Greater Vancouver. The rates vary from province to province, city to city, but this poverty does not go away, but lingers within our elderly’s populations. The struggle is huge for this often-fragile population. If they are lucky, elderly live in older buildings where the rent is low, perhaps paying $700.00 a month. Then the building is bought and torn down. Where can these people find similar homes at the rents they once paid? Those living on $1,800-1,900.00 a month are unable to pay rents 2-3x higher than previously paid. Perhaps the elderly person goes to the hospital for an extended time, only to return to a building where their accommodations no longer exist. People are giving up food to pay their rent. The elderly will not be able to find employment to raise the needed wages to pay for a more expensive rent, so they face becoming a burden to family, the city or become homeless.

The lack of housing has created a crisis among our precious seniors; those who once built this nation, are becoming victims to its consuming nature. Years ago, seniors could move to out of the way communities across the nation, into cottage homes which were convenient and certainly affordable. No longer! Cottages have been bought by investors unable to own homes in the city, and the cost for such homes have skyrocketed nationwide. These cottage homes are gone or have been developed into costly condos.

Government services need to be more transparent and available to our seniors. Explaining what, where and how to acquire these programs and payments needs to become a national program in itself. Housing for the elderly has become such a concern, that many elderly have applied for the MAID Program, planning to end their lives instead of waiting for the government to act and service their needs. Charitable programs and food banks have become a permanent resource for the elderly, as they struggle the rocky road towards survival or oblivion.

A searing sense of fatalistic hopelessness exists, where our seniors fear speaking up for their own sake, let alone the sake of others. Numb to their plight, they merely survive their twilight years instead of enjoying themselves as they were told they would do so long ago. Unions, politicians and corporate hacks have failed our true heroes, and if you and I remain silent about their plight, we too will need to answer for our disgraceful indifference.