The struggle to break out of homelessness even tougher for some

Getting out of the shelter system is no easy task, especially if your needs go beyond those of others competing for limited spaces in a hot housing market … and with limited financial resources. 

Such is the situation faced by many Guelph residents, including Andrew McMahon. He’s getting used to being ‘ghosted’ by landlords and others once they learn he receives social assistance and has a personal support dog to help with his mental health.

“That’s the sort of struggle that I’m facing,” said McMahon, seated in his semi-private room at a transitional supportive housing facility. “It’s not like I’m sitting here on my hands doing nothing. … I’m the most active person in the house looking for housing.

“As soon as someone learns I’m on assistance or I have a dog, they ghost me – nothing.”

McMahon, who grew up in Guelph and returned to the city several years ago, has been staying in transitional housing for the past eight months and has been asked to leave by this Monday The length of his stay is noted as the reason in an emailed notice shown to GuelphToday.

Not knowing where he and Molly, his 10-year-old canine companion, will soon be living makes his stress level rise, exacerbating his post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I’m depressed, losing sleep, not eating right, thinking about jumping in front of a transport truck. It’s hard,” he said. “It’s compounding my mental health issues that I already have. I don’t need any more.”

McMahon explained he was injured at work in 2011, noting he first received assistance through the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and is now enrolled with the Ontario Disability and Support Program (ODSP) and the Canadian Ontario Housing Benefit.

He became homeless last summer and entered transitional housing in September.

“I must applaud the services downtown for the meals, and the support down there is amazing. I was not hungry,” he said of his time between eviction and entering the shelter system.

Through the assistance programs, McMahon said he’s eligible to receive $1,495 per month to put toward rent, with another $706 to cover food, utilities and other expenses, including veterinary care for Molly.

“Guelph rent has just gone haywire, the whole province," McMahon said.

The average price to rent a one-bedroom apartment in Guelph last month was $1,964, according to rentals.ca, making Guelph the 12th most expensive city in Canada for rentals.

To say McMahon has grown frustrated with the situation would be an understatement.

He’s filed two complaints of discrimination with the Ontario Human Rights Commission about the treatment he’s received while looking for housing, but opted to withdraw them.

“Real estate agents go, ‘I understand, but my client’s not willing to work with anybody that’s not working,’ which is exactly what the law says you can’t do,” McMahon said. 

“I just said to myself, ‘You’ll be in this for years,’” he added of the complaint process. “I’m carrying the burden around of all these complaints, I just said ‘forget it.’”

McMahon isn’t alone in facing obstacles as he looks to move beyond transitional housing.

Fellow transitional housing resident Jermaine Cameron uses a wheelchair to get around due to limited motion in his legs following an injury several years ago.

Like McMahon, Cameron wants to get into private housing. Though he, too, receives ODSP at the moment, Cameron sees it as a stop-gap measure and aspires to rejoin the workforce as soon as possible.

He believes having secure, permanent housing is an important step in that direction.

“Once you are homeless, you fit this statistic, you’re looked down upon,” said Cameron.

“I’m not here because I want to be homeless,” he added. “All I’m looking for is an opportunity.”

Available, accessible housing is virtually non-existent in Guelph and elsewhere, Cameron lamented, especially when faced with monthly income of about $1,500.

Though their individual circumstances are unique, the problems McMahon and Cameron face are anything but isolated.

“Emergency shelters or other temporary options provide much-needed protection and support for people who would otherwise be sleeping outside, but they’re not meant to be long-term solutions,” said Dominica McPherson, director of the Guelph & Wellington Task Force for Poverty Elimination. 

“Though organizations are having success with supporting people to find and secure a place to call home, what’s making it increasingly challenging is skyrocketing rental rates, a lack of deeply affordable housing stocks and inadequate income supports”

McPherson called for the enhancement of housing subsidy and social assistance programs, as well as generally increased worker wages.

“Income supports and wages are not keeping up with the cost of living, which is making it harder and harder for people to find a place to call home that’s safe and meets their needs,” she said, noting social assistance can be as low as $733 per month for a single adult.

“Accessibility is a huge challenge in our community and others. There are so few options available for people with disabilities,” she continued. “We need to ensure that as housing growth increase in our community that it’s reflective of community need and that needs to include accessible housing, not only for people with disabilities to have a place to call home but for people to age in place as well.”