The lease for evacuated residents of Kelowna's Hadgraft Wilson Place to stay temporarily at Okanagan College has come to an end.
The tenants were evacuated on April 2, after ground shifting from neighbouring construction of the University of B.C. Okanagan's downtown Kelowna campus caused the apartment building to crack and was deemed unsafe for occupancy by the local fire chief.
Residents were put up temporarily in hotels with the help of the non-profit society and Hadgraft building manager Pathways Abilities Society until Okanagan College offered to open up its new dorm facilities on the Kelowna campus at the end of April to house the more than 80 evacuees for the summer.
The college leased out the dorms until Aug. 15, needing the remaining weeks of summer to prepare the building for students ahead of the start of the school year.
Monique Saebels has acted as a spokesperson for the tenants of Hadgraft. She said, "All the residents of Hadgraft would like to thank Okanagan College for housing us for three months. We will never forget them letting us be together again. We appreciate everything."
Black Press Media has learned all of the tenants have been able to secure other rentals in the city.
One of the residents, a single mom, has only been able to secure a rental unit starting Sept. 1, but is hoping to stay with friends in the meantime. The woman told Black Press she had asked to stay at the college until then, but was told it wouldn't be possible.
UBC made a monetary offer to tenants on July 2, of $12,000 to assist in finding suitable rentals. The offer stipulated that the post-secondary institute was not claiming any responsibility for the damage to Hadgraft Wilson Place and that if the residents received any financial compensation as a result of either of the two class action lawsuits filed the $12,000 would be deducted from the suit winnings.
Despite the offer, Hadgraft evacuee and single mom Megan Beckmann said the limited and expensive rental market in Kelowna means the money won't last long.
"I paid about $1,000 at Hadgraft Wilson Place and now I pay about $2,500, so it's a huge difference in rent," Beckmann said. "I'm still deciding how I'm going to make ends meet long term. I'm hoping that we will get to return to our homes. $1,500 a month for single families is a huge difference, it's a life-changing amount and it is the difference between food and shelter."
Apartment hunting site Zumper reports that the current average monthly cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment in the city is $1,997, about 20 per cent higher than the national median.
The single mom is supposed to return to school in September.
"Given that I have two kids I have to take care of as well, I can't just work whenever I want," said Beckmann. "The rent at Hadgraft Wilson Place was reflective of that, it was nice to be able to have the comfort of not worrying about food and a roof over our heads while I try to better my life with studies."
Even though Beckmann found a place to rent, she and other tenants don't have any of their belongings to furnish the new place.
When the evacuation order was announced on Mar. 31, residents at Hadgraft had been told to pack up a week's worth of clothing with the hopes of returning home soon. The evacuation, however, was extended and access to the building was restricted. Furniture, clothing, photos, food, and other belongings remain stuck inside their old apartments.
Saebels lived in Hadgraft with her mom. "Everything we own is in that apartment," Saebels said. "There's things that are irreplaceable. For my mom, she has a shrine to my dad in her bedroom. He's been gone for seven years and every little trinket means everything to her. Now, should we not be able to get those items back, that would be a huge part of her life that would be taken away from her."
Pathways Abilities Society executive director Charisse Daley said tenants were given permission to enter Hadgraft Wilson Place on Aug. 14, however, the elevator was not working and limits access for individuals with physical disabilities.
"A lot of our residents have come from homelessness to Hadgraft," Beckmann explained. "Thinking that you're moving forward in this economy and you're finally catching a break, only to have your security ripped out from under you, it's definitely an emotional topic."
Other residents have diversabilities that require accessible housing, something Hadgraft Wilson Place had been built to address.
"For everybody out there, I want them to see those scenarios. I want them to think about those people," Saebels is urging the public to put themselves in the shoes of Hadgraft residents. "When you go home at night and you are in your home with your family and having your nice dinner, what are these people going to do? Where are they going to go?
"I worry every day. I don't sleep at night because I worry about my people. I don't want to see people homeless."
