Families living in crisis now have 27 days to find a place to stay following a decision by City of Ottawa housing services staff to close one of two remaining family emergency shelters.
Abdul Al-Gburi, his mother and three siblings could be left without a roof over their heads if accommodations are not arranged in time. “They said maybe they will move us to another shelter, or they will maybe give us a house because we have a little kid.”
Abdul is 16-years old. He escaped war-torn Iraq in 2014; his youngest sister is only 9 months old. Their father died of cancer; leaving behind his family nearly 2 years ago.
“Never, ever be back in Iraq, never, ever…I love it so much, this is my best place.” said the young man; who says he wants to one day play professional soccer.
Citing more than a million dollars in repair costs, city housing staff decided to close the 18 room emergency shelter. “It's been deemed too expensive to repair” says councillor Jeff Leiper.
The old building was never meant to house families; that was until the city turned the former school building into a shelter in the 70s according to Leiper. The Forward Avenue Family shelter is one of only two emergency family shelters in all of Ottawa.
“We don't have that emergency shelter capacity being replaced here. So right now I believe there are around 180 to 200 families every night in Ottawa who are being sheltered in motel rooms.” says Leiper.
Despite the late notice of the shelter closing in mid-December, Leiper says a housing solution is in the works for these 14 families. Because housing is so expensive in Ottawa , dozens more families are still waiting to find a place to live.
“Councillor (Catherine) McKenney was talking about a family that she heard got turned away from a shelter slept in their car for several days with a very young daughter.”
This housing crisis is an unacceptable, disturbing reality that has residents disappointed in the city and government.
“We're a rich country, we should be able to offer them some kind of assistance that gives them shelter and food while they sort out their affairs.” says Dianne McIntyre.
