Homelessness in Barrie is always a hot topic among politicians, community members and activists in the city, but there are also countless numbers of people who are also living on the knife-edge divide between struggling to keep a roof over their heads and the prospect of becoming homeless themselves.
Recently, during the height of the cold snap which saw temperatures plummet well below the freezing mark, a woman driving downtown along Dunlop Street East stopped her car to offer another woman who was sitting by the sidewalk a hot drink and a prayer.
The exchange lasted for approximately five minutes — and then the generous, caring woman was gone.
“She gave me the tea and did a prayer,” Alison, 54, told BarrieToday immediately afterwards.
She regularly sits out on the front step of her building where she lives.
“When people give me money, like today someone gave me a 20 and I went and bought lunch, this is how I eat, from restaurants,” Alison said.
Alison, who declined to give her full name, lives in a rooming house, in a room which is about eight-by-20 feet in size. She is paying $700 per month.
Her fixed income is limited.
“It’s taking $144 out of my food money every month,” Alison said.
With that small room in a poorly maintained building, living conditions are not the best.
“When I first moved in there, I had a microwave in my room and someone gave me new plates, so I bought pots and pans and dishes and all that. And I bought like $250 worth of groceries, but the cockroaches just started getting into my food. So, I don’t cook in my room,” she lamented.
On top of her poor living conditions, Alison says she struggles with alcohol addiction.
Getting by, day-to-day and month-to-month, is a challenge. She is afraid of eventually becoming homeless if the cost of living continues to skyrocket.
In another part of Barrie, 30-year-old Joshua is couch surfing with his 30-year-old girlfriend just to get by.
For them, homelessness has been all too real.
“At the moment, I am living on a pull-out couch in my mom's living room. She has agreed to let me and my girlfriend live here as long as we agree to stay clean, which has actually been going surprisingly well, I think,” he told BarrieToday.
“A lot of our drug use was the product of being homeless and feeling so hopeless,” Joshua added.
Both of them had a roof over their head last year, but the space didn't have running water.
“We only had an eco-toilet, and (the apartment) was unfinished,” Joshua said.
To improve their living situation, he says he started to work on the place, which he agreed to do with the owner if the owner would supply the building materials.
“Unfortunately, he was a horrible alcoholic and a lot of things he said he'd do, he didn't do. He made it unbearable to stay there,” Joshua said.
He believes the only people who will rent to them, after they explain their situation, are the types who want to take advantage of the pair’s situation, or are just “straight-up slumlords no one else would dare stay with.
"It's almost better to stick to the streets rather than be involved with some of these places," Joshua added.
The couple’s biggest struggle with housing is just the cost of rentals in the current market.
“Even a room is unaffordable for two people who are starting out and only getting Ontario Works,” he said.
Residents in need of financial assistance for food and housing can receive money through the Ontario Works program.
The money is available to help eligible family members with living expenses, including food, rent, health benefits and employment support to help find and keep a job.
Combined, Joshua said he and his girlfriend receive $1,083 per month.
“I messaged over 100 room rentals in Barrie while we were homeless and the few that were willing to rent to couples wanted $1,200, usually. This just isn't feasible for two people," he said.
Joshua said he rented a three-bedroom house two years ago for the same amount.
“Now you can't find a bachelor (apartment) for that price. It's very intimidating and makes it easy to give up and accept life in a tent,” he said.
Joshua says that, over the last couple of years, people and organizations “keep sending (them) in circles.”
“I've been sober for half of it, and pretty f****d up for the other half,” he lamented.
“It seems when me and my partner have stable housing, food, clean water, we are able to keep our wits about us to do the things we need to, but when we're out on the streets it's a whole other world, and not much keeps you away from the world of drugs and the life that comes with it," Joshua said.
Fortunately for Joshua, he said he has “a good mother” who cares about him and wants him to do well in life.
“Not too many other people we come across are so lucky. Even now, a lot of those people are suffering on the streets through this winter hell, and I feel for them,” he said.
A few of the people on the street that Joshua knew are now dead, he says, while others are scraping by and just trying to survive.
“Some found a way out, but most are freezing and probably wishing for death right now. My experience was nice compared to these people. Hopefully it's not too bad for them,” he said.
To help combat the slide into homelessness, the County of Simcoe aims to stop people from “falling off the edge” into that abyss.
With the county set to receive more than $22 million in provincial and federal dollars over the next two years to help prevent homelessness, county councillors recently learned how that money will be allocated and just what the county is doing to address the issue.