SAD, SHOCKED TO READ HOMELESS STORY

I am shocked, saddened and angry to read in The Guardian that a 51-year-old woman had no choice but to sleep in a graveyard for seven nights because she was “unfairly evicted” from her Charlottetown apartment and was left homeless.

Is this what our gentle Island has come to? P.E.I. is promoted as a charming, tranquil, friendly place to visit. Is it, really? Ask a homeless person wrongly evicted and living on the streets.

The front page Guardian story ‘I had no choice’ by reporter Jim Day brings home the harsh reality of the housing crisis in Charlottetown and across the Island.

As Day reports, “the woman could not find a place to stay so she made her way to the graveyard for the night. She was cold, wet and scared.”

My social conscience is tarnished with images of a fearful, homeless woman, cold and wet, sleeping in a graveyard. I can’t even imagine the fear she suffered as homeless women are more at risk of experiencing horrific street violence.

The Guardian article has me questioning: Who is profiting from the high rental increases? Who are the property owners recruiting with jacked-up rental increases resulting in creating homelessness or the risk of becoming homeless? Why is it being allowed to happen?

Homelessness on P.E.I. is not biased; it can happen to anyone including families, the young and the old.

It’s a sad day for P.E.I. when a 51-year-old woman is ‘unfairly evicted’ from her apartment and has no choice but to sleep in a graveyard.

Stella Shepard, Morell