Ninety-three-year-old Clifford Labree has been residing on the Surrey City Mission’s shelter for a yr and a half.
He has no different choices and fears being out on the road.
“The place am I going to go there’s nothing,” Labree informed International Information. “Right here I get assist. Right here I get an ambulance if I would like it.”
Supportive housing could be extra acceptable for the senior, however there aren’t any inexpensive openings out there.
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“We try to get him into the next degree of care which is clearly what he wants,” Surrey City Mission spokesperson Janet Brown stated.
“However within the meantime, he stays with us on the shelter as a result of we’re not going to place him out, we’re not going to make him grow to be homeless.”
Sadly, Clifford’s story is just not distinctive.
British Columbia’s Seniors’ Advocate Dan Levitt stated that in 2023 almost 14,000 seniors utilized for backed housing areas, a rise of 59 per cent in comparison with 5 years in the past.
Most have been turned away.
“Roughly six p.c of the individuals who utilized, lower than 900 individuals who utilized of the 14,000 obtained an area,” Levitt stated.
B.C.’s Ministry of Well being says it was trying into Labree’s case and hoped to supply extra info quickly.
For Labree, the shelter at Surrey City Mission has grow to be his residence, someplace he now hopes to remain till the tip.
“Once I die they’ll carry me out,” he stated. “However not ’til then.”
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