A warm place in the cold city

OTTAWA — For people who have no place to live, Ottawa can be much colder than any place in the Arctic.

Fortunately, homeless Inuit living on the streets of the nation’s capital may now apply for long-term shelter at Pigiarvik House.

For up to 18 months, this new residence will offer transitional housing to Inuit in Ottawa who find themselves temporarily homeless.

Getting off the streets in Ottawa is particularly tough because housing is so expensive.

“There’s a big need for affordable housing in Ottawa,” says Pigiarvik supervisor Barbara Sévigny, originally from Iqaluit.

Sévigny says Inuit sometimes become homeless after they give up their social housing units in the North to come South, thinking it will be much easier and cheaper to live in Ottawa.

“But it’s the same situation here,” she says.

Rooms at Pigiarvik cost a reasonable $325 a month. They’re reserved for people of Inuit ancestry who are over 16 and homeless.

Right now, Sévigny is soliciting applications from potential residents.

To be accepted at Pigiarvik, residents have to follow a “personal development plan “aimed at moving them into independent housing and toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

To live at the house, residents have to follow the rules, work with their fellow residents and staff, and stay sober.

To qualify for admission, they also have to agree to stay sober for a month before taking up residence.

Sévigny says this is a problem for some would-be-residents.

“The problem we’re seeing is the drinking — not being sober,” she says.

The house opened in July, and already has two residents. But it’s currently undergoing renovation.

“Some people are put up in hotels because there’s no more room at the shelters,” Sévigny says.

Sévigny hopes Pigiarvik will become a supportive home for its future residents, functioning like a family for those who are on their own.

While the bedrooms are small, they’re cozy. The kitchen and common room are well-equipped, thanks to the numerous donations.

Sévigny says she’s still hoping someone will contribute more pillows, blankets and sheets to Pigiarvik, although she’s pleased with a generous response from organizations and businesses.

Donations include a cash gift from Nunavut Tunngavik Inc., two computers and software from Nunavut’s department of education, six quilts from a church group called the “Thursday Thimblers,” houseware items from Nortext Multimedia, and posters and wall hangings from Makivik Corp.

The Ottawa Citizen and Nunatsiaq News are providing free subscriptions to the residents as well.

Paint manufacturer Sherwin Williams donated the house paint, while Ontario Hydro hooked up the electricity free-of-charge.

Pigiarvik’s renovations should be finished completely by the beginning of 2002.

Pigiarvik is joint effort between Tungasuvvingat Inuit (TI), the social, cultural and counselling organization that looks after Inuit in Ontario, and the Non-profit Inuit Housing Corporation (INPHC).

Four years ago, the housing corporation spearheaded a study that showed several degrees of homelessness among the approximately 800 Inuit in the nation’s capital.

There are Inuit with no homes at all — the “hidden homeless” — who stay with friends but have no fixed address, and those who have trouble keeping places to live.

Single people are more likely to be homeless and have fewer resources.

With this study in hand, TI and the INPHC submitted a series of joint proposals for money from the federal government’s human resources department, which is responsible for homelessness programs, and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

In 2000, the project received $176,000 from the HRDC to buy a house and adjacent lot on Lebreton Street.

The CMC then provided a forgivable loan of $72,000 — which won’t have to be paid back if the shelter continues to operate at that address. This money has paid for the house’s renovation.

Another federal government grant underwrote an addition to the original dwelling, bringing the shelter’s capacity up to 10 residents.

This money will also pay for programs designed to get the homeless back on track.

The $850,000 received to date is already enough to keep Pigiarvik House up and running for three years.