Lack of homeless shelters while housing crisis looms

Faced with no alternative, Olivia Sanders and her family were forced to live in a tent on the beach last month; the decision, though difficult, reflects the reality of a woeful lack of emergency housing in Cayman.

It is a challenge Acts of Random Kindness director Tara Nielsen said the charity knows too well as it struggles to meet the demand for housing which is growing in the face of the rising cost of living.

“It’s been a long-time problem and it’s the same, if not worse now, because of the cost of living. It’s very difficult – people are choosing between power and food: ‘We won’t pay for the power…. we’ll live without power, but at least we’ll have food’… People are actually making choices like that,” she said.

Need for shelters growing

Late last month, after challenges with their landlord, Sanders, an expectant mother, moved onto a beach in the eastern districts with her two young children and her husband.

With a helping hand from relatives and the kindness of strangers Sanders was able to leave Cayman with her children to return to Canada where she is finishing her studies. Her husband is still seeking assistance to join his family in Canada.

Nielsen, who stepped in to try to assist the family, said that while the issue of lack of shelters requires a more long-term solution, in the short term even finding a place for families to rent is a problem, especially when they are Needs Assessment Unit clients.

There have been complaints in the past about NAU payments not being issued or issued late leading to landlords enforcing a strict no-NAU-client policy which has exacerbated the problem.

“People don’t want small children. Of course, [there is] the NAU factor and then trying to find deposits, that’s like almost impossible. So we do provide deposits where we can,” she said, adding that there is another homeless family ARK is trying to help and they need to come up with $5,000 for the first month’s rent and deposit.

“What’s really needed is affordable housing, and not as in affordable housing for people to buy… I’m talking about rent. Buying’s a pipe dream. I’m talking about somewhere that’s clean and sanitary and safe, that’s affordable that [those who need it] can rent,” she said.

“There’s just so many problems. It’s so difficult.”

At present, there is no formal homeless shelter where families or individuals can seek refuge in an emergency.

Nielsen said in the past ARK was able to put people up at local hotels in an emergency, but that measure was discontinued after a family they assisted with the temporary accommodation refused to leave.

“It was three months we had to pay,” she said, adding they didn’t want to evict them as the family included a newborn. ARK couldn’t afford to keep them, “but… there was nowhere else they could go. It was a nightmare and I can’t get into that situation again, because we can’t afford to do that,” she said.

Shelter in the works

Social Development Minister André Ebanks, speaking at the opening of ARK’s new home, acknowledged that there is no specific shelter for Cayman’s homeless, but said work is under way to find a solution to this issue.

He said down on Birch Tree Hill Road there is a Crown asset which is a house that could be refurbished to be a transitional residence for those who need a place to live.

It could also be a shelter in a desperate situation, he said, “which we are lacking in the community. But that would have had additional strain on the budget.”

Ebanks added there are other opportunities to repurpose government assets.

“There’s a small post office as you enter Savannah that’s doing nothing right now. Can that be turned into something?” he said, noting there was also a house on Birch Tree Hill Road, plus other examples that “may begin to add up and you’ll be able to create positive social development change”.

Solution needed

Nielsen commended Ebanks and his ministry for the work being done to address the needs of the vulnerable in the community.

While she believes reforms being undertaken will bring significant change, she said “drilling down on affordable and clean rental housing, I’m not sure where they are with that specific need”.

The ministry, she said, has looked at how other Caribbean countries dealt with the problem and they are really trying to find the best solution.

“It’s just that these things take years and people who are living in those situations need it yesterday. A lot of people’s retirement plans here is they have a little rental unit on their house, or a rental unit somewhere and they depend on it… but they can’t afford not to be paid,” she said.