This woman makes $67K a year. She’s couch-surfing until she can find affordable housing | CBC News

Teresa Chhina helps vulnerable people find affordable housing. Now, she’s struggling to find something for herself. 

Chhina, 53, has been without a home since March this year when her New Westminster, B.C., apartment burned down. 

Since then, she says she’s struggled to find a new apartment for herself, her 21-year-old daughter and their 13-year-old cat. 

The three now live apart with her daughter looking for her own place, the cat staying with Chhina’s son, and Chhina resorting to sleeping in her car or relying on the kindness of friends to lend their couch. 

“I make just under $70,000 a year, and I haven’t been able to find a place … I work full time, and we are essentially homeless,” said Chhina, who is looking for housing across Metro Vancouver, from Vancouver itself to North Vancouver and New Westminster further east.

“I’m looking at everything available … studios, one-bedroom, even two-bedroom apartments that I’m never going to be able to afford,” said Chhina

While her previous apartment cost $1,400 a month, Chhina says she’s struggling to find a new place even with a larger budget of $1,700 to $2,200. 

Chhina says her monthly income comes to $5,644.07. But after taxes, car payments, debt consolidation fees, tax penalties and credit card bills, she has about $2,722 a month for rent and personal expenses. 

According to the latest numbers from Rentals.ca, the average rent for a one-bedroom apartment in B.C. is over $2,200 and over $2,900 in Vancouver.

Other renters have also spoken out about feeling squeezed out of Vancouver and the surrounding Metro Vancouver region due to high rental costs. Karl Eaton, 55, earns about $75,000 a year but is on a desperate hunt for an affordable two-bedroom apartment for himself and his 18-year-old son by July 31.

Eaton and his son have lived in basement suites for the past two years but kept having to move when owners sold the property or moved their relatives into the suite. 

‘Nobody can afford rent’

As a community integration specialist with the province, Chhina helps people find affordable housing — something she considers ironic given her current situation. 

“My job is outreach with the most vulnerable people in the province, but I myself am homeless,” she said, noting she’s not eligible for financial or housing support, as she’s considered middle-class with her income level. 

“When I apply for places that I [thought] I could afford to pay … I’ve often received emails that it’s already taken … or no longer available.”

With her $67,000 annual salary, Chhina says she’s ineligible for B.C. Housing‘s one-bedroom subsidized housing due to the Housing Income Limit, which is $58,000 in Vancouver. 

The limit is based on figures from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and represents the gross household income for eligibility in affordable housing programs in different parts of B.C.

But she says B.C. Housing moved her up on the wait list when she applied with her daughter, who is a student at UBC. 

“We should do away with the [Housing Income Limit] because, in this day and age, nobody can afford rent … Waiting five to 10 years [on the wait list] doesn’t help either.” 

“I don’t know what to do. I’ve exhausted all my options by reaching out to [co-operative housing], to friends and co-workers [looking for a roommate] and even reached out to MLAs. My only real option is to leave the province,” said Chhina, adding she’s committed to her job and clients, with no plans to leave B.C. anytime soon. 

Municipalities need to unite, says advocate

Margareta Dovgal, a member of the City of Vancouver’s Renter Advisory Committee, says Chhina isn’t alone in struggling with the current rental market. 

As a lifelong renter, Dovgal says her family moved around the Lower Mainland to find affordable housing.

“[My family was] progressively pushed further and further to the suburbs … it’s not exactly a new situation. A lot of people have been feeling that for quite some time,” she said on CBC’s The Early Edition, noting some major concerns include lack of housing supply and municipal co-ordination across the Lower Mainland. 

Dovgal says municipalities need to work together to address housing affordability and availability as people getting priced out of Vancouver are starting to look out into surrounding areas.

“Anyone who lives in Vancouver might be looking for places next door in Burnaby. So [all Lower Mainland municipalities] need to be co-ordinating on this a lot more effectively,” said Dovgal.

She adds there have been some positive changes in recent years, with municipalities being more open to changing zoning rules and densifying. 

“I think the political landscape has recognized this, but there’s still so much more needed to get that issue over the line and make sure everyone has safe, secure housing,” Dovgal said.