OF rich in services High local cost of living limits options NORTH SHORE seniors whe live in poverty prefer to keep their troubles to themselves, Sy Kate Zimmerman News Reporter According to Mary Segal of Lionsview Seniors’ Planning Society, elderly people tend to be tight-lipped about their finances. When Lionsview embarked in 1992 on a survey to examine the housing needs of the over 20,700 seniors living on the North Shore, the society had to assure partici- pants repeatedly that financial information they provided would remain confidential. The survey did manage to reveal some disturbing figures, however. Statistics Canada’s low-income cut-off in 1993 was $16,482 for a single person, $20,603 for a couple. In the City of North Vancouver, 38% of houscholds composed of residents aged 55 and oldet are making do with under $15,000 a year (gross), while a mere 15% make over $40,000. In the District of North Vancouver, 19% are struggling on $15,000 and under, with 42% bringing in over $40,000. In West Vancouver, one of Canada's wealthiest districts, seniors tend to be more affluent. Even though 45% enjoy an income of over $40,000, 12% are subsist- ing on an annual income of $15,000 or less. The numbers are not particularly unusual! for the province. The orth Shore Seniors’ Health Planning Project reports that in B.C. general- ly in 1988, the average per capita income for people over 65 was $13,000. But that doesn’t make poverty any more palatable to peo- ple who have spent their lives Gross Household income of North Shore Residents 55 and older Under $15,068 N. VAN CITY 3a% N. VAN DISTRICT W. VAN DISTRICT Source: Oct. 1993, The Breaking Wave: Housing for Seniors on the North Shore NEWS graphic Linda Douglaa Over dae 000 working toward a comfortable retirement. According to North Shore Health, there’s no question that poverty contributes toward ill health. Poor people live, on aver- age, cight years less than wealthy people and experience 12 more years of disability. The organiza- tion's healthcare experts note that rich people are usually healthier than poor not because they can afford more nutritious food or take more holidays, but because “they have more decision-making power.” On the North Shore, the power of clivice is limited by the high cost of living. In addition to the special needs a senior may have when try- ing to find housing — a security system, wheelchair access, eleva- tors and so on — a limited income reduces options significantly. Shelter Aid for Elderly Renters, a provincial government program, provides direct cash assistance to eligible renters who are 60 years of age and over — as long as that rent is a maximum of £520 for a single person, $575 for couples, and $885 for home sharers (divided by the total number of adult sharers). Rents for a single-bedroom apart- ment in North Vancouver averaged over $634 in 1993-94. Accom- modation can certainly pose a prob- lem. According to North Shore Health’s Caroi Finnie, director of community health for the District of North Vancouver, “it’s nat uncommon for a senior to have, after apartment and food, $150 a month. Out of that they’d have to pay transportation, clothing... so they are not cash-rich. They might have enough to get by, but only just.” Poor seniors may gravitate towards the Lower Lonsdale area for inexpensive apartments and access to transportation, Finnie NEWS photo Paul McGrath CAROL FINNIE of North Shore Health says many North Shore seniors have $150 left over after they’ve paid for rent and food. Properties. That could be people who are house-rich but cash-poor.” There are worse places for elderly people to live than the North Shore. (This is barne out by the fact that there are more seniors living here than in Victoria, which is generally viewed as a bastion of the elderly.) There are, for example, many continuing care facilities in the area which are affordable to anyone eli- gible for Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement cheques, which Finnie said includes any Canadian citizen over the age of 65. If they aren’t a Canadian citizen or a landed immi- grant, said Finnie, “then we have a problem.” The North Shore is also equipped with adult day centres and various meal programs, Shore Health. There are shop-by- phone grocery delivery services and even a service called Tele- friend. “I’m certainly impressed with, what is available in the communi- ty,” said Finnie. The services may be one reason elderly people stay in a community where the cost of simple day-to-day existence seems prohibitive. Another may be that, as Finnie said, “A lot of seniors want to stay in their own place.” That means not just the house in which they may have raised their family but the community in which they have forged their most impor- tant links. “People have either lived here most of their Jife... or alternately their family lives here and they want to be close to their family,” said Finnie. “If they have a sup- LIONSVIEW SENIORS’ housing survey examined over 20,700 = said, but “We've certainly seen seniors’ peer counselling and legal senicrs living on the North Shore in 1992 with the results poor people throughout the North information services, and commu-__ portive family it’s particularly revealing some disturbing figures. Shore, including the British nity programs coordinated by North meaningful.” Single mom makes new life with little DEBORAH’S ENERGY as she talks and shifts her seven-month-old daugh- ter Shayla from shoulder to fcrearm to knee is a force to behold. By Kate Zimmerman News Reporter The 29-year-old single mother speaks pas- sionately and frankly about the choices she’s made, and as she does it’s obvious that cheru- bic Shayla is perpetually at the forefront of her consciousness. “This is all I have,” she says. “God gave me this beautiful gift and I want to be with her.” . In her past incarnation as an executive assistant for a beverage corporation, Deborah was a “party girl.” After a broken romance, CALL US: 983-2208 she left her old job and began working part- time for a bank. She got pregnant by her new boyfriend just as she was about to get a full- time job at the bank. When she announced her pregnancy to her employer, they cut her shifts drasticatly so she could no longer make a living. When Deborah's UIC ran out, she tumed to $550 monthly welfare cheques and the food bank, which she found “degrading.” to keep going. When Shayla was born in January, Deborah realized the baby’s father would be little help. “He’s younger, irresponsible. He has no priorities.” She ended the relationship and has had no child support from him since. She had found an affordable “nice, clean, healthy apartment” after welfare upped her monthly payment to over $1,000 because she had a baby, but loud THIS WEEK’S QUESTION: and frightening arguments with Shayla’s father resulted in two visits from the police and an eviction notice. When Deborah lost the apartment she turned to North Shore Harvest, which sup- plied her with a few groceries and a new direction. Deborah now volunteers with the Harvest and says, “The work [ want to do is right here. for now. “T really love coming here. I feel worth- while,” she said, She brings her daughter with her to the space at the back of True North Clothing and pitches in for whatever chores need to be done. “I do want to work, but I don’t want to leave my child with anybody,” she explained. “The Harvest helps me out — they give me bread, they give me coffee.” She has found a new place to live — a bedroom-and-a-half that costs her $700 a month, utilities included, and gardening space, too. Formula and diapers account for $100 of her budget, another $100 goes to food for the family (she makes Shaylas’ meals rather than buying baby food), and the last $100 is spent on transportation and clothing, which she buys in second-hand stores. “It's not that you can’t make it (on wel- fare) — it’s just that it’s a tough call,” she said. But she’s doing the best she can. “Sure, 1 don’t live in the British Properties,” said Deborah. “I don’t have the nicest house, the nicest furniture, the nicest clothes. But you'll never find my house a pig- sty or my daughter in a dirty diaper.” The way Deborah sees it, she was given a second chance in life with Shayla. “Since the baby’s been born, everything's changed.” Should North Vancouver District restrict watershed logging trucks?