Kincardine, Ont. single mom fears homelessness in five days

Jenn Whalen is losing hope.

“You don’t know what it’s like until you’re the one on your knees, and you’ve got to try and stand up and keep going. When you don’t have help and there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. You want to give up,” said the Kincardine mother.

The home Whalen and her three children have rented near Kincardine since 2021 is being torn down to make way for a commercial development.

She has to be out of the house in five days with no place to go.

“I have three adult children with me. Two of them are disabled. We pool our money together to try and make things better and try to afford something, and even that doesn’t work,” she said.

Whalen has been collecting Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) payments since 2010 due to a degenerative disc disease, fibromyalgia, and two forms of arthritis.

She said the shortage of rental housing, the skyrocketing price of what’s available, and her government capped income, means she has found no one willing to rent to her and her children with next Tuesday’s eviction looming.

“There’s a lot of people that once they hear we’re on ODSP, we face the discrimination of them not wanting us. They believe the rumours that people on ODSP are low-lifes or ‘druggies.’ A lot of us are just regular people who have gotten sick, who didn’t ask for this life. We just want to live. A roof over our heads. Food on the table. Bills paid,” she said, frustratingly.

Francesca Dobbyn, executive director of the Bruce-Grey United Way, said she has never seen so many people living in poverty and facing homeless across the region.

“This is absolutely the worst I’ve seen. Everything is definitely over $1,500-$1,600 a month, whether or not it’s [the] right size. I saw a one-bedroom in Port Elgin, 800 square feet, for $2,000 a month, not rent controlled. How is anybody earning minimum wage or just trying to get by going to afford that? If you’ve got multiple family members, 800 square feet isn’t enough,” said Dobbyn.

Whalen is hoping for a miracle at this point, as her and her family face homelessness again.

“Before this place, I was homeless for three years in a hotel. Now I’m facing it again. When we all found out we’re facing homelessness again, me and my kids broke down and cried because we’re scared,” said Whalen.

There are currently more than 200 homeless people in Grey and Bruce Counties, with more joining that list every single day, said Dobbyn.

Whalen and her family will likely join that list too come next Tuesday.