Mercedes is a victim of domestic abuse. She is currently homeless with two children and staying at the Maplegate shelter.
She did not choose to be homeless and she does not have a drug or alcohol addiction.
In order to protect herself and her children from further trauma, she finds herself in this situation.
“I have done everything right and that is what really bothers me.”
She has a steady job, great credit and personal references from numerous reputable community members.
She is trying to rebuild a life for her and her children. She is trying to move forward but still does not have a place to call home.
There is a housing crisis not only in our community but in our country. Housing is at a premium and no longer can be considered affordable, shelter staff say.
"To be told 'it’s just the way it is right now' is not a suitable answer because everyone deserves a roof over their head,” says Mercedes.
She came to Elliot Lake because she has family support and could envision raising her family here.
She moved to start over, and live the life she has been imagining.
The only problem is the lack of affordable housing.
She has applied for every housing opportunity that she can find and has been continuously turned down. She doesn’t understand why.
“I probably have more in my savings than some, but that doesn’t change that there is a housing crisis,” she says.
Mercedes says that the only thing she can think of now is that she is being skipped over because she is a single mother.
“There is a stigma around that too.” She thinks the mentality of some landlords is that if she loses her job then who is going to pay the bills?
Mercedes thinks that's an unfortunate mindset to have.
She works 40 hours a week and says it is frustrating to work this hard and not be able to find housing.
It’s also frustrating to be turned down by local rental agencies with no reason as to why.
She has been working with city councillors to document her experiences and she is looking for answers.
“On paper all the required check marks are there and I’m still facing homelessness,” she says.
Mercedes also wants to know what criteria she is not meeting on her rental applications. She wonders if she is getting bumped by higher rated applicants and she says the rental market is “very competitive.”
She finds the whole situation frustrating and discouraging, and that she had “to suck up her ego and her pride” to go to Maplegate.
“There was stigma around it even for me.”
She was worried about what she might be exposing her children to.
She has contemplated moving back to southern Ontario but she wants to stay in Elliot Lake.
“I’m still happy here…even though I faced homelessness and am homeless now.”
She says there are programs in Southern Ontario specifically geared towards women in domestic violence situations.
She is certain that her circumstances would meet all the criteria for those services, however, she has a hard time accepting that help knowing there are others in worse situations.
“I know I need it but there is always someone else who needs it more.” she says.
Putting aside her pride and embarrassment, she finally made the decision to get help.
“It’s not like I wanted to go to a shelter, I was forced into that…it was my last option and one I will never regret.”
She has made a lot of connections, and made friends with both clients and workers.
“It wasn’t anything I thought it would ever be,” she says.
Mercedes is grateful that her children have made connections with the staff. “They feel safe there…they are comfortable and have great support as well at Maplegate.”
She says it’s been an incredible experience and not anything like what she expected to walk into. They have guided me in the right direction.
Mercedes says that you do need to want the help offered through Maplegate. It’s the client's responsibility to be engaged.
She encourages other clients to utilize the services that are offered. “You need to push forward, go out of your comfort zone, take those extra steps and work a little bit harder,” she says.
Mercedes says that after her positive experience with the shelter, that she would like to one day work at Maplegate and be a front-line worker.
“I want to do what they do because I think it’s just incredible what they have done for me and others.”
Even with it being a positive experience, she still doesn’t want people to know she is there.
“I don’t even tell people. My family and friends don’t know where I am and when people see my car at the shelter, I tell them I’m a volunteer because of the stigma around it.”
Mercedes told ElliotLakeToday, that it has been a very interesting experience…and I can’t say one negative thing about my time there.”
She has made friends there, and she says that even though their stories are all different that they all are very similar.
Mercedes says being able to relate to others with common experiences makes it easier to have normal conversations. “It brings a little bit of normalcy.”
Mercedes says she is the “perfect person stigma wise” to share her story, but there is a lot that needs to be done and fixed with the system, and the stigma about it all just needs to end.