Essex woman living in a tent hopes to find housing before the holidays
Erica Gagnon, 40, has been homeless, living in a tent since July.
“This is about my fifteenth tent. I’ve been all through Windsor, Harrow, Kingsville, Leamington,” says Gagnon.
Gagnon was living in a trailer until it was sold by the owner. She then briefly lived in a car.
“It’s devastating. It’s embarrassing. People look down on you,” says Gagnon. “They expect you to go back to the cracks where you came from. It destroys you, but you have to stay strong.”
“We have to do something, immediately. We cannot let Erica stay out here another night,” says homeless advocate Dave Mota.
After hearing about Gagnon’s situation, one that exemplifies a larger issue, Mota has been trying to help.
“When I actually looked into housing for her, there’s nothing available out here in Essex County as far as emergency shelters. There’s no affordable housing for Erica at all,” says Mota.
“I’m a county girl so to go to the city is difficult for me and I can’t cope with people that are there. It would be nice to have something in the county,” says Gagnon.
Gagnon receives money each month from Ontario Works, but says it’s not enough to survive.
“I have about 300 bucks from welfare for basic needs. Other than that, that’s about it. I depend on food banks and people’s contributions,” says Gagnon.
With homelessness on the rise in Windsor-Essex, Mota is calling for more affordable housing.
“It’s become increasingly worse with homelessness and it all has to do with affordable housing, geared-to-income housing, intervention, places for them to go to. Emergency shelters, there’s just not enough of it,” says Mota.
“I’m done camping,” says Gagnon. “No more extreme camping for me. I’m done. I need to be indoors.”
Especially as colder weather is upon us, Gagnon soon hopes for a place to call home.
“Housing before Christmas. I have family, I have kids and being in a tent, you can’t really have Christmas dinner in a tent,” she says. “So I’d like to be somewhere for the holidays.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
McGill says pro-Palestinian protest outside senior administrator's home 'crosses the line'
McGill University has denounced a pro-Palestinian protest held Sunday outside the home of one of its senior administrators.
What is BORG drinking, and why is it a dangerous trend? An expert explains
If you've been to a party lately and haven't seen someone drinking a BORG, you're likely not partying with college students.
The world's best airline is paying staff a bonus of 8 months' salary
Singapore Airlines will reward its employees with a bonus worth nearly eight months of salary, a person familiar with the matter told CNN on Friday.
Katy Perry sings goodbye to 'American Idol'
Katy Perry said her goodbyes on 'American Idol' after seven seasons. On Sunday night’s live 'idol' season finale, a medley of Perry's hit songs were performed, including 'Teenage Dream,' 'Dark Horse' and 'California Gurls.'
Red Lobster probes 'endless shrimp' losses after bankruptcy filing
U.S.-based restaurant chain Red Lobster has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Florida court after securing $100 million in financing commitments from its existing lenders, the company said on Sunday.
Judge cites error, will reopen sentencing hearing for man who attacked Nancy Pelosi's husband
A federal judge will reopen the sentencing hearing for the man who broke into Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco home and bludgeoned her husband with a hammer after the judge failed to allow him to speak during his court appearance last week.
Is that 'Her'? OpenAI pauses a ChatGPT voice after some say it sounds like Scarlett Johansson
OpenAI says it plans to halt the use of one of its ChatGPT voices after some users said it sounded like Scarlett Johansson, who famously voiced a fictional, and at the time futuristic, AI assistant in the 2013 film 'Her.'
U.S. Supreme Court rejects appeal from former Guantanamo detainee Omar Khadr
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by a Canadian-born former Guantanamo detainee who was seeking to wipe away his war crimes convictions, including for killing a U.S. soldier in Afghanistan.
Microsoft's AI chatbot will 'recall' everything you do on a PC
Microsoft wants laptop users to get so comfortable with its artificial intelligence chatbot that it will remember everything you're doing on your computer and help figure out what you want to do next.