When Yvonne Brooker’s rent went up $50 in August, she made a call to the Slave Lake Housing Authority. She lives on a fixed income and an extra $50 was not in the budget. She wondered if she would qualify for rent subsidy. Then she learned that rent is going up another $100 in March. Now she hopes that she can get into a subsidized apartment before it’s too late.
“I live in Woodland (Place) behind Speedee’s,” she says. “I found out through the building manager that I (could) have a one-bedroom place through subsidy. The trouble is that all the one bedrooms are full right now. My rent is $750 right now and it’s going up to $850 and I don’t think I would be able to make ends meet. I hope that I can carry on until a one bedroom becomes available.”
Slave Lake’s housing market is as tight as a drum. There may be a good selection of homes for sale but there is virtually no affordable housing to be found. Slave Lake Housing Authority chief administrative officer Jennifer McMann agrees that the situation is desperate for many area residents. Her office is doing what it can but there are just not enough units to go around.
“We only have so many subsidy suites in so many apartment buildings,” McMann says, “I believe we have 46 people living in subsidized suites right now. Right now, it’s really bad. With our economy in Slave Lake, some of the apartment buildings want to rent strictly to the private market.”
The availability of subsidized apartments is solely up to the property owners. An owner can decide how many, if any, units he wants to offer to Slave Lake Housing for subsidy. A growing trend in Slave Lake is reducing the number of units.
“Even though they still get their money at the end of the month (for a subsidy suite), they find people who pay for units themselves, seem to look after the place better,” explains McMann. “They seem to be swinging that way because someone paying $900 dollars a month will take better care of it than someone whose only paying $300. Obviously, that’s not true in every case, but they’ve had some bad experiences with subsidies in the past.”
Yvonne is not likely to be reckless and cause damage to her apartment. She is already a resident in good standing within the building. If she can get into a one-bedroom quickly, her monetary crunch will diminish and allow her to remain close to her family.
“As soon as a unit comes open, we can work on moving people into them,” McMann says. “The subsidy is based on 30 per cent of their gross household income. (On $1,000 a month) $300 is what rent would be. If the unit costs $700, housing picks up and pays the remaining $400.” Call the Slave Lake Housing Authority at 849-4505 to discuss subsidy eligibility.

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