Home at Last

Home at Last is a powerful and personal series of interviews. It's different than the usual accounts of the housing crisis in that the project is about positive experiences from people who have found a home at last. Our sincere gratitude to the 15 people who have come forth to tell us their stories.

All the interviews can be seen as they're completed in the Videos section on this page. The qathet Living magazine series of articles are complete and can be read in the Home at Last - qathet Living section.

It’s our hope that by sharing these experiences we can learn from the different ways people in our community are finding a place to call home.

These are success stories about people who have found housing solutions in spite of a national housing crisis.

Laura Gail Lariviere, 75, is retired and living in a suite at the new, nonprofit Inclusion Powell River apartment building on Ontario Ave. Before she found a safe home, Laura said she was "living in hell for seven years, a slum apartment." [Claudia Medina video]

We know it's challenging to find housing in our community and even more challenging to secure it. The Regional Housing Needs Assessment published in 2021 identified that over 40 per cent of renters can not afford the cost of their rent, and our regional vacancy rate in 2018 was 0.5 per cent. A vacancy rate of three per cent is a healthy market. It’s simple math. We do not have enough rentals available.

Competition is fierce, prices are rising, and housing that is available isn't always accessible or suitable for people living in our community. These stories show some creative ways people have overcome these obstacles to secure housing. They also show why it's so important for our community that we have programs and organizations working to make housing.

Powell River filmmaker, Claudia Medina, qathet Regional District Planner, Meriko Kubota, and Pieta Woolley, editor of qathet Living magazine, have collaborated in gathering these stories to broaden our awareness and understanding of what housing means in 2022. Vancouver Coastal Health provided funding for the Housing Stories series.