Many of us don’t realize how fortunate we are to have a safe place to call home; a place where we can lay our heads at night and rest our eyes in peace. Hundreds of single parents and low-income individuals struggle every day to find an affordable housing for themselves and their children.
Terry-Lynn Triffo knows what it’s like to face adversity while searching for a place to call home.
After a turbulent stretch and struggle, in 2008 Terry-Lynn decided to leave her home in Alabama and relocate to her hometown of Regina to create a better life for her four-year-old daughter. Two weeks following the move, Terry-Lynn was diagnosed with lymphoma- a type of blood cancer.
“After I was diagnosed I came up with my own little bucket list, and the first thing on that list was that I had to have a home for my daughter; she deserved better than sleeping on other people’s basement couches.”
With little direction and few resources, Terry-Lynn turned to social services. She was handed a list of low-income housing providers and sent on her way with little faith that she would find something amidst the long waitlists of people looking for units.
“I looked down at that list and was so scared. I read it over and saw Ehrlo Housing, it was about fourth on the list, but something just drew me to it. It was the first place I called,” she said, her eyes wandering off in remembrance.
Change was on the horizon for Terry-Lynn and her daughter. Whether it was an act of fate or stroke of luck, a vacancy had become available that very day. With persistence and paperwork in hand, Terry-Lynn begged and pleaded for a chance to find her family a home.
Lakeshore apartments
She moved into a two-bedroom apartment at Lakeshore Village on the first of November.
“It’s affordable and it’s nice,” she said of the apartment she still lives in. “It’s a community where we all help each other. There’s a daycare, there’s a school three blocks away, and I’m down the street from the university,” she explained. “I don’t think I could have asked for better.”
“I don’t feel like I’m in low-income housing,” she continued. “I am proud to be living here.”
The move was a step in the right direction, setting other goals into motion. Upon entering remission for her lymphoma in 2010, Terry-Lynn enrolled in classes at SIAST where she continues to take upgrading courses in preparation for a degree in social work. She also secured permanent employment.
“If Ehrlo Housing didn’t go out on a limb for me I don’t think I would be in school right now. I’m not sure if I even would have had the fight to fight the battle of my illness,” she said. “I thought if I could do that (find a home), I could do anything, be anything.”
Terry-Lynn’s story is echoed by dozens of residents who live in the 101 affordable units managed by Ehrlo Housing. The affordable housing initiative was designed 15 years ago to assist low-income families, single mothers, individuals with chronic mental health conditions, and young people transitioning from care.
There are currently four Ehrlo Housing properties throughout the city of Regina, each with unique service delivery mandates. Additional Ehrlo Housing programs including Grow Home and a current proposal for hard-to-house tenants.
For more information or to apply to Ehrlo Housing, visit www.ehrlo.com/community-services/ehrlo-housing/.
