Nerissa Buchanan, 23, has been homeless for one year and is eight-months pregnant. Rotating between sleeping at the women’s shelter and on a friend’s couch, she resisted reaching out for help in a bid to make it on her own. However, with her approaching due date and lack of financial support, Ms. Buchanan decided to seek out the support of the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society.
Because of her situation, Ms. Buchanan was deemed a priority. Over the course of a month, she visited five homes with the guidance of Karlena Martinuk, a staff member of the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society, before finding a low-income housing unit that she now calls home.
Through a five-year Housing First program, which is in its last phase, officials say the city is set to end chronic homelessness in 2015. Under the program, people go through an entrance procedure that identifies what kind of support is required, then are provided with their own place to stay. The Medicine Hat Community Housing Society says this costs about $13,000 to $34,000 a person – far less than the $66,000 to $120,000 it is estimated to cost by relying on public services such as hospitals and the justice system.
Photos and story by Melissa Renwick
Nerissa Buchanan, 23, is eight months pregnant and has been homeless for one year. She approached the Medicine Hat Community Housing Society (MHCHS) for help after finding out that she was unable to apply for income support without having a home.
Buchanan gets the keys to her new home.
Buchanan looks around her living room, contemplating what she's going to do with all of the empty space. One day, she hopes to go to school for wedding planning.
After the home inspection walk-through, Buchanan and Martinuk wait for furniture to be delivered. "Grateful" is the word Buchanan uses to describe how she feels towards Martinuk.
Karlena Martinuk (left) has been working for the MHCHS for two years. Since their introduction one month ago, the pair visited five homes before finding a low income-housing unit, which Buchanan said was the first place where she felt at home.
A group of men from the Hillcrest Church in Medicine Hat unload furniture, dishes and bedding, which are all donated by the community.
Martinuk hangs new curtains in Buchanan's room so that she can enjoy privacy during her first night's sleep in her new home.
Anxious to start decorating, Buchanan pulls out Christmas decorations which were donated by the Hillcrest Church.
Before getting help from the MHCHS, Buchanan said she was scared and wasn't ready for a child. "I wanted to give up," she said. "But I knew that wasn't an option. I [knew] I needed to keep going because the voice inside my head kept telling me to, and that was my mom."
Because Buchanan is pregnant, she is able to visit the food bank weekly, as opposed to every two weeks.
Buchanan stocks her empty freezer with the goods she received from the food bank.
Buchanan has suffered from depression ever since her mother and brother died in a fatal car accident eight years ago. She says that the experience with the MHCHS has restored her confidence and now she wants to show her unborn son that no matter where you are in life, you can always get out of it.