A Veteran's New Home

Not a single day goes by at OIM where, in my capacity as Veterans Housing Coordinator, I am not faced with the constant barrage of ongoing cases. These cases are either precariously-housed Veterans whom are faced with the imminent threat of eviction and homelessness, or, even worse, having become completely unsheltered due to circumstances beyond their control related to poverty, joblessness, underemployment, racism, the pervasive and pernicious presence of substance use, trauma, PTSD, physical, sexual, verbal abuse and violence.

So, it is with great joy and exultation, not to mention relief, that I am able to announce another ‘win’ with another one of our Veteran clients. We’ll call this man Bill, for the sake of discussion. Bill came to OIM before Christmas through a referral from a partner agency with whom we work. Bill was at imminent risk of becoming homeless and being evicted from his place at the time, which was a condominium that Bill could no longer afford despite working full time in his 70s as a retired Veteran. For various reasons, the condo was being sold from under him to pay off a sizable quantity of unpaid property taxes, debt, and other debts.

Bill was very distraught at the spectre of being homeless in his late seventies. Under OIM's Veterans housing initiative, we ensured that Bill was transferred to a temporary rental housing unit, for which we paid two months' rent during the very stressful Christmas period of December 2024 to January 2025. Without the payment of two months' rent, it would have been catastrophic if Bill had found himself wandering the streets alone in the dark of night or trying to navigate the dangerous shelter system at his age.

After this temporary arrangement, Bill and I found a suitable rental unit, which he could afford, paying first and last month’s rent, along with his moving expenses. He also paid for his storage costs to ensure that his sizable collection of military memorabilia remained intact until a suitable rental unit could be found that he could afford.

Bill is now firmly in his new home, along with his two cats, and has expressed deep gratitude to OIM and the Veterans housing initiative for the assistance we have given him. He continues to work diligently at his retirement job full-time, hoping to soon scale down to part-time, and to give him the chance to focus on his service-related injuries. Our help has allowed Bill the breathing room, time and money-wise, to focus on his journey as one of Canada’s trusted patriotic servants, who has risked his life in the service of our country and its people’s freedoms and liberties. This, in my estimation, is the least we can do for our friend Bill.

And for this, I call this a ‘win’, once again for a Veteran, for OIM/ORH, and for Canada. God be praised for these small victories in our daily struggles in the uphill battle against this ongoing scourge of homelessness in a country of such abundance.

~ Peter, Veterans Housing Coordinator