After a tough couple of years, Alfred Wilson has a place to call his very own.
“It’s kind of freedom, really,” Wilson said.
The 76-year old man fell on hard times when a former living situation with another person ended.
Unable to afford rent, the longtime Kelowna man ended up in a homeless shelter.
“I thought I was going to die there,” he said. “It’s very discouraging. Your self-esteem is down. Everything is down. You’re feeling just like giving up.”
But after a year at the shelter, he moved into Trailside, transitional housing in Kelowna designed to be a step between a shelter and permanent type of housing.
“Everybody that comes to Trailside are people who are experiencing homelessness in the community, who are wanting to work with our staff to get permanent housing,” said Tara Tschritter, Turning Points Collaborative Society’s regional director of the Southern Interior.
Turning Points operates Trailside, which opened in May 2024 and was created for people 55 and up and those with disabilities.
Tschritter says since opening, the organization has secured permanent housing for 52 former residents by helping them move through the system with a variety of programs and securing government rent subsidies.
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“We’re seeing remarkable movement,” she said.
In a homelessness crisis, Tschritter said, that goes far beyond what’s visible on the streets.
“I think that empathy is dwindling compared to what it was,” she said. “I think just bringing people back to the reality of the individuals we’re serving is really, really important.”
Tschritter added many of the people Turning Points serves can’t get out of hardship on their own.
“They’re people who have contributed a lifetime to taxes, all of those things and now because of the lack of affordable housing and falling on hard times, sometimes because of health issues, a variety of other factors, they become vulnerable and cycle into homelessness.”
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