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West Kelowna  

Family without a home

Madison Erhardt

A family of eight in West Kelowna will soon be without a home. 

Debbie Hook and her family received a note from their landlord a few months ago to vacate the property as he is moving back into the home on June 1.  

Hook says her family is falling through the cracks. Not poor enough to receive government aid, not wealthy enough to afford to live in separate homes or buy property.

And because her adult children moved back in to help share costs, no one wants to rent to the large group.

"We have applied for a mortgage, applied for rent to own, and applied to get land, and we have been turned down," said Hook.

"We unfortunately fall into the area where we make the money, we have maintained the mortgage, but nobody will give us a chance because according to the stress test we don't have at least $100,000 combined family income, or $80,000 down, she added." 

The family was interested in renting a six-bedroom house, but was denied because the owner said they were only looking for a couple.  

The family was also told they couldn't rent a home because of their children. "We were told young ones are very disruptive. They asked us if we could send our younger ones off with other families. If we complied, then they may have let us rent with the three older ones," Hook said.

"We are just trying to put a roof over our heads. We are not asking for a handout, we are asking for a hand up," she added.



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