Community News

'I AM GOING TO LOSE THE HOUSE'

HOMEOWNER CAN’T RENT OUT ROOM FOR EXTRA INCOME

CHRIS SIMON chris.simon@simcoe.com

Steven Crittenden is just trying to stay where he's comfortable.

But the 60-year-old south-end Barrie resident says that is becoming increasingly difficult every day. Crittenden moved into his mom's house 20 years ago, after his dad died. He did it to take care of her. When she died three years ago, he inherited the home.

Crittenden has lived there alone ever since. He is doing his best to get by, however the cupboards and refrigerator shelves are almost always bare these days.

"I go to the soup kitchen every night; then I go to the food bank," he said. "I've got no choice. I have no money to buy food. I try not to take advantage, but I have to eat. I am going to lose the house, it's just a matter of time."

So how does a homeowner with no mortgage fall into these financial straits?

Crittenden collects just over $1,200 in Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) payments each month, the maximum allowable for a single person — but after paying hydro, gas, water, property tax and other bills, there's only a couple dollars left to purchase household necessities.

He cannot work due to a brain injury sustained in his 20s, when he fell 120 feet from a cliff at the Scarborough Bluffs and was declared

legally dead for 2.5 minutes.

"They were about to give up on me," he said. "They gave it one last try and brought me back."

Crittenden wants to rent out a spare bedroom now, but he's been told by

his case worker that if he earns supplemental income through this method, his ODSP stipend could be cut by up to 60 per cent.

"What's the sense of doing that?" he said. "I don't think that's right. I need to make something for losing

my privacy. It'd be nice to have somebody here, in case I ever had a heart attack or got hurt. If I brought somebody in, they'd consider me a landlord. I really don't think the rules are fair."

While the Ontario government cannot speak to specific cases, some exemption options may be available to ODSP recipients who receive supplemental income from a source like rent, Patrick Bissett, press secretary for Children, Community and Social Services Minister Dr. Merrilee Fullerton, told Simcoe.com.

He also noted the province implemented the "largest increase in decades" of ODSP rates last year.

"Our government increased income support by five per cent for families and individuals under the program," he said.

"Future ODSP rates will also be tied to the rate of inflation, with the first adjustment taking place in July."

Bissett stressed, too, several recent initiatives undertaken by the province are "empowering people with disabilities who can and want to work by giving them a real opportunity to" through an earning exemption increase, the raising of the minimum wage, Low-income Individuals and Families Tax (LIFT) and Childcare Access and Relief from Expenses (CARE) tax credits and a $1.2-billion investment in the Ontario Child Benefit.

But it's unclear how any of that would apply to Crittenden.

"That's great for someone who can work," Crittenden said. "Unfortunately, I cannot. I don't have the mental capacity or the physical know-how. What am I to do?"

STORY BEHIND THE STORY: Steven Crittenden read a recent article in The Advance about a 60-yearold woman's struggle to find a new home and reached out to share his story.

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2023-03-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-03-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

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