A Lake Country woman says she is at the end of her rope after being out of a rented basement suite since May 7, when floods hammered the area.
Krystel Godard says her boyfriend and their combined-family of five have been living in two dilapidated trailers next to their house on Deldor Road in Lake Country since rising water levels came into the suite and forced the family out. Renovation work began but has never been completed and the suite has exposed concrete floors and walls that have had the drywall ripped off.
In the meantime, owners of the property supplied two older trailers for the couple and their children to use, but the situation has dragged on much longer than Godard expected and the family has been living in sub-standard conditions.
“They supplied us with a trailer but it has no power, no running water, no facilities, no toilet, no sink, no way to do dishes or laundry,” she said. “We have just been trying to make do hoping this place will be ready. It’s been hard. It’s been overwhelming.”
With fall now approaching and the start of school just a week away, Godard says they are now looking for another place to rent and facing the realization that the owners of the property are in no hurry to complete the renovations.
Complicating matters is the fact that Godard and her boyfriend are sub-letting the suite off of tenants that rent the property from the owners, who live in Kelowna.
“The people we rent from aren’t getting answers so we tried to contact the owners but they just said that we weren’t supposed to contact them,” said Godard. “It seems they don’t care they have a family living in these conditions. They hired a renovation company but it kept getting pushed back and nothing is happening. It’s been four months now.”
Godard has a make-shift dishwash station set up outside the trailer, where they hose their dishes off before taking them to relatives to finish the job.
The four month stretch came just after the couple moved into the suite, living in it for just a month before the floods. Now with school approaching and the temperature falling in the evening, Godard says they are looking to move elsewhere, but as a single income family, it’s been hard to find anything suitable.
“We can’t sit and wait for this,” she said. “The kids are going to be back in school and how do you make breakfast and have a normal life and raise children like this? We feel like our backs are against the wall. And with the housing market the way it is, it’s hard to find something affordable. We’re just reaching out to the community to see what’s available, if there is someone out there with a good soul.”
If you can help the Godard’s find suitable accomodation, contact Krystel at krystelis@me.com.
