St. John’s man fears he’ll be ‘back on the street’ after being evicted from social housing

When Kyle Harbin moved from a private shelter to a shared house in the heart of St. John’s, he hoped for stability, and a transition into a new, comfortable life. 

He signed a lease to an apartment owned by the same company that runs the shelter: 3 Birds Housing Solutions. The agreement, which Harbin inked in December 2023, was part of a supported living program funded by the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation (NLHC) to support those with complex needs.

Harbin’s rent of $700 a month is collected directly from his income support. He said that made up most of his monthly income, but he can still get by with the help of food banks and other resources.

But that’s about to come to an end in the new year. 

The 40-year-old said he was met with a no-fault eviction notice from the management company in October — and he needs to leave by the end of February.

“This is a no-fault termination, meaning it is not based on any breach of the rental agreement or tenant conduct,” the written eviction notice from 3 Birds Housing Solutions says. 

The eviction document, obtained by CBC News, continued on to say the landlord provided more than the required written notice of 90 days.

Program at capacity

3 Birds Housing Solutions declined an interview request and refused to comment due to privacy reasons. 

In an emailed statement, Housing Minister Joedy Wall said 3 Birds’ transitional living program requires engagement from tenants as per a set of rules and criteria. NLHC provides the property for the program at no cost and a support grant of $71,000.

“Non-profit operators work closely with residents to support program participation, but there are times when an operator may need to ask someone to leave the program so that someone else can join and benefit,” Wall wrote. ” Transitional housing falls outside the Residential Tenancies Act.”

Wall said the 3 Birds initiative is currently at capacity with 12 residents, but NLHC has similar arrangements available throughout the province.

“In the event that someone is unsuccessful in a transitional housing program, we encourage them to connect with well-established community supports like Choices for Youth, Stella’s Circle and End Homelessness St. John’s to help navigate next steps,” he said.

The Progressive Conservatives have set a goal to build 10,000 new homes over the next five years.

WATCH | ‘I’m trying to move on, but it’s very, very difficult’:

He was served a no-fault eviction notice from a social housing unit — and he’s worried he will be homeless again

Kyle Harbin of St. John’s moved into an apartment operated by the company 3 Birds Housing Solutions, which is funded by the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation. He is being evicted and now wonders where he will live. The CBC’s Maddie Ryan reports.

Harbin said he had dreams to one day move out of the public housing system and into a one-bedroom apartment of his own. He said that’s now getting beyond his reach. 

“I don’t know what’s next,” he said while sitting in his sparsely furnished living room. 

Harbin said looking for a new place to live is difficult, especially with a pet dog and without a job.

“It’s even more difficult when the system doesn’t help you move on,” he said. “I should be working, but that’s even difficult, too.”

The institutional circuit 

Daniel Kudla, an associate professor of sociology at Memorial University, agrees with several other experts when he says the province and the country are in a housing crisis. 

He said a rising rate of homelessness, rise in rental prices and increasingly long social housing waitlists are evident of a period of crisis that ought to be resolved. 

According to data from End Homeless St. John’s, at least 475 people were known to be experiencing homelessness in the city as of the end of September. That’s up from the 370 people reported at the same time last year.

Sixty-seven per cent of the homeless population reported in September are described as experiencing “chronic homelessness,” meaning the amount of time they’ve been homeless in the past year adds up to at least six months. 

End Homelessness St. John’s said its data is “always an underestimate” as the non-profit can only count the people it’s aware of. 

Kudla argues that when people are evicted from a public housing unit for any reason, they enter what he calls an “institutional circuit.”

“They end up fluctuating and being shuffled between public systems like jails, hospitals, mental health clinics, the emergency homeless shelter,” Kudla told CBC News. “And none of those resolve their long-term issues.”

Uncertain future

Social housing is sometimes considered an emergency measure — or even a last resort. When the last resort dries up, Kudla said, it opens way to a fragmented and chaotic emergency response. 

“It’s inhumane in my view,” he said.

Meanwhile, Harbin said he isn’t sure what lies ahead. He’s not confident four months is enough time to find housing he can afford, but he said he’ll try. 

“It’s a little ironic that the organization that’s supposed to take people off the street is now putting me back on the street,” he said, looking out the front window from the space he’s called home for the last two years.

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