Sharon Simms, who — along with her neighbours — lost everything in a fire on Froude Avenue in St. John's last week is still without a permanent home.
"I lost a lot of stuff. I sit down sometimes and think about my mother's bible, the little things, and then I'll cry, and then I'll think, 'well, I lost a little bit of jewelry ... don't matter ... we all got out safe.'"
Simms has been living with her sister on nearby Vimy Avenue since June 26 when fire destroyed or damaged 12 public housing units in the neighbourhood near Mundy Pond.
"I'm not coming off the block," she told CBC News on Wednesday. "I've been here 36 years."
Sharon Simms is living with her sister while Newfoundland and Labrador Housing tries to find her a new home. (Sherry Vivian/CBC)
Simms and some of the other burned-out families gathered lunchtime at the Royal Canadian Legion on Blackmarsh Road, where veterans and volunteers fed them a hot meal.
"People are still in a bit of a shock. It's a tremendous displacement for them and they're still trying to feel their way through it," said Bob Dawson, executive director of the Froude Avenue Community Centre.
There's been an outpouring of donations, especially clothes, toys and pet food, along with gift cards.
Dawson estimated the centre has taken in about $27,000.
"It's a great support for us," he said.
Families who were burned out in the Froude Ave. fire were treated to a hot dinner at the Blackmarsh Road Legion Wednesday. (Sherry Vivian/CBC)
What the families don't have is a new, permanent home.
All but one were still living in temporary accommodations — with relatives or friends, or in hotels — as of Wednesday.
Four others might be able to move back to Froude Avenue by the end of the week, if units damaged by heat, smoke and water are cleaned up by then, according to the provincial minister responsible for housing and persons with disabilities, Sherry Gambin-Walsh.
But for those who lived in homes that were left in ruins, it's been hard to find affordable replacements, especially for tenants who have mobility issues.
"In the eight units completely destroyed, there were two families in accessible units," said Gambin-Walsh.
"Those two families, we have identified units for them, but we need to modify the units so they're housed until we get full modification of their units which will be the end of this month or early August."
Already a wait list
"It's really a challenge," said St. John's Centre MHA Gerry Rogers, who told CBC there are 800 names on the wait list for public housing in the city.
"We have an affordable housing crisis in St. John's and when something like this happens, you really see it."
Rogers said when new homes are found, the Froude Avenue residents will need cash.
"Only one family had insurance. People who could afford to lose the least, have lost the most," she said.
"It's going to be tough."
The MHA for St. John's Centre, Gerry Rogers, says the fire on Froude Avenue made a housing crisis worse. (Sherry Vivian/CBC)
Gambin-Walsh said the Newfoundland and Labrador Housing Corporation is providing whatever support it can, with an eye on what she called "the humanity factor."
Most of the families want to remain close to their familiar neighbourhood or to hospitals, she said. Many need to replace IDs lost in the fire, but can't until they have a permanent address.
Gambin-Walsh agreed there is a shortage of affordable, accessible housing — not just in the city, but in the whole province — and she sees an opportunity for private landlords.
"A wise investor would start to build accessible apartment units," she said.
The cause of the fire has not yet been identified. Once that happens, Gambin-Walsh said the priority will be to rebuild.
As for Simms, she's content staying with her sister, even though it means booting her nephew to a bed on the couch.
"What can you do? We have to start over," she said.
