Cora Calliou is 59 years old and has been living on the streets for the past six years but now has a small ‘tiny house’ to call her own in Moccasin Flats.
Despite city opposition, volunteers Brad Gustafson and Phillip Fredriksson and other supporters have been fundraising to construct tiny home structures for the unhoused residents of the legally protected Moccasin Flats encampment on Lower Patricia Blvd.
“This is just right up my alley,” said Calliou, two-and-a-half days after moving into the structure built by the volunteers.
“I’m thinking 'god, now I got to add a few features to it. Put a couple of hooks, boards or something.' I really like it.”
Prior to living in the tiny home, Calliou was living in a tent in the summers and would spend the winters moving from shelter to shelter.
“The workers make you feel like you are incompetent because you can’t supply your own means and stuff like that,” she said, adding that people are constantly stealing in shelters.
“For them to lose a whole bag it’s like stealing their whole entire lives and that’s the truth,” she said. “Then they got to start again from scratch. I’ve heard it so many times.”
She said having her own little home makes her feel independent and she’s feels better having a door to lock but is still worried about scavengers.
“But as an overall it's nice, having your own independent spot,” she said. “I really have a sense of this place. I love the beauty of it.”
Calliou said she would love for other people to have their own tiny homes, too.
“You realize how miraculous how it would be for people to feel as good as I do right now? To feel as good as I feel right in my heart?,” she said.
“I feel like you cannot do a better thing for people that are on the street struggling to survive. You cannot do enough of this. It is miraculous and extraordinary, wonderful. All of those big positive words you can think of in a sentence. This is how it feels. It feels glorious and that’s the truth.”
In mid-November, the City of Prince George issued a stop work order on the tiny homes as the shelters are not up to code.
Mayor Simon Yu said it is a liability issue as the structures do not have building permits.
“As a mayor and the city, we put a stop work order on it. We would not want to take on the liability on behalf of the citizens,” he said.
However Yu also added that he does not want to criticize the goodwill of the volunteers.
“Nobody can fault that. We as human beings, we see other fellow citizens suffering, and we want to act, you know, this is a natural instinct.”
The volunteers are still moving forward with the tiny home project and are continuing to fundraise for more donations and supplies.
