2 Kelowna university students find affordable rent living with and volunteering services to seniors

The first time he visited Kelowna earlier than finding out physics on the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan campus (UBCO) this fall, Regina’s Mike Marshall was shocked to find every part was a lot dearer than in his hometown.

But Marshall, 25, says he was much more shocked when his pal, who additionally got here from Saskatchewan to research at UBCO, later realized from a relative that there have been two very affordable dorm rooms accessible for a month-to-month rent of $500 at a seniors complicated.

“[It was] whole happenstance and luck,” he informed Sarah Penton, the host of CBC’s Radio West.

Marshall and his pal Paul Anderson are living in two of the 4 144-square-feet rooms within the basement of the five-storey Vineyards Residence.

The constructing, which opened final July in Kelowna’s Glenmore neighbourhood, has 134 models designed to accommodate seniors with Alzheimer’s and different types of dementia, together with 101 models designated for long-term care and 33 for assisted living.

Janelle Hynes, the power’s group relations and advertising and marketing supervisor, says its proprietor, Sussex Retirement Living primarily based in Ottawa, determined to construct 4 dorm rooms for younger individuals as a part of the intergenerational living preparations it had envisioned.

Hynes says she briefly talked about these preparations to media when the power was launched, nevertheless it wasn’t till this spring that she obtained Marshall and Anderson’s electronic mail expressing curiosity in renting the rooms.

Volunteering in trade for affordable housing

Kelowna, residence to over 222,000 individuals, is without doubt one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in Canada by inhabitants.

UBCO students have been dealing with a rental crunch: a one-bedroom dorm on the university’s present residences prices about $1,200 per thirty days, whereas an house of the identical dimension off-campus might price practically $1,700 per thirty days, in accordance to Rentals.ca.

Each youth dorm at Vineyards Residence comes with a Murphy mattress, a built-in desk, Wi-Fi service and laundry services. In trade for a really affordable rent, tenants should agree to volunteer their services at the least 10 hours per week to seniors who reside in the identical constructing.

Tenants should additionally take part in a Zoom interview with the power managers and settle for background checks earlier than they’re allowed to transfer in.

Marshall says he has been internet hosting a “gents’s membership” each different Thursday, the place he performs playing cards and vinyl data with a small group of male seniors, whereas Anderson performs hymns with his cello each Sunday inside the power.

“We’ll do something from baking, or we’ll arrange a bit bowling alley discussion board to simply attempt to have some enjoyable for an hour [and] kill a while.”

He says the seniors he is living with are smarter than many individuals might imagine.

Hynes says younger tenants like Marshall and Anderson have helped reinvigorate their aged lives.

“The [old] women love these younger males strolling via the constructing,” she mentioned. “The aged males love speaking to these guys as a result of they nonetheless see themselves as younger males — they’re speaking about sports activities, they’re speaking about politics.”

“That multi-generational strategy [to living] is simply one of the best ways to deal with our elders.”