All rooming houses are not created equal: Meet the people who call 'Sunset' home

Moncton's Sunset Rooming House is home to many single men, a few young couples and, as of this week, a newborn baby boy.

Everyone who lives in the big blue house on Queen Street has a unique story but share the desire for a clean and quiet place they can afford on the limited money they receive each month from social assistance.

Michael MacDonald, 31, moved to Sunset with his girlfriend last summerafter a fire destroyed their apartment.

They had just found out she was pregnant and weren't sure whether a suite at Sunset, which is a larger room with a private bath, would work, but they had no other options.

"It was a big help to get us in here because we didn't have to come up with the money right off the bat that first time because of the fire," MacDonald said. "They worked with us."

On March 20, MacDonald'snow-fiance, Danielle Treloar, gave birth to a healthy baby boy they named Zayden.

They have managed to squeeze a playpen into their room to make room for their new, tiny roommate.

"Now that the baby's born, we'll be moving into an apartment, I'd say within the next couple of months."

The couple hopeto get a call from New BrunswickHousing, offering a subsidized oneor two-bedroom apartment, but if not,MacDonald said, they will find a place on their own.

MacDonald spent four years in the navy as a steward and wantsto find work as a short-order cook.

"I have a learning disability," he said. "I like the kitchen life, so I was thinking about doing something culinary, but at the same time I also like outdoor work."

Treloar hopes to go back to school to get her GED.

The couple's goal is to have a home of their own.

"Maybe in three or four years havea mini-home so [our son] can have his own home for when he's ready to go to school."

Good rooming houses could help solve homelessness

Michael LeBlanc knows rooming houses have a bad reputation, but he calls his room at Sunset"pretty decent."

With a monthly assistance cheque of $537, LeBlancpays $360 for his room.He depends on friends, family and soup kitchens to get by on the $177 left over each month for everything else.

"They make it hard for people here in New Brunswick to live," he said. "People get lost and that's what happens."

In Moncton alone, dozens of old-homes-turned-rooming-houses have been shut down and torn down in recent years because they weren't safe, and the owners weren't willing or able to make improvements.

• Nowhere to go: Moncton homeless sleep on abandoned porches, in backyard tents

Some people,including landlord Paul Robichaud, believe that good rooming houses could play a big role in getting people off the streets and into homes where they can findthe support of their peers.

Robichaudsaid LeBlanc, who slipped and broke his foot on the ice this winter,is a good example of the kinds of relationships that form in rooming houses when people share bathrooms, kitchens and other common areas.

"Last night I noticed some of the other tenants bringing [LeBlanc] groceries," he said. "One guy brought in a walker. It's wonderful that they've got that support. They're friends, they hang out together."

Choice limited by budget

Robert MacKay has called Sunset "home" for the past two years.

"For $360 a month I'm not complaining I live the dream in downtown Moncton," he said with a smile.

When your income is $537 a month, he said, you "really don't have a choice" when it comes to where you live.

A rooming house is your only option unless you are lucky enough to get a subsidized New Brunswick Housing unit.

MacKayadmitted there are challenges that come with having dozens of roommates, but he said Sunset has overcome the negatives by building "community into it."

"People here are walking around in common hallways, the bathroomsthey see each other every day. And the reality of it is that at it's best these are supportive communities."

MacKayis a board member with the Common Front for Social Justice and works with the non-profit to advocate for people like him, who live in poverty.

He has "barriers" to employment but isdoing some short-term, paid work for the Common Front.

"I deal with some health issues but I'm basically fine I don't know if I have an undiagnosed learning disability or something, but I don't always think the same way as everyone else."

MacKaysaid even with hischallenges, he considers himself luckier than most because he has access to a $25,000 line of credit.

"I live a modest lifestyle, I take advantage of soup kitchens and food services that the people of Moncton are good enough to provide for people at the bottom end and I get by OK," he said.

"I really feel for people who only have access to $537 a month."

Recipe for successful rooming houses

While Robichaudbelieves rooming houses are part of the solution to the homelessness crisis New Brunswick is facing, he said enticing good landlords to get into the business will require government support.

Right now, he said, rooming houses are seen as "undesirable" and banks won't finance them.

Robichaud is lobbying for improved communication with the Department of Social Development, increased support from municipalitiesand the regulation ofrooming houses.

In part two of our coverage of rooming houses on Thursday, CBC New Brunswick will explore how Paul Robichaud turned his rooming houses around as drug addiction among tenants increased,and now manages to offer clean, safe rooms along with support to those who live in them.