I love P.E.I. But it's no longer the affordable place I knew growing up

This First Person column is the experience of Maggie Campbell, a wife, mother and sous chef living in New Annan, P.E.I. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ.

As a child growing up on P.E.I., I always imagined I would one day raise my children on my family's homestead. A beautiful property in Irishtown, just west of French River, with two two-storey homes, green fields as far as you could see and a little cherry orchard. It was my grandparent's pride and joy and was built and added to by multiple generations of my family.

I vividly imagined walking to Cousins Shore with my children in summer, having family meals in the fall made from the food we grew and cozy story times around my gran's old piano.

I wish this is how my story played out.

But it was too difficult to divide the land between the many grandchildren when my grandparents died, so it was sold to a neighbouring farmer never to be called home again by the Campbells who lived and loved there for a century.

I'm 32 now and married to a wonderful hard-working man who was born and raised fishing lobster in Stanley Bridge, P.E.I. We have three beautiful children and pets we love. We're content.

Our oldest son recently told me he'll build me my dream house when he becomes an engineer one day. He's seven. He asked me to describe that dream house and, for a moment, I could picture my beloved Irishtown homes and how I would have rebuilt them.

But that dream is lost to me, and the possibility of owning any home in my lifetime is also lost.

We should be well on our way

My husband and I battled addiction for many years. We came close to death, injury and arrest many times, but somehow we found our way out. We got sober six years ago and moved to Halifax to be near family and raise our boys far from the things that we associated with our addiction.

We now maintain a quiet, law-abiding life. We have dedicated the last six years to rebuilding our lives and fixing our mistakes. We run a small Christmas charity every year to help local families get through the holidays.

We moved back to P.E.I. two years ago, thinking we could start on the path to eventually owning our own home. My husband has a full-time job with benefits as a glass technician. We should be well on our way, right?

Wrong.

Nothing more than a Band-Aid

My husband's full-time job barely covers the rent on our three-bedroom home. We couldn't afford daycare for three kids, so I haven't been able to work full-time. We need social assistance to make ends meet.

In January, our family dog Thor got sick. The $1,700 bill sent us over the edge financially. We paid for it by dipping into our savings and borrowed the rest from a friend.

We ended up two months behind on all our bills, further beating down our credit score and any dream of home ownership.

Mercifully, we rent from lovely people who have let late rent slide over the past few months. We have applied for loans and lines of credit but have been denied as neither of us has ever made more than $30,000 in a year. We have had to resort to payday loans and high-interest lenders, which are nothing more than a Band-Aid solution ultimately putting us further behind.

There are days my husband and I do not eat so that there's plenty for the kids. We do not go out on dates, we don't get haircuts or new socks. We don't ever buy new clothing or shoes. If we have to, we thrift them.

I'm returning to work as a cook in June. That means paying for childcare through the summer. It also means we'll lose our social assistance and our child tax benefit will eventually decrease due to my income. So even making $19 or $20 an hour, we will not make enough to consider opening a savings account.

Not thriving, barely surviving

How could we ever come up with enough for a down payment? How is it we can afford to pay $1,500 a month in rent plus utilities but will never qualify to own? We don't qualify for any first-time home buyer grants, because our credit scores aren't good enough and we don't make enough money to qualify.

WATCH | Where can you afford to rent in Canada?

Less than 1% of rentals are both vacant and affordable: CBC News analysis

3 months ago

Duration 4:04

According to a CBC News analysis of more than 1,000 neighbourhoods across Canadas largest cities, less than one per cent of rentals are both vacant and affordable for the majority of Canadian renters.Read more: https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/features/2024/rentals-affordability-crisis/

This is not the Island we grew up on. People in their 30s used to be able to buy homes and not have to move back home with their parents. A family could make do on a single income. A double-income family was middle class. Homelessness was not as prevalent on the streets.

My family is not thriving in P.E.I. In fact, we are barely surviving. Our dreams of raising kids in a small farmhouse on P.E.I. are dead along with our interest in remaining here.

Unfortunately, the cost of moving and trying to start again is far too great. And even if we could, much of Canada has the same affordability crisis. We couldn't leave if we wanted to.

So we will stay, keep trying to grow our careers and keep our kids fed and housed.

Tell your story, in your own words

If you've been struggling with the rising cost of, well, everything you're not alone. P.E.I. has seensome of thehighest inflation ratesin the country,average rents are higherthan they've ever been, thecost to buy a househas just about doubled in the last decade,the cost of foodseems like it just keeps going up, and the list goes on.

That's where you come in.Have you ever thought about writing your own story andsharing yourperspective or life experience?Find out howto share your story with CBC P.E.I.