“It will surely end with a tent and a locker”: a man from Saint-Jérôme unable to find accommodation for his budget

A rooming house tenant of Saint-Jérôme prepares to live in a tent as he will be ousted of his accommodation and that he is unable to find new accommodation with his meager Budget of $450.

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“I search, I search, I search… but finding something within my budget is more than rough. It will surely end with a tent and a locker,” breathes Jean Seredocka, 64.

For ten years, the latter had lived in a small rooming house on rue Saint-Georges, in Saint-Jérôme. His accommodation, where he shared the bathroom with the other tenants, had cost him $300 a month since 2013.

Since he took care of snow removal, in particular, he had never had a raise.

“The owner fired everyone and I was left alone for four months. He says he wants to do some renovations,” he explains, pointing to the Register padlocks on the other three rooms of the building.

1^uh July, one of his new owners tried to kick him out, he says.

“But I told him that with my knee and my health problems, I needed at least a month to leave”, he says, specifying that he must leave for the 1^uh august.

Out of budget

Receiving only $750 a month in welfare, Mr. Seredocka is unable to find decent housing.

“I have eight very difficult months left. Afterwards, it should be better because I will collect the old-age pension, ”said Mr. Seredocka, who increased his budget to $450 for his rent. Even if that only leaves him $300 to spend the rest of the month.

Clara Loiseau / JdeM

“I’ve seen rooms at $700-800 a month! I can’t afford it! “, he continues.

So while waiting to receive this check, he is preparing to return to live on the street, or rather on land that belongs to the Crown, where the police will not be able to dislodge him.

In a tent

After two strokes in 2014, Mr Seredocka’s health only declined. His quality of life too, since he was no longer able to work afterwards. This is how he ended up on the street 13 years ago.

“I once lived in a tent north of 640 for three years when nobody wanted to rent me because I had a colostomy pouch,” Seredocka said. It was really hard…”

For the moment, no compensation or proposal for temporary relocation has been proposed, specifies Mr. Seredocka. Contacted by The newspaper, the owners did not respond to interview requests.

In Saint-Jérôme, no permit application has yet been filed, confirms Marie-Ève Proulx, communications. She also says city inspections in 2019 and 2022 showed sanitation issues and asked the then-owner to make the building “habitable.” Works that have not been carried out, could see on site The newspaper.

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