65 and no fixed address: Calgary seniors struggle with homelessness

Picture this: you’re on the verge of retirement. A lifetime of work is almost behind you and your golden years are mere minutes away.

Then comes the unforeseen: an illness, a spouse passing away, a mental health concern. Suddenly everything is turned upside down.

For some, that can mean the difference between having a home and ending up without a fixed address. It’s a painful but very real concern in Calgary — seniors struggling with homelessness.

Many of them don’t live on the streets but are part of the “hidden homeless” — people who are couch surfing and bouncing around between different family and friends.

Each and every one has a different story of how they got there but new research at the University of Calgary is bringing some of their stories into the spotlight in a documentary called Beyond Housing: “We’re not ready for the shelf.”

Researchers documented the stories of seven seniors who have struggled with homelessness in their lives.

“Imagine your mother or grandmother, who is living on the margins in terms of barely being able to afford where she’s living, but then she has a disability or then her husband dies or she’s faced with a chronic illness — she becomes homeless,” Walsh said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Imagine your mother or grandmother, who is living on the margins in terms of barely being able to afford where she's living, but then she has a disability or then her husband dies or she's faced with a chronic illness — she becomes homeless," Walsh said.

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Anne Cartledge, 69, is one of the seniors featured in the documentary. She’s struggled with hidden homelessness for much of her life.

“I spent a lot of time hopping from relative to relative and being homeless… never having a real home,” Cartledge said.

“I became numb for a while and thought, ‘What am I going to do? Where am I going to go? Who is going to save me?’ And there wasn’t anybody to do that.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I became numb for a while and thought, 'What am I going to do? Where am I going to go? Who is going to save me?' And there wasn't anybody to do that."

The hope from everyone involved in the research documentary is to spread the message wider, get people talking about the struggles of senior’s homelessness and spur change.

Researchers are now moving forward with stage two of the study: an expanded look into homeless seniors in Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal.

The specific focus will be on what’s next and supports for seniors so they don’t have to face homelessness.

The documentary is airing Monday night at 7p.m. followed by a panel discussion with several people involved in the documentary.