GROWTH: Vulnerable being hurt

The vulnerable of our community are falling causality to the growth Coeur d’Alene is experiencing. Seniors in particular are unable to keep up with the rising rent prices and are being displaced. The working poor are leaving in droves and families are being uprooted and moving on. The lucky ones will find housing somewhere else, in another town. The unlucky ones will end up homeless, living in their car.

I have worked in Coeur d’Alene in the low-income housing field for the last seven years and I have never seen things this bad. People are desperate for affordable housing and waiting lists are over a yearlong. What will happen this winter when the shelters and transitional housing is too full to accommodate?

Some are making money hand-over-fist and others are losing the roof over their head because their rent is going up hundreds of dollars per month overnight. This town is changing rapidly and I fear not in a good way.

Locals are being priced out of their homes and for everyone that leaves, a piece of Coeur d’Alene goes with them. If things keep going on as they are…there won’t be a Coeur d’Alene left.

REBECCA MERRIGAN

Coeur d’Alene