Hoping to find a home
COEUR d’ALENE — It is Friday morning and Pam Gillean’s apartment is a mess.
Boxes, filled and unfilled, are scattered in the living room. Dishes and small appliances are on the kitchen floor and counter. A few folding chairs provide the only places to sit.
For nine years, this two-bedroom unit on a quiet Coeur d’Alene street has been Gillean’s home. It is where she made friends, played music, slept peacefully and held her beloved pet hamster.
But no more.
The 71-year-old was evicted for failing to pay rent and has until Monday to be out.
Hence, the mess.
Some of her belongings, she will keep. Most, she will donate to a thrift store.
“There’s good memories here,” she said as she sat, wearing boots, a colorful knit cap, and a small, patriotic cross on her gray shirt. A tattoo of Elvis Presley is on her left forearm.
“You can have a million memories, but one bad memory can destroy them.”
Gillean lives on about $930 a month between Social Security and Supplemental Security Income. She was also receiving $756 in Housing Assistance Payments through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“That’s all the money I get,” she said.
But when she received notice last year her rent would be going to $1,400 from $1,040, she was devastated.
That meant her share of the rent would rise to $644 from $284. It would leave her with not even $300 for the rest of her bills and basic living expenses.
Per the papers presented to her, two boxes were checked for reasons for the rent change: “Reexamination: Annual review of family income and/or composition,” and “Rent Adjustment: The owner/agent request for a rent adjustment.”
“I told them I couldn't afford it,” Gillean said.
With nowhere to go, she didn’t know what to do. So she stopped paying rent.
“I’m going to stay here and be a squatter,” she said.
But the legal system caught up with her.
In court on Monday, the eviction was finalized and Gillean was ordered to pay $1,000 in legal fees.
“I told the judge, ‘You want me to go out there, in the snow?’” she said.
Gillean isn’t alone in being a senior citizen on limited income unable to find housing, especially in Coeur d’Alene, where home prices and rent have spiked in the past few years.
“The housing crisis is escalating for all,” said Kiki Miller, Coeur d’Alene city councilwoman, who also serves on the Regional Housing and Growth Issues Partnership. “Our senior population is going to continue to struggle as the shortage of local workers and rising housing costs continue.”
According to the RHGIP, six years ago, 75% of county residents could afford a home when the median price was about $250,000.
Today, according to the Coeur d’Alene Regional Realtors, the median price of a single-family home in Kootenai County is $525,000 and only about 25% of county residents can afford to buy one.
The median household income in Kootenai County is $65,500.
One year ago, more than half of county residents couldn't afford the average monthly rent of $1,400. It rose about 30% in 2021 and again in 2022.
According to Realtor.com, the median rent across the 50 largest U.S. metropolitan areas reached $1,876 last year, a record high.
Miami again took the top spot in terms of year-over-year rent growth, at 37.4%, with Orlando second at 23.9%.
North Idaho rents are generally expensive.
A one-bedroom unit “by the river” with 776 square feet was offered at $1,695 a month on craigslist.
A bedroom with attached bath in a house was offered at $750, while a 610-square-foot, one-bedroom apartment with access to the North Idaho Centennial Trail was listed at $1,250.
St. Vincent de Paul North Idaho has a waiting list of up to two years for affordable housing units.
Gillean pulled out a sheet of paper with a list of housing options. There were scribble marks, with the names of some apartments underlined.
She said she couldn’t find anything she could afford in Coeur d’Alene. One was available in Sandpoint, but she said she didn’t want to move there.
Gillean, who battles medical issues and depression, is tired. She is distraught that she must surrender Yo Yo, her hamster that she bought five months ago.
She holds the tiny furry critter to her face and closes her eyes. Her voice cracks.
“She’s so smart,” Gillean said.
She initially moved to North Idaho in 1991, returned briefly to California, before eventually settling in Coeur d’Alene.
She enjoyed a simple life. She played the violin and trumpet, and some Fridays, her daughter Marie came over with her clarinet and they played together.
"We're good together," Pam Gillean said.
When she learned of the rent increase, and knew she couldn’t pay it, Gillean cried.
“I think they killed a part of my soul,” she said.
She described the past months as feeling like she was in a coma, numb.
“There’s different reasons why people become homeless and this is one of those reasons,” she said.
Gillean said she can’t work due to medical issues, including a bad knee.
“It affects everything, my health. I can't have the surgeries I need. It’s just bad,” she said.
Still, she is hopeful.
Perhaps, she said, she will have enough money to visit her daughter, or her daughter will visit her in Michigan, where she plans to move.
Gillean has no choice but to soldier on, but when asked where she finds her strength, she shrugs.
“I guess it’s faith, she said. "I was hoping somebody would treat me as a human being."
She has a brother in California but said he has no room for her.
Another family member in Ketchum can’t help, either.
"Nobody wants me,” Gillean said.
For now, she’ll move in with her daughter but plans to settle in with relatives in Michigan, where she grew up.
As she talks about her youth, she smiles.
“At one time my grandmother, aunt, cousins, all lived together on a street,” she said. “That was so fun.”
It’s been a long time since she’s seen some of her relatives, so she's not sure of her reception.
“I’m going to give it a try,” she said, then adds with a smile, “It might be a one-way trip.”
So, if Michigan doesn’t work out, then where?
Gillean pauses and shakes her head.
“Good question,” she said.
