Moonhee is a low-income tenant who received subsidized rent from BC Housing in a building owned by a large non-profit. But when she finds toxic mold in her apartment, getting anyone to care about her safety becomes an impossible task. The first segment of the episode, titled “I Cannot Die in My Apartment,” is focused on Moonhee’s story and the particular difficulties of tenants living in social housing in British Columbia.

The second segment, produced by Yijia Zhang is titled “Leaving is Not an Option.” What can a tenant do when their home is falling into disrepair but they are scared of landlord retaliation that will leave them at the whims of an inflated rental market?

Afterwards, Sydney Ball at the Vancouver Tenants Union updates us on some tenants in social housing here in Vancouver who are fighting to get their elevator fixed after being down for more than six months. This episode underscores that poorly maintained housing is not 'good enough' for anyone, and great social housing can be for everyone!

Transcript [in progress] at docs.google.com/document/d/1WhuBs…/edit?usp=sharing

This project was part of a mentorship and skills development program. Thank you to the Vancouver Tenants Union for oral history support, Sydney Ball for supplemental scripts and commentary, and VIVO Media Arts Centre/BC Arts Council for equipment and financial support.

Segment Credits: “I Cannot Die in My Apartment” produced by Helena Krobath with extra writing and commentary by Sydney Ball. “Leaving is not an Option” produced by Yijia Zhang.

Thanks to VIVO Media Arts Centre, BC Arts Council, Vancouver Tenants Union organizers, and tenants who shared their stories

Episode links/resources: 

“Class Struggle in Chinatown: Ethnic Tourism, Planned Gentrification, and Organizing for Tenant Power” by Nat Lowe themainlander.com/2019/07/16/class…or-tenant-power/

“If Landlords Renovate, Must You Vacate?” by Sean Condon in The Tyee (all the way back in 2008) thetyee.ca/News/2008/09/25/Evictions/

Episode Two: Leaving Is Not An Option

This is an original radio news story about new data about empty homes in Vancouver, which was released on March 8 in Vancouver city council.

Alexandra Lamb, BCIT Broadcast and Online Journalism
Vancouver, BC
February 2016

Radio News Stories - Empty Housing Research Report

SFU Student on the shortage of campus housing

Talk a walk with me, to landlord-tenant court in Newark, where poor renters often lose their homes.

In housing court in Newark, the poor go it alone.

This a story of support and resistance in Marpole, as temporary modular housing units are being built to shelter the homeless. This story is brought to you by News Collective members Ryan Patrick Jones and Christina Song, with editing and production by Alex de Boer. It aired on December 7, 2017 on Democracy Watch on CiTR 101.9FM. Full episode: http://www.citr.ca/radio/democracy-watch/episode/20171207/

Democracy Watch / CiTR 101.9 FM

Marpole Modular Housing Controversy

Sonny Graham, a 9-year-old resident of Woodhill Homes, walks listeners through a day in his life.

Always Fun Outside: Growing Up in Public Housing

Voices of Hunger in North Carolina: Episode 12

A First Generation College Student Shares Their Story of Food and Housing Insecurity

Presented by the North Carolina Alliance for Health and MomsRising, with support from Mazon

A First Generation College Student Shares Their Story of Food and Housing Insecurity

A podcast mini-series where each episode takes a different approach to stories about renting in Vancouver, a city where displacement has become the norm. The series features six Vancouver-based storytellers and artists using pre-recorded tenant interviews to develop their own storytelling and audio practices, while considering the topic of housing.

This project was part of a mentorship and skills development program that took place in summer 2019 in Vancouver at VIVO Media Arts Centre, on unceded and occupied territory of the səl̓ílwətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw(Squamish) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations

The participants were Maddi Dellplain, Jamie-Leigh Gonzales, Susan Lu, Tiffany Muñoz, Victoria Spooner, Melissa Roach, and Yijia Zhang. Mentors were Helena Krobath, Kim Bince Villagante (aka Kimmortal), Alex de Boer, Madeline Taylor, Alexander Kim, Pietro Sammarco, and Kell Gerlings. Podcast narration by Helena Krobath and Sydney Ball. Production by Helena Krobath.

Thank you to the Vancouver Tenants Union for oral history support and Sydney Ball for supplemental scripts and commentary. Thank you to VIVO Media Arts Centre for hosting the project and Pietro Sammarco for logistics and coordination. Thanks to BC Arts Council for financial support. Special thanks to the tenants who shared their stories.

Episode Two: Leaving Is Not An Option

Vancouver Housing Stories

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