鈥淚s it still possible to find a home for someone like me?鈥� Nicole Zyczynski asked in her newspaper ad.聽
After five years living on Woods Road, Nicole has to find a new place to live and, as any Bowen renter will tell you, it鈥檚 not easy. For nine months, Nicole has been searching for her new home.
As Nicole doesn鈥檛 use Facebook or other social media (though she did use MySpace in its day) the choral director for Men on the Rock and three other choirs, took out a half-page ad in the Undercurrent last October.
聽鈥淚 do ads all the time for Men on the Rock men鈥檚 choir and I thought, 鈥榃ait a minute, this is how I鈥檝e got to do it,鈥欌�� she says. She took out the biggest ad she could afford and laid it all out there.聽
鈥淏orn October 11, 1975 in West Vancouver,鈥� her ad read.聽
鈥淭he first time I set eyes on this beautiful paradise I fell in love with it,鈥� it read. 鈥淚 have family and friends on the other side of the water but not even they can convince me to stay a night away from this paradise.鈥澛�
鈥淧eople know me because of the聽 [Men on the Rock] concerts,鈥� says Nicole. 鈥淧eople have seen my face enough now in the community. So I鈥檓 a friendly face. They know they can trust me.
鈥淪o what. I鈥檒l give them all my telephone number and my email and tell them what colour my underwear are,鈥� she laughs. 鈥淚t was just my little bio, my little CV, basically saying I鈥檓 an honest person, consider me in your rental and if you have a home.鈥�
But Nicole still hasn鈥檛 found a home. After the first ad, she had a few people call her up with either places or suggestions, but nothing quite fit.聽
Some of the problem, as with much of B.C. housing, is cost.聽
鈥淚 know my rent, something that I鈥檓 looking for, has doubled. Like, what I have now for $1,500, I know if I were to get it now would probably be $3,000,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 wonder how anyone can expect a single person with one income to come up with $3,000 a month plus utilities?鈥�
聽鈥淚t鈥檚 my fault. I chose this profession,鈥� she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 a musician, but I still do earn a living which is still for a lot of people a decent living.鈥�
Nicole notes that it is the rare musician that can totally live off of music. Nicole pays the bills through teaching private lessons, directing choirs and having been music director at a church in West Vancouver, a job she just left.聽
鈥淚鈥檓 lucky for that,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut again, it鈥檚 my fault. I didn鈥檛 choose to be a lawyer or something like that.鈥�
Nicole does have some needs for her new home. As a musician, sometimes she needs to play piano for six hours at a time, plonking out simple accompaniments but that鈥檚 not every day. And then there鈥檚 the room for her instruments 鈥� her four guitars, three accordions, a hurdy-gurdy, a harpsichord and at least one piano. Which is why she鈥檚 looking for a place that offers some space and independence.聽
鈥淲hat should a person like myself do in this current housing crisis?鈥� She asks. 鈥淔orty-three, living on my own since I was 17, supporting myself modestly by working hard, diversifying my talents.鈥�
鈥淚t just seems so retro-productive鈥n a sense for a professional just to go back to living in a basement and basically having to restrict myself,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat would mean no music. Like, give up everything.
鈥淚鈥檓 not alone as many people and families have been forced to move away,鈥� she notes. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 very open minded person, [open to] out of the box ideas, but would not be an ideal roommate.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a crisis, that there鈥檚 nowhere to live. But it鈥檚 forcing people to redesign how they live totally. And that takes time.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to sound desperate. But it is kind of a desperate situation,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 mean, in reality, June 1 I鈥檒l have to go somewhere.鈥�
