By Brent Bosker

Out in the winter

Jan 7, 2011 | 5:21 AM

A single mother with seven children is looking for a new place to live in Prince Albert after the rental company told them they had to vacate for repairs.

On Thursday, Connie Umpherville packed up her family and left their three-bedroom west-flat townhouse without another place to move into.

“(We’d probably stay in a hotel), but the thing is, ‘what are we going to do the next day, and the next day,’” she asked before breaking down into tears.

“I just don’t know what to do anymore. It’s hard. All I’ve been doing with my life is just taking care of my kids and my nieces and nephew. They can’t be with their parents because of what their parents are doing,” she said.

Umpherville was paying just over $500 dollar per month where she was and has been scouring the city looking for a comparable place to move into, but hasn’t had any luck.

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“It’s so hard, especially the (affordable) ones. I even have (private) landlords to phone and I phoned them and they have nothing. I had a whole page and they have nothing.”

Her story highlights the need for more attainable housing in the city.

A recent city report found that there is virtually zero available stock of social housing units and the private sector has become too expensive for some because of rising rents.

Councilor Ted Zurakowski who chairs the city’s housing advisory committee said in an earlier interview the situation had reached a critical point.

“It’s out of control,” he said.

The solution comes down to money and creating partnerships, Zurakowski said.

“I think part of the answer is we have to bring people involved in housing to the table. We have to bring government, private developers, social developers and the banks to the table and say we have this problem how do we get it fixed.”

The situation has affected the children who are between the ages of two and 16, Umpherville said.

“My son … made me cry because he was sitting on the couch just looking outside. He’s worried.”

The rental management company said Umpherville’s lease was terminated because it was the second time a unit she was renting was found to be in poor condition.

bbosker@panow.com