Recently, the Prince Edward County Quilter’s Guild returned from its pandemic-induced hiatus. As your humble scribe’s vintage evolves with the passage of time, he is increasingly intrigued with the craft of combining layers of fabric into a work of art. 

Having never picked up a needle and mastered the art of the serpentine stitch, the ability of quilters to combine layers of material and produce an artistic vision that represents a story or feeling is as mysterious as it is impressive.

Layers are what best describes the community of Prince Edward County. Start with Indigenous inhabitants, add your Loyalist settlers, weave in a cross-section of Dutch immigrants who arrived to practice agriculture in the 1950’s, adorn with new arrivals that fall in love with this island — and you can see the full mosaic that makes this place special and different start to take shape.

But a drastic change to this community’s fabric is taking place by way of a lack of rental stock and escalating rent rates. A good cross-section of folks are being priced out of the the only place they’ve ever called home. From retirees to young families, those who don’t have the luxury of owning a home are nervous.

Nowhere are these fears and worries more evident than on Nery and Inkerman Avenues where about 30 families are hoping for the best and fearing the worst. The Gazette spoke to some of those living around the irregular circle in the southeast section of Macaulay Village this week about their prospects. It’s a foregone conclusion that most of this tiny community will not be able to find suitable or affordable accommodations locally.

The folks living here are awaiting N13 renoviction notices from the proposed Vineridge subdivision. That 423-unit complex is before the Ontario Land Tribunal; Picton Heights Limited invoked the OLT process after County staff refused to bring the developer’s applications to the planning committee. There were too many outstanding issues after five rounds of submissions from the developer.

Some tenants here are doubtful they would be able to meet the rental costs and conditions in the proposed central apartment complex or that those accommodations would have enough bedrooms to meet the needs of whole families. All told, about 50 children live in and around the Nery/Inkerman loop. As for renting one of the  town houses that will surround the apartment complex, that’s just a non-starter for most of those living here.

Some units could wind up with the Prince Edward County Affordable Housing Corporation and, if current tenants qualified, they could move back to this neighbourhood in 18-24 months time when the development is completed. But with the current market rental price on 3 and 4 bedroom homes, that outlook seems bleak, particularly with the gauntlet of conditions, questions and checks rental applicants must satisfy. 

One mother of three whose husband is in a wheel chair has almost given up looking for housing in the County and is looking to Kingston and other places.

“I can’t afford more than $1,800 a month and I can’t find anything here that’s wheel chair accessible and has more than two bedrooms,” she said through tears. “I can find places in Kingston but our families and support systems are here. My husband’s doctors are all here.”

If her family made the decision to stay, her husband could wind up in a long-term care home where, she fears, he may not recover from the emotional strain of being separated from his family. LTC slots are in as high demand as housing spaces.

Another mom of three said she and her partner both work and can manage on what they are paying for rent currently. Moving out and up to the current rates advertised locally would be impossible. Longer-term renters face limited annual rent hikes, low enough that they can just continue to eke out an existence in town. “With what we make, I’m looking at houses in Cloyne and Colborne,” she said.

In this beautiful tapestry of a community, new housing developments are in the works, meant to increase rental stock and potentially deflate the rental market — but that trickle-down effect will take years, if not a decade, to materialize. Affordable and social housing groups are attempting to create a safety net for families who can no longer sustain the financial pressures that come with residing here, but that time line is just as long.

Meanwhile, the local quilt will continue to grow, evolve and tell a story.

But we cannot ignore or forget the plight of a patchwork of people and how it is being cut from the fabric of Prince Edward County altogether.