HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 2013-12-30, Page 7Hard times
living in Grey -
Bruce in winter
Scott Dunn
Owen Sound SunTimes
This is John Mrkic's story of survival and hope.
His little trailer home sits beside his uninhabitable house,
at the end of a line of new homes on Durham's eastern edge.
He and Fletcher, his black lab -shepherd, greeted seldom seen
visitors there Saturday. They sat on a bench covered with a
piece of dirty yellow foam, where Mrkic sleeps.
A black and white TV screen the size of his palm displayed
its one channel on a small table at one end of the bed. Ciga-
rette butts in and out of an ashtray, envelops, pens and sun-
dry detritus crowded the remaining space. The trailer door is
at other end, near Fletcher's food and water bowls on the
floor.
The mean, wood panelled camper is about 16 feet long and
about half as wide. Dust as thick as moss covers a lamp.
Smoke from cigarettes Mrkic rolled hangs in the air. There's
no working fridge, but keeping things cold isn't the problem.
There's a sink is full of dishes with no hot water to wash
them.
His camper was about 10 C, courtesy of body heat and a
space heater neighbours gave him. It sat plugged in but didn't
seem to come on. At winter's worst, he can maintain about 5
C. Mrkic figures he's lived like this for four years.
"In my case, I try to use as little hydro as possible. But in
the wintertime I just plain need it, I'm living in a camper,"
said Mrkic, a tall, grey -bearded man with a weathered face
and long brown hair to about his shoulders, who sat inside in
his tuque, winter coat and boots.
Even if he doesn't use any electricity, Hydro still charges
him $60 per month.
"I had my own business, and I wasn't expecting to wind up
at 60 years of age in this kind of a situation, you know, that I'd
have to ask people for help of any kind. Nor being from that
age group, you grew up in a different situation where you
didn't ask anybody. You didn't moan and complain ...
"But it got to be a little too much," Mrkic said.
The United Way helped pay his hydro bill and bought some
time. This year the agency helped 45 people with no income
at all as they waited for some form of government assistance.
Many others with meagre resources also got help.
Mrkic blames himself, thinking "I should have zigged when
I zagged." But he said he sees others have it worse, with no
home at all. He considers himself "fortunate."
About 10 to 15 years ago he left Toronto and bought 50
acres near Dundalk. He started to build his own home by
reading how. But when it was 3/4 finished, the woman in his
life left him and her lawyer wanted money from him.
He just managed to sell the property, pay back the private
lender, clear his maxed -out credit card and buy a fire -dam-
aged Durham home about four years ago.
But his plan to restore the house fell apart when an old
back injury returned without warning, triggered by a simple
cough. The collapsing roof and mouldy interior would have
to wait.
"Again I wind up maxing out my VISA, then I put a mort-
gage on it, trying to survive. So I pay off the VISA and some
other debts and next thing I know I'm on Ontario Works, I
haven't got a cent to my name and it's just gotten to the point
of trying to climb Mt. Everest in your underwear."
Even sitting for long is painful now. He found painkillers
and anti-inflammatory drugs just as ineffective as physio-
therapy. About a year ago in a low state he visited his doctor
who prescribed anti -depressants, which he resisted. But he
Monday, December 30, 2013 • Lucknow Sentinel 7
JAMES MASTERS OWEN SOUND SUN T IMES
John Mrkic, of Durham, talks affectionately to his dog Fletcher in side his 16 -foot trailer which they live in, on his property east of
Durham, on Saturday, December 21, 2013.
discovered they helped his mental health and let him sleep.
"The confusion and the horror of the whole thing, it almost
brings you to tears. You don't know which way to turn. You're
in a round room looking for a corner. It's just phenomenal
the amount of headache that you wind up with when you're
not used to — how is it Bob Dylan puts it? he says something
to effect of, 'Nobody taught you how to live off the streets,
now you're going to have to get used to it:"
He still carries a mortgage, which he pays out of $700 a
month from Ontario Works. Past claims for a disability pen-
sion were declined but he understands now he's a candidate.
The process is taking two years to get higher benefits.
The rest of his cheque pays for a little gasoline for the van
and food for himself and his dog. Boiling rice and peas serves
as dinner for Mrkic sometimes. Lately the dog won't eat his
food until Mrkic shares what he's eating with him, so he
shares. "That's family, plain and simple."
There's no sign of Christmas in the camper, like a garland,
lights or a tree. But there is a cross on the wall.
Mrkic said his plight left him cold toward people who
judged him. Not bitter or nasty, just resigned to avoid them.
But he's having a change of heart about people, he said.
"There's been times I've said 'That's it. I'm not helping any-
body ever again on anything.' And then somebody shows that
little light and you wind up going back, and get screwed
again„” he said with an ironic laugh.
"Because I know right now some people around that have
helped me out a lot. And that's reaffirmed my faith in
humankind."
He remains defiantly hopeful. "It's a survival game. You
keep on hoping that some major thing happens that your lot
in life changes ever so slightly."
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