If you were walking down any Penticton street in the middle of a nice summer day and saw Mathias Korkowski and Willow Wood walking hand-in-hand, you would likely think they are just another happy couple.
You would be correct in assuming they are a happy couple - because they are - but you would likely never guess that they’ve been living at the Fairview Road homeless encampment near the Penticton Channel Parkway for almost a full year.
Korkowski and Wood have been in a loving relationship for more than five years.
They moved to Penticton recently and both had good jobs in the food and beverage industry and were sharing accommodations together, when they hit upon hard times and found themselves homeless.
They ended up living a quiet and isolated life away from the majority of residents who have called the controversial encampment home over the past several months.
Like many of their neighbours in the encampment, the couple was packing up all their worldly possessions Wednesday morning.
Late last week, the provincial Ministry of Transportation gave formal notice to the people living in the encampment - estimated at anywhere between 30 and 70 people over the past several weeks - would have to pack up their belongings and leave the site.
Early Wednesday morning, many homeless residents were observed gathering their belongings and getting ready to leave the site, including Korkowski and Wood.
When approached by a reporter, Korkowski and Wood weren’t hesitant at all to tell their story and were incredibly polite and friendly.
Because they are older than most of the homeless campers at the Fairview site and lived at the far south end of the encampment away from the majority of campers, Korkowski said the past 10 months have been difficult, but he considers himself fortunate to have a loving partner to share his burden.
“We’ve been here almost a year,” said Korkowski. “We’ve been living in a tent away from almost everyone else. It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve managed.
“Most of the problems are with just a few of the people living here. There are a few with serious drug problems and they don’t care about sanitation and stuff like that. We’ve just tried to stay out of peoples’ way and mind our own business and make it through day to day.”
Wood agreed there have been many challenges over the past several months, but she has Korkowski and most homeless campers don’t have anyone they love out there trying to help them.
“We’ve tried to stay positive,” she said. “It’s been very tough. I’ve never in my life had to experience something like this as it all happened so fast. We were both experiencing everyday life and both working, then all of a sudden, boom, you’re out on the street.
“You’re suddenly without. You have to plan to get food, if you get wet, there’s nowhere to hide. It’s definitely been a shocker and a huge learning curve.”
Korkowski and Wood moved to Penticton just under a year ago from the Prince George area as they had landed jobs working together in the hospitality industry.
“We were working and living together at the same place,” she said. “We got tossed onto the street and our lives were in chaos and it was a whirlwind. They say to expect the unexpected and we did not expect any of this to happen.
“But we had nowhere to go, so we ended up here.”
To feed themselves, they’ve accessed food at local churches and the Penticton Soupateria.
Packing up their belongings was tough Wednesday morning as they don’t have any plans on where they were going to sleep, said Wood.
“Many of the people living here just have nowhere to go,” she said. “If the community resources to try and get better and turn your life around were more accessible, it would make things easier.
“None of us here have a car or vehicle, so they have to carry everything they own on their backs. It makes things very tough.”
Despite the concerns of not knowing what happens next, Korkowski said he and Wood are luckier than most of the homeless campers as they own electric bikes and are able to live on a limited budget.
“Our biggest worry is what do we do next?,” she said. “We’re thinking of packing up and getting out of Penticton and maybe spend some time on the beach and go on a little adventure away from everyone else.”
While the Okanagan enjoys some of the mildest winter weather in the country, it does get cold and enduring this past winter living in a tent wasn’t easy, said Korkowski.
“It was a struggle, but we shared body heat and lived on love,” said Kurkowski, smiling. “We had a little propane heater all winter and it kept us warm in our small tent. The winter’s here aren’t that long and that helps.”
Wood said she would prefer to be able to access housing and get back to a normal life, but she isn’t bitter or angry towards anyone for what’s happened to them since moving to the encampment.
“I’ve definitely learned a lot and there have been some challenges,” she said. “It hasn’t been easy, but we’ve tried to do the best we can.”
They chose to move to Penticton from Prince George because Wood vacationed here every year as a child and knew the weather was some of the best in the country and she and Korkowski had landed full-time jobs.
Moving their tent to an isolated part of the encampment made the past year tolerable, said Korkowski.
“We decided to get away from a couple of young guys who obviously had some serious problems to deal with,” he said. “We moved to this side of the camp with a few other older people who didn’t want to be bothered or have their stuff stolen and it worked out pretty well.”
Wood said there are a lot of Canadians who are only a paycheque or two away from experiencing homelessness themselves and she hopes the majority of Penticton residents realize the vast majority of homeless people don’t want to live the way they’ve been forced to live.
“Most of us are just trying to get by,” she said.
Korkowski said he knew the day would come when he and Wood would have to leave and he’s hoping their fortunes get better in the coming months.
“It’s not our land, so we realized we would have to leave soon,” he said. “We were just passing through and we’re going to clean up our mess and the mess others have made. It’s time to move on.”
Scott Campbell was at the encampment bright and early Wednesday morning helping to clean up — even though he isn’t homeless and never spent one night there.
Campbell has been there and done that when it comes to being homeless and said his life has turned around 180 degrees since he got an apartment and returned to working full-time several months ago.
“I’ve been coming down every few days to help clean things up,” he said. I’ve got a job with the Living Experience Table (100 More Homes Penticton) and I just want to do my part to help out.”
Campbell has called Penticton home for 11 years and experienced homelessness himself.
The majority of homeless people in the encampment don’t want to be there, but simply have run out of options, he said.
“There’s nowhere for them to go and they need help,” he said. “Kicking them out of here simply isn’t going to solve anything. I have a lot of empathy for them. I do understand why they’re closing this place down as something has to be done obviously.
“There are no quick solutions. It’s all about housing. They have to have a place to go and until things change, there are going to be places like this popping up all over. It’s not going to go away. Just because they are out of sight, doesn’t mean the issues go away.”
Campbell said he talked to a few campers packing up their belongings Wednesday morning and most don’t know what’s going to happen next.
There were representatives from BC Housing on the site and are trying to help them find a place to stay, said Campbell.
“But there’s really nothing to rent that’s affordable from what I’ve seen,” he said. “Nobody wants them downtown or anywhere, but they have to go somewhere.
“I was homeless myself up until eight months ago. I was on the streets for five years right here in Penticton. I lived in a tent. It all starts with housing. Once I got housing, things started getting better right away. I’ve had housing since October and now I work full-time and I’ve got a good life.
“I’m sure not everyone would change, but I’m sure a lot of them would. Who is going to go to a job interview with all their possessions in a shopping cart? It’s very frustrating to see because very few of these people want to live like this.”
Campbell said the unfortunate news is homelessness and encampments like the one being torn down in Penticton are becoming commonplace in virtually every city and town across Canada and many other countries.
