This Yellowknife nursing student is fighting cancer and for her housing

A Yellowknife nursing student, undergoing cancer treatment,and her four children are being told theymust move out of Aurora College's student housing by the end of June.

Toni Anderson was conducting a breast exam on herself last September when she found a lump.

A second-year nursing student at Aurora College, Anderson thought the soft movable mass was a cyst.

But an ultrasound and biopsy later confirmed the 34-year-old's worst fears. She had an aggressive form of breast cancer.

"I was really afraid for my life," said Anderson, who describes getting the diagnosis last November as "absolutely terrifying."

Part-time student while undergoing chemotherapy

Anderson began chemotherapy last January, and will need several weeks of radiation treatment in Alberta this spring, along with several surgeries, she said. But along with her health, Anderson says she's also fighting to keep her family in their current home.

"I was devastated when I found out I would have to move," said Anderson, who lives with her four children in student housing at Aurora College's North Slave Campus in Yellowknife. She's currently enrolled as a part-time student while she gets treatment for her cancer.

The family has called the residence's only five-bedroom apartment home since last September, after Anderson separated from her husband. The family has lived in Yellowknife since 2016.

What I want right now for myself and the kids is just stability to be in the same place, to have the same beds.- Toni Anderson, second-year nursing student at Aurora College who has been diagnosed with an aggressive breast cancer

On Feb. 9, Anderson saysher faculty advisor at the college said she doesn't qualify for student housing next semester because she won't be a full-time student.

"I understand them reserving their spots for people who are students. The reason why I chose to go public with my story is also to bring attention to the greater problem [which is] that the territory and the city of Yellowknife don't have affordable housing options," said Anderson.

Anderson said she was told the family must vacate their residence by June 30.

The college says it can't speak about Anderson's case specifically due to privacy legislation.

In January, Anderson went from being a full-time student to taking two classes remotely. She says she can't attend in-person clinicals and skills labs because she's immunocompromised and will be travelling for cancer treatment. In November, Anderson said, the college made an exception and let the family stay in student housing.

The college allowed Anderson to keep her student housing this school year while she dealt with her cancer diagnosis, she said.

Anderson said she won't be enrolled in any classes in the fall of 2021 because she wasn't able to complete her spring practicum, and there are no electives she can take. Anderson said she intends to return to full-time student status at the next opportunity available to her, in January 2022.

'We do not have enough housing for families'

Meanwhile, housing advocates in Yellowknife say the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing family homelessness to "crisis levels."

"We do not have enough housing for families," said Neesha Rao, interim executive director of the Yellowknife Women's Society.

Rao said Anderson's situation illustrates how difficult and stressful it can be for families to secure affordable housing in Yellowknife.

The YWCA NWT says more than 50 families it supports are waiting for housing.

"I think we have to ask ourselves if we are comfortable living in a territory where a woman who has a cancer diagnosis, who has children, doesn't know where she's going to be able to live, where her kids are going to live," said Rao.

"What I want right now for myself and the kids is just stability to be in the same place, to have the same beds," said Anderson.

To make things more complicated, Anderson said the family will have to move out weeks sooner because she'll be in Alberta getting radiation. Anderson said she will also have to start repaying student loans this summer.

"So a move during that time is very stressful to me," said Anderson.

In an emailed response to CBC North, Jeff O'Keefe, vice president of Student Affairs at Aurora College, said the college is "dedicated to supporting students in their studies as well as in their life outside the classroom, which can include connecting students with appropriate community supports and exploring available options for student housing."

The college has a limited supply of student housing units. There's usually a waiting list, especially for larger family units, wrote O'Keefe.

Anderson said she's looking into income assistance and other support programs, but there doesn't seem to be a simple solution.

However, she's optimistic about her prognosis for her cancer. While it's aggressive in nature, she said there are many treatment options.

She's trying to stay positive about her housing, too.

"I'm also hopeful that I can find some sort of solution."