A father in Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T., says he has been waiting years for repairs to his deteriorating home — and the need has never been more urgent than now, as his teenage daughter recovers from spinal surgery.
A home in disrepair
Chris Dryneck says the conditions inside his Behchokǫ̀ home have continued to worsen, and the repairs he needs have yet to arrive. He describes the situation simply and starkly: "10 years of no water." For a family already stretched thin, a decade of going without something as basic as running water underscores just how long these problems have gone unresolved.
The deteriorating state of the house is more than an inconvenience. With ongoing issues piling up, Dryneck says the home is no longer in a condition that meets his family's needs — particularly now, when his daughter requires a safe and stable environment to heal.
A pressing family situation
The timing has made the repairs feel especially critical. Dryneck's 14-year-old daughter is recovering from a spinal surgery and is disabled, meaning the family's living conditions directly affect her recovery and day-to-day wellbeing.
Dryneck says the circumstances leave him with very few options to fix the home himself. He is blind, and with his daughter disabled, the ability to take on repairs as a household is extremely limited. The combination of physical barriers and a home that keeps deteriorating has left the family waiting on outside help that has been slow to come.
Waiting for help
For Dryneck, the wait has stretched on as the problems compound. What might be a manageable fix for some households becomes far more difficult when the people living there cannot carry out the work themselves and the issues have been building for years.
The situation highlights the kind of housing challenges that can affect families in smaller and remote communities across the North, where access to timely repairs and basic services like reliable water isn't always guaranteed. For a father caring for a recovering, disabled daughter while navigating his own blindness, the gap between needing help and receiving it has real consequences.
Dryneck's story is a reminder that behind statistics about housing conditions are families like his — waiting, coping, and hoping the repairs they've needed for years finally arrive.
Source: CBC News.
