Fiona “Katia” Cross finally has a place to put down roots after a stretch of time in temporary housing. She fusses happily over a Boston fern in her bright apartment in Halifax’s Clayton Park neighborhood.
“I like to encourage this one,” she says in American Sign Language (ASL). “I love plants.”
A flashing lamp perched on a side table indicates the doorbell is ringing. Karen Spurr, her housing support worker, is at the door. They met at Barry House, an emergency shelter for women experiencing homelessness.