A Vancouver woman who suddenly found herself homeless is highlighting the need for emergency shelter space in a city where housing is notoriously unaffordable.

Felicia Slogoski lived in a Downtown Eastside building until last week, when a fire broke out in her apartment and spread to four other suites.

“I came rushing home and sure enough my apartment had been mostly destroyed if not by fire then by water damage,” she told CTV Vancouver.

Slogoski, a Langara College student, did not have tenant insurance. Even though she had nowhere to go, she was told that Vancouver’s emergency shelters likely had no room for her due to a lack of beds.

Shelter space and affordable rental units are becoming increasingly scarce in Vancouver, where the overheated real estate market has been driving up housing prices and living expenses for years.

“This is a very expensive, tough city,” said Jennie Orton, a spokesperson for the First United Church Ministry Society. “One missed government cheque and your options can disappear in the blink of an eye.”

As cooler weather approaches, Vancouver’s emergency shelters are seeing a greater influx of people, Orton said. Some of them even come from outside of British Columbia, she added.

Slogoski said she considers herself fortunate because she is able to stay with friends and her dog is being cared for by the local SPCA. However, she has been told that restoration of her apartment could take three months.

“Do I couch surf for three months? Hopefully not,” she said.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Sarah MacDonald