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The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, in partnership with Aryze Developments, has raised more than $500,000 to build the homes and wants permission to use the parking lot for up to 18 months. “If this temporary housing is one small step towards ensuring that every community member has a home, it’s a step I think the city should take if the public indicates that it’s supportable,” Coun. Ben Isitt said. A staff report pegs the city’s share of the operating costs at about $215,000, plus another $60,000 to cover installation, and later removal, of water and sewer services. The city may be able to recover some or all of the costs from a provincial grant program, staff say.
Plan for temporary tiny-home village in Victoria made of shipping containers gets closer to reality
The 30 units fabricated out of 15 shipping containers will be located in a city-owned parking lot on Caledonia Avenue and staffed 24/7 in an effort to help people living rough in the provincial capital transition into stable housing.
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Project to create supportive housing in city parking lot very likely to go ahead, Mayor Lisa Helps says
Posted: Mar 03, 2021 12:08 PM PT | Last Updated: March 3
An image of the proposed tiny home project designed by Aryze Developments. The plan is to have 30 units of housing made out of 15 shipping containers, with staff on site 24/7 to help those experiencing homeless ultimately move into permanent housing.(Aryze Developments/www.canadahelps.org)
Attorney General and Housing Minister David Eby pledged last week to exceed that goal and said the province will have extra spaces if needed. The reopening of Save-On-Foods arena as a temporary shelter will add 45 beds to the mix. Heidi Hartman of B.C. Housing said another 30 to 40 units will be reopening at Capital CityCenter Hotel, where a fire displaced dozens of people in November. In addition, the province is providing rent supplements to help people move from supportive housing into market rentals, thereby freeing up space for people from the parks. “Our work isn’t done,” Hartman said. “We’re actively looking in community for other options and we’ll definitely be putting those rent supplements to use.”
New Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness social enterprise model aims to alleviate youth homelessness
Photo provided.
In late January, the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH) formally announced the launch of a new social enterprise model that will provide housing, services, and job opportunities for up to 30 unhoused youth living in Greater Victoria. The project is youth-led and represents the culmination of over three years of planning, first by the City of Victoria, and then by GVCEH in partnership with BC Housing.
GVCEH Research Project Manager Jarvis Neglia says that the ball really started rolling in 2016 when Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps saw the significant overrepresentation of youth in the latest Greater Victoria Homelessness Point-In-Time Count. The survey also showed that many of the adult members of the city’s unhoused community had been on and off the streets since they were youth or young adults.