Chase River residents will wait and see what transitional housing will look like in their area, while Newcastle residents have seen the effects, and say it’s too much to bear.
The B.C. Ministry of Housing and the City of Nanaimo signed a memorandum of understanding last week on homelessness response, and at the same time, the province revealed plans to put up 50 temporary transitional housing units at 1300 Island Hwy. S., and extend funding for 50 temporary supportive housing units at 250 Terminal Ave.
In Chase River, the highway site at the Maki Road intersection isn’t one that had been seriously considered in the past for supportive housing. In 2018, neighbourhood residents and ultimately the city council of the day rejected supportive housing at 1425 Cranberry Rd. The newly announced site along the highway might be more palatable, said Mike Parker, president of the Chase River Community Association, though he added that residents close to that address might disagree.
“Obviously there’s people in our community that are upset about it, but we want to work with B.C. Housing and work with the City of Nanaimo to make this hopefully workable…” Parker said. “We need to know what does [transitional housing] really look like. There’s lots of concerns about who the clients will be and what supports will be in place and what services, and that’s still to be determined.”
Chase River residents, he said, know homelessness is a huge problem, and recognize that mental health and addictions issues are barriers to stable housing for a lot of people. Parker said even though neighbours rejected the last supportive housing plan, they have kept an open mind.
“I think there’s lots of fear based on the other two sites that have the temporary housing that went up in Nanaimo with limited community consultation at that time,” he said. “But as an association, we have said repeatedly in meetings, we are in support of bringing supportive housing to our area. We want to do our part.”
READ ALSO: City of Nanaimo partners with province on more social housing
On Terminal Avenue, the continuation of temporary supportive housing represents a change of plans. In 2020, the province announced it would build 190 units of permanent supportive housing at four different sites, including 250 Terminal Ave., replacing temporary modular housing with purpose-built supportive housing and affordable apartments.
Karen Kuwica, president of the Newcastle Community Association, said her neighbourhood waited three years for a re-zoning application and said there was no reason for the delay.
“If it had been done in direct sequence to the other developments, at this time right now we would have had our public hearing and the temporary housing would be removed,” she said.
Newcastle residents have been traumatized by social disorder and feel unsafe and isolated, she said, and she suggested B.C. Housing is not taking into consideration the impacts of supportive housing on neighbours.
“Perhaps they’re unintended consequences, but they’re significant,” Kuwica said. “We’ve lost a lot of foundational businesses that provided convenience and services to the neighbourhood.”
She said temporary supportive housing is an “unfair burden” on the area, and she doesn’t think it’s doing much to improve anyone’s lives.
“When you concentrate people together, then their lifestyle becomes the predominant social culture, even though it isn’t the social culture of the majority of the residents in that community…” Kuwica said. “[And] it doesn’t really benefit people that are vulnerable and have high-risk lifestyles, because it concentrates the risk around them.”
Violet Hayes, executive director of Island Crisis Care Society, which operates Newcastle Place at 250 Terminal Ave., said an “amazing team” is in place there to provide immediate relief to those who need safe and stable housing.
“We are dedicated to our vision of providing shelter and care to those in need…” Hayes said in a press release last week. “We aim to create lasting change and positively impact the lives of those facing homelessness in Nanaimo.”
Mayor Leonard Krog, at a council meeting Monday, Feb. 5, said the memorandum of understanding signed last week formalizes a shared commitment from the city and the province to better homelessness response.
“This is very good news for a city that has faced significant challenges as a result of our ongoing homelessness issues that plague every community of any size in this province and indeed, across the country,” he said.
READ ALSO: Nanaimo’s south-end residents oppose concentration of supportive housing
READ ALSO: Supportive housing project won’t go ahead at Cranberry Road site
