The former youth custody centre in View Royal begins its new role next Tuesday, as home for residents of the tent city set up on the lawns of the Victoria courthouse the past few months.
Overseen by Our Place, the site at 94 Talcott Rd. will be known as Choices Transitional Home and host about 50 individuals. Don Evans, executive director for the non-profit organization, confirmed to residents at an information session on Monday that the tents will be set up in the outdoor courtyard of the building.
Residents will be able to access services inside the building, such as meals, hot showers and laundry, plus mental health and addiction supports. Our Place also plans to run a free shuttle to downtown so residents can access other services.
View Royal Mayor David Screech said the contract with Our Place runs through the end of August, indicating this is “clearly a temporary usage.” He said much work needs to be done on the site to prepare for this different use.
“From the fire chief’s perspective, there’s quite a few issues,” Screech said. “They’ve got a fair bit of work to do in next couple of weeks before people can occupy those buildings.”
As such, volunteers are being recruited to work daily through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and help build outdoor flooring in the courtyard, set up awnings and picnic tables and do other tasks. Interested parties are asked to bring their own power tools such as drills, extension cords, power saws, etc. and see Mike or Patrick upon arrival.
The tent city is due to be dismantled Feb. 25, two days after the View Royal site is scheduled to open up. The proposal to use the province’s former youth custody centre for temporary housing was announced after it released plans to purchase the Mount Edwards Court near the courthouse on Vancouver Street in Victoria for use as supported housing for homeless people.
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