Parksville city council were presented with the operational management plan for the proposed supportive housing project at 222 Corfield St.
At a regular council meeting on Sept. 5, with close to 45 people in attendance, Violet Hayes, executive director of the Island Crisis Care Society and Renate Sutherland, founding member of the Oceanside Task Force on Homelessness, laid out how exactly the housing facility will function.
Island Crisis Care Society will provide 24-7 staffing and maintenance of the building. Staff will provide support to residents as well as security and management.
“There will be two regular staff on-site at all times with the addition of extra people,” Hayes said. “These extra staff will include, but are not limited to, a program manager, janitorial staff, kitchen staff and maintenance staff.”
Members of the Housing Outreach Support Team (HOST) will also be available regularly.
Hayes said building rules are very important.
“Clients will be given warnings but if behaviour doesn’t improve of course we won’t be able to keep them in the building. If things continue to deteriorate, clients will be removed,” she said.
A variety of resources and life skills will be offered to clients as well as a light breakfast and dinner.
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The ICCS is also committed to maintaining the exterior of the building which will be done in conjunction with clients.
“Staff will be responsible in a timely manner to make sure that any concerns that are voiced from neighbours in the community are taken care of very quickly and we will have a 24-hour phone number that people can phone if there’s something they don’t like the look of in the area,” Hayes said.
There will also be security cameras in place around the building.
In addition, a community advisory committee will be set up, made up of approximately 11 individuals that will meet on a regular basis.
“The community advisory committee representatives may include a resident from the building… a staff person, someone from the homeless outreach support team, we’re hoping to have a member of the RCMP on board, an Island Health staff member has committed, an Oceanside task force member as well as up to five community members. We want a diverse group,” Sutherland said. “The purpose of that group is to ensure that we are addressing any needs, that we are speaking with all stakeholders about what is working and what is not working.”
Funding for the housing project is provided by BC Housing for capital and ongoing operations. Residents will be paying an “affordable” rent to live in the building.
“Affordable rent is the shelter portion or shelter rate as paid by those who are on disability or social assistance and that includes CPP. It’s about $375 a month,” Sutherland said. “Applications will be accepted from possible residents and they’ll all come from the Oceanside area. Most will be referred by community agencies or could be self referred.”
The project has created division within the city and also among city councillors.
Three reports needing approval from council (approval to enter into a lease agreement with BC Housing, affordable housing agreement authorization and consideration of a development permit) were read at the Sept. 5 meeting and all received a 4-2 vote from councillors in favour of the approvals. Coun. Leanne Salter and Coun. Teresa Patterson were in opposition.
Salter voiced her concerns with the housing-first model, saying individuals who suffer from addictions need medical attention before a house. She said she believes it’s a misconception that if an individual gets a house they will get better.
“That’s the same as saying if you have cancer you could have had chemo but really what you need is a house,” she said. “People with drug- and alcohol-related issues, what they need is a doctor, they need medical treatment rather than providing housing.”
She referenced statistics highlighting a high number of overdoses occurring inside residences.
“The highest number of overdoses are happening to people who have a house,” Salter said. “They have a medical problem. If I had a heart failure I don’t need a room, I need a doctor.”
According to data from the BC Coroners Service, in 2018, 88 per cent of illicit drug overdose deaths occurred inside (58 per cent at private residences, 30 per cent at other inside locations) and 11 per cent occurred outside in vehicles, sidewalks, streets and parks.
“We have to move this dialogue beyond getting people with addiction a house to getting people with addictions into the hospital and into the medical care that they need,” Salter said.
Loud claps of support came from the audience once Salter was finished speaking.
Coun. Mary Beil spoke next, in support of the housing-first model.
“It’s housing first, it’s not get a house and then all your problems are solved. For people who do have addiction problems and mental health issues, the research shows that there are better and longer-term and more stable results when people go through a housing-first approach,” Beil said. “Get some stabilization, build some trusting relationships and then you can set some goals and work towards treatments.”
Biel also received claps from the audience.
Councillor Patterson said she believes in the housing first aspect and affordable housing but sees some key medical features missing from the 222 Corfield project.
Mayor Marc Lefebvre said the project is a first step to address and deal with the issue of poverty in Parksville.
“There’s two Parksvilles really,” he said. ” There’s the Parksville that everybody sees, where we’re building million dollar homes, people have two cars, they go away for the winter, they have a great life, some of them have a boat or golf memberships. Then there’s the Parksville which is just below the poverty line, and that poverty line means that we’ve got kids going to school that don’t have any breakfast or lunch and we’ve got seniors who have to make a decision whether to buy prescription drugs or food. People can’t afford to rent, it’s not getting any better, it’s getting worse. We’re going to have to do more, this is just a first step at looking at those who need it the most.”
