Victoria supportive housing facility's opening delayed
The opening of a supportive housing facility for 50 young people in Victoria has been delayed despite construction being complete, and outreach advocates say an extension may be needed to avoid displacing a dozen of the anticipated tenants.
They’re currently living in North Park’s Tiny Homes Village, which was established during the pandemic to support unhoused people.
The site is set for closure on Sept. 30, but the new BC Housing facility some of the tenants are supposed to move to isn’t ready to open.
“We’re hoping that city council will give us an extension for one more month so that we’re not kicking people out onto the street,” says Our Place Society’s Grant McKenzie.
BC Housing built and furnished 50 supportive homes in a permanent facility on Meares Street. It’s designed to come with support services for people aged 19 to 27 who are marginalized and experiencing homelessness.
“We’re really close to being able to bring the site online,” says BC Housing spokesperson Sara Goldvine. “We know that, in particular, youth face very high rates of homelessness in the region and we all want to be able to move them indoors and provide them with the housing they need.”
Beacon Community Services was hired in spring 2022 and the chief executive officer says staff anticipated taking on operations in August.
“However, there has been an unanticipated delay in BC Housing finalizing our operating agreement,” says Tricia Gueulette.
Both of the parties are staying quiet about the nature of those conversations and neither is sharing details on where there may be a breakdown in communication.
“We are fully staffed and look forward to meeting the neighbours and moving folks in as soon as we have an operating agreement that ensures a successful, safe and supportive model for residents, staff and the community,” adds Gueulette in a statement to CTV News.
The city has been extending the licence on the Tiny Homes Village, and Our Place Society, the manager of the site, is hopeful council will do that again.
BC Housing says it’s committed to ensuring the dozen young people living in the tiny homes are not displaced amid the delay.
“Youth who’ve experienced some really significant barriers in their lives so we really appreciate their patience,” says Goldvine.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
What we've learned so far in the Trump hush money trial and what to watch for as it wraps up
Testimony in the hush money trial of Donald Trump is set to conclude in the coming days, putting the landmark case on track for jury deliberations that will determine whether it ends in a mistrial, an acquittal — or the first-ever felony conviction of a former American president.
Sentencing trial set to begin for Florida man who executed 5 women at a bank in 2019
Zephen Xaver walked into a central Florida bank in 2019, fatally shot five women and then called police to tell them what he did. Now 12 jurors will decide whether the 27-year-old former prison guard trainee is sentenced to death or life without parole.
'How do you get hypothermia in a prison?' Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates
The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: "unbearable" conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia.
The Israel-Hamas war is testing whether campuses are sacrosanct places for speech and protest
Administrators on some campuses have called in local police to break up pro-Palestinian protesters demanding that their schools divest from Israel in demonstrations that Israel's allies say are antisemitic and make campuses unsafe. From Columbia University in New York to the University of California, Los Angeles, thousands of students and faculty have been arrested in the past month.
Helicopter carrying Iran's president suffers a 'hard landing,' state TV says without further details
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a "hard landing" on Sunday, Iranian state television reported, without immediately elaborating.
Canadian immigration asks medical worker fleeing Gaza if he treated Hamas fighters
Lawyers are questioning Canada’s approach to screening visa applications for people in Gaza with extended family in Canada after one applicant, a medical worker, was asked whether he had treated members of Hamas.
The secret Italian lakes that most tourists don't know about
Italy has dozens of secret smaller lakes that boast superb scenery, unknown to mass tourism, where locals get together on day trips and enjoy picnics.
Flammable kids' sleepwear, salmonella-contaminated chips: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency issued recalls for various items this week, including kids' bassinets, chips, and stoves. Here's what to watch out for.