“No society can understand itself without looking at its shadow side.” –Gabor Maté
Genesis • July 3, 2003 Vancouver Whistler win 2010 Olympic bid - Sea to Sky Highway Improvement Project • Real Estate values double in a year+ and continued to rise until about 2008/09 • Downtown revitalization/gentrification result in demolition of most of the affordable SROs Result: Emergence of Homelessness in Squamish
Squamish Helping Hands Society-2006 pop 15,000 – estimate: 100+ homeless Citizen-led initiative: request to convert an empty municipal fire hall in downtown into an emergency weather shelter.
Feb 2007 • SHHS- provides lunch, showers, laundry and internet 3 days a week. • Volunteers
Nov 2007 • Extreme weather emergency shelter • 15 beds Incl. dinner and breakfast. • 5 day-a-week Daily Drop-in centre. • Volunteers
July 2009 • 24/7 emergency shelter/drop-in centre. • Paid staff • BC Housing Funded • DOS Supported
2011-2013 Home Instead: • 4 Sober living beds for people transitioning to employment and independent living. BC Housing • 5 VCH/Mental Required a rezoning Health transition from Council. beds Unanimously supported
Most recent stats (2015) • .34% Squamish pop. considered homeless. (ie .29% Vancouver. Kamloops .11) • Males Aged 55+ and Males aged 18-25 largest sub groups • 135% increase in women accessing emergency housing between 2014 and 2015.
Driving factors • Continuous 0% rental vacancy • Rapid community growth • Transient / temporary residents • Tourism / hospitality sector growth • Lower incomes
Community Collabortion Squamish Integrated Housing Solutions Group – Local collaborative non-profit housing and related organizations • Squamish Helping Hand Society • Squamish Senior Citizens Home Society • Howe Sound Women’s Centre Society • Sea to Sky Community Services Society • Vancouver Coastal Health • School District #48 • Sea to Sky Sea to Sky Division of Family Practice
SQUAMISH INTEGRATED HOUSING SOLUTIONS GROUP ü Council to pass a motion to adopt a HOUSING FIRST Community Strategy ü Policy and enforcement of short-term rentals ü Expanded use of Affordable Housing Reserve to help support rent bank, secondary suite incentives, development of cooperative property management structure ü Zoning / density bonus solutions for below market/core rental housing needs that are flexible and tailored to reflect changing needs ü Donate & acquire land for core rental housing projects ü Ensure no net loss of core rental housing, rental housing ü Research & data to support future housing projections
THE COST OF INACTION • People die prematurely : 18 deaths noted within an 18 month span (SHHS - Jan 2015- April 2016) • Homelessness is expensive : Per Person it costs $40- $50K for emergency housing compared to $22-28K with a Housing First strategy. • The average annual cost of homelessness for a community is estimated at $9.5M (Affordable Housing Plan BC)
THE COST OF INACTION • Mental health and addiction issues increase significantly for those who are homeless leading to increased reactionary costs in the provision of Health, Criminal Justice & Social Services • The problem compounds : We are headed for a further housing gap of 100 – 150 core rental housing units by 2021
SHHS Under One Roof
Under One Roof • 2016 - Council adopts Housing First Principles. • 2016 - Council offers District-owned land for SHHS Under One Roof • DOS initiates a rezoning of our lands • Council unanimously supports rezoning July 2017
Under One Roof • DOS Signs MOU with SHHS and BC Housing • DOS Invests ~$650,000 to make lands developable • DOS waves fees: DCCs, permit fees etc • BC Housing commits to ~$12million in funding
Emergency Shelter Under One Roof Low Barrier Housing Broke ground Sept 2018 Transitional Living Recovery - SHHS Program 4 Independence Affordable Independent Living https://www.squamishhelpinghands.ca/programs-services/under-one-roof/
Recipe for Success • Community Champions • Work closely with Non- profits and BC Housing • Unanimous support of Council - political courage • Brought municipal lands to the table both in old firehall and for Under One Roof
Thank You
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