Seventy-two new shelter beds were announced for Victoria on Wednesday by Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon, who called them a step in the right direction as homelessness continues to be a major issue.
There are also 3,000 affordable-housing units either built or underway in the region, and 800 supportive-housing units on the way, he said.
“We certainly know that the high cost of housing is having a real impact in pushing more and more people into vulnerable situations, into homelessness situations,” he said at a press conference outside the legislature.
“We know that there’s a lot more work to do, and this is an important step to address the challenges.”
Twenty of the new beds opened Tuesday night at Our Place, and the rest will follow through August and September.
The beds are available from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Kahlon also announced $2 million in funding for the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness to ensure that supports for homeless people around the province are co-ordinated and put to their best use.
Our Place executive director Julian Daly said that 40 of the new shelter beds will eventually be located at the Pandora Avenue agency, adding to the 34 that are currently there. The other 32 will be operated by the Salvation Army.
“I think this is particularly fitting giving that Pandora Avenue has been at the epicentre of this crisis,” Daly said of locating some beds at Our Place. “We’re happy to be one of the providers of these initial shelter spaces.”
Issues at Our Place came to a head in July when a paramedic was assaulted outside the facility. The incident led to security concerns for first responders, with similar concerns among bus drivers prompting a call for closing bus stops within 100 metres of Pandora Avenue and Quadra Street.
Daly said that the announcement of the new shelter space “represents a fantastic and welcome first step in ending the suffering of people who are living rough on our streets.”
From 50 to 100 people live outside Our Place at any given time on the boulevard and sidewalks. Daly said he is feeling optimistic because governments and various agencies are working together.
“I’m also optimistic that the vast majority of unhoused folk will secure safe, indoor shelter in the coming months and be on the pathway to permanent housing before winter.”
The public is very empathetic about the homeless, Daly said. “They want to make sure that we’re supporting the most vulnerable people.’
Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto said the city has a memorandum of understanding to work with the province on the issue of homelessness.
The agreement is known as the Homelessness Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing memorandum, or HEARTH.
“We absolutely will continue to work with the province and find every solution we can, not just for the city but for the region,” Alto said
Prior to the beds announced Wednesday, the memorandum led to B.C. Housing reopening 30 housing units at Caledonia Place and converting 30 shelter beds at St. John the Divine Anglican Church from winter to year-round spaces.
The 2023 Greater Victoria Point-In-Time Homeless Count and Housing Needs Survey found that at least 1,665 people were experiencing homelessness on March 7.
Alto repeated her call for other jurisdictions to get involved in dealing with h0melessness.
“I cannot more strongly urge my colleagues in the surrounding municipalities in the Capital Regional District to look at these examples and adapt them to find their own solutions,” she said.
Many of those needing help are from outside the city’s area, Alto said.
“These people are here because no one else is stepping up to provide the same services and space,” she said. “This is essentially not fair. It is not fair to the City of Victoria, it is not fair to the province, it is not fair to the people seeking help.”
