Modular supportive housing is taking shape in Nanaimo as the province readies new homes for members of the city’s homeless population.
One set of modular structures is going up on Labieux Road on city-owned land that has been leased by the province.
Modular buildings are scheduled to start arriving today at a Terminal Avenue property recently purchased by the province.
“People will begin moving into the housing by the end of next week,” a Municipal Affairs and Housing official said in an email on Tuesday.
Construction is active on both sites, the official said.
Close to 270 people, many living at Nanaimo’s tent city on 1 Port Dr., applied to live in the supportive housing units. Supportive housing includes services such as life-skills training and connections to primary health care, mental-health or substance-use services.
B.C. is opening 170 units and has hired non-profit organizations to manage them.
Homeless Nanaimo residents have been living at the six-month-old tent city, which the courts have ordered to shut down by Nov. 30. At its peak, the tent city was home to an estimated 300 or more homeless people. More are living in camps of various sizes elsewhere outdoors.
Neighbours of the two new facilities are signing petitions in opposition, and one citizen next to the Terminal Avenue property has filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of B.C. in the hopes of quashing the project.
