Even before it opens, Victoria’s Tiny Homes Village, built from former shipping containers, is getting attention from other communities that are looking for ways to provide rapid housing for their residents, says one of the people behind the project.
Luke Mari of Aryze Developments said Thursday that the company has been fielding inquiries from First Nations on Vancouver Island interested in the concept.
“Also, the City of Nanaimo has approached us [about] helping them with a pilot project much larger than this,” he said.
“So I think what’s quite beautiful about this project is that these shipping containers are going to probably have a second, third, fourth life. We’re not retaining ownership of them. Our hope is to see these get passed on to another community.”
Mari spoke as reporters toured the village next to Royal Athletic Park at 940 Caledonia Ave. Nearing completion, it will provide temporary housing for 30 people currently living in city parks.
The tiny houses are expected to remain at the site until the fall of 2022.
Each resident will have their own unit with a bed, chair, wardrobe, dresser and small fridge. There will be communal washroom and shower facilities, storage, public artwork and a central gathering area with garden boxes.
Our Place Society will operate the site with around-the-clock staffing and security. Residents will receive daily meals, life-skills training and a range of physical and mental-health supports, counselling and employment services.
Aryze first pitched the idea to the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness last year and together they launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised $550,000 from 580 citizens and businesses in three months. The city and provincial government got on board, and dozens more businesses donated everything from design and landscaping services to mattresses, paint and bed linens.
“The coming together of all those different parts of society to create this community here in North Park is remarkable, actually,” said Julian Daly, chief executive officer of Our Place.
“I’m not aware of anything quite like it anywhere else.”
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said people will begin moving from the parks into the Tiny Homes Village on May 12, which is later than expected due to construction and supply-chain delays.
City council voted last month to halt all-day camping in parks as of Saturday and reinstate the old rules that permit people to pitch their tents from dusk to dawn, providing they pack up their belongings by 7 each morning.
Helps said the deadline remains in effect, but there will be a grace period for those who have accepted a housing offer and are waiting for their rooms to be finished at the Tiny Homes Village or a new transitional housing site at 225 Russell St. in Vic West.
“We’re going to be taking an individualized approach to enforcement, so if somebody has an offer to move into a tiny home or a hotel room or the Russell Street transitional housing area, they won’t be asked to take their tents down as long as they’re intending to go inside,” she said.
“Once those spaces open, we hope that people will move in.”
For those who refuse to move inside, enforcement will begin this weekend, she said. “People will need to take their tents down in the morning, put them back up at night.”
The Russell Street facility is set to open next week, she said.
Victoria city council permitted all-day camping in parks after the COVID-19 pandemic forced shelters to close or reduce the number of beds due to physical-distancing requirements.
But the provincial government has since purchased and leased a number of hotels and other spaces so there are now enough places for people to move indoors, Helps said.
“I know these transitions are difficult for everyone, but a park is not a campground,” she said.
City bylaw staff will be enforcing the new rules and the city has indicated that it’s prepared to seek court injunctions if necessary.
