Latest news with #BCHousing
Global News
6 days ago
- Business
- Global News
Vancouver to offer up land in bid to move SROs from Granville Entertainment District
Vancouver city council has unanimously approved an amendment to the city's 20-year Granville Street Plan aimed at shaking up SRO housing in the area. The amendment directs staff to work with BC Housing and the province to offer up city-owned sites to replace existing single room occupancy (SRO) and supportive housing units in the non-residential Entertainment Core area with 'modern, dignified, self-contained housing, with robust wraparound services.' Tabled by ABC Coun. Peter Meiszner, the amendment relates to publicly-owned buildings between Smithe and Davie Streets in the Granville Entertainment District (GED). 4:00 Vancouver bar owners ask for help to deal with SRO damages 'The city will come to the table with some free land,' Meiszner told Global News in an interview Wednesday. 'We're looking for provincial and federal government funding to transition these units off of Granville Street.' Story continues below advertisement The initial report to council on the Granville Street Plan proposed restricting new residential uses in the three-block Entertainment Core where current SROs 'will be replaced over time and SRO and tenant relocation would be secured off-site.' Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy According to the City of Vancouver, there are eight Single Room Accommodation (SRA) buildings containing roughly 600 rooms on the Granville Strip. Many are privately owned, while others are social and supportive housing projects owned by the city and the provincial government. Those living in the old Howard Johnson at 1976 Granville Street, which was purchased by the province in June 2020 and transitioned to temporary supportive housing during the COVID-19 pandemic, said they've endured chaos inside. 'It's horrible,' said Luugat resident Debora Taylor. 'My next door neighbour, who is in the mental hospital now, she set a fire in my room and after that, two floods.' 'This building's got to be knocked down because there's so much flooding,' said Stephen Keith Walsh. Walsh, who said he is on two wait lists for housing, is currently sleeping outside Aura Nightclub, which is on the ground level of the former Howard Johnson building. Aura has experienced constant flooding from the units above it, and even Walsh, whose ex-partner lives in the Luugat supportive housing, questions the decision to move people from encampments into the former hotel. Story continues below advertisement 'Why would they, BC Housing, pick up all these people off the street and put them in a brand new building when these people haven't even (gone) through any kind of screening or anything,' Walsh told Global News in an interview. 'They just throw them into a place — half of these people, you see the rooms, they're destroyed.' 2:33 SRO resident rescued from Vancouver nightclub air duct As to when the Howard Johnson rooms will be decommissioned, B.C.'s housing minister said the challenge is always where to move people. 'From the BC Housing perspective, we go to wherever there's an opportunity,' said Ravi Kahlon. 'If the council decides that there (are) better locations and they are able to approve them for us, we certainly will consider those options, but at this point we have to go with what we have.' Tyler, who lives in the Dominion Hotel SRO in Gastown and declined to provide his last name, said buildings to house vulnerable people have to go somewhere. Story continues below advertisement 'It can't all be downtown East End, or in that one on East 2nd Avenue, it's got to be all over the place, people got to have somewhere safe to go,' Tyler said. After dealing with more than 200 floods in the last five years from the former Howard Johnson rooms above his club, Aura owner Alan Goodall has a suggestion for the design of any new supportive housing builds. 'They need to have rooms that are basically tiled with a drain in the middle of it because as sure as you're born, the sprinkler heads are going to go off,' Goodall told Global News. 'They need rooms that are almost bomb-proof.'
CTV News
03-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Demolition scheduled on former Victoria supportive housing site, as B.C. mulls property's future
The former site of Queens Manor, which is being demolished this year. A former supportive housing facility that's been sitting vacant for nearly a year is being prepared for demolition, and the province is rethinking the land's future use. The Victoria property at 710 Queens Ave. off Douglas Street was operated by Cool Aid Society and is owned by the province through BC Housing. Tenants from Queens Manor were moved to purpose-built supportive housing on Balmoral Avenue in July 2024, and the building has been empty since. BC Housing said that presents a security risk. The building also had plumbing issues and is nearing the end of its lifespan. 'We are currently working with community partners to find the best potential long-term options for the site as part of our work to support people who need it most,' said Housing and Municipal Affairs Minister Ravi Kahlon, in a statement. 'We have been working to deliver more supportive homes across B.C. We know there is more work to do, and we're going to keep building housing in communities across B.C. to get people inside and out of tents.' Crews can be seen at the Queens Ave site collecting garbage. There's also cautionary 'asbestos' tape marking some areas. According to BC Housing, neighbours were sent letters in early May advising them of the demolition. It's scheduled to start later this month and should be finished by end of August.
CBC
29-05-2025
- General
- CBC
B.C.'s Official Opposition calls for changes to supportive housing following CBC investigation into death
British Columbia's Official Opposition is calling for widespread changes to supportive housing in the province following a CBC News investigation that revealed an 11-day delay in finding the body of a tenant. Claire Rattée, the B.C. Conservative critic for mental health and addictions, said the story reveals the province's current approach amounts to "warehousing addiction," and reveals greater access to drug treatment and sober living facilities is urgently needed. Diane Chandler was living in Surrey's Foxglove supportive housing building, and died of an overdose in her room on April 20, 2024. In the days that followed, staff at the facility signed off on multiple wellness checks saying Chandler was alive. Chandler's body wasn't found until May 1, 2024. Critical incident reports sent to B.C. Housing — then obtained by CBC News through freedom of information — reveal that staff had mixed up another resident for Chandler. When they eventually discovered Chandler deceased in her room, they then found the other tenant dead of an overdose in their room, as well. Chandler's children, Tyler and Carley Gibbs, were never contacted by B.C. Housing. They eventually learned of the delay in finding their mother's body through the cremation service that assisted in her funeral, and later through the coroner's report into her death. Speaking at the legislature, Tyler Gibbs said his mother was "failed" by the province, and that her addiction worsened after moving into her room at Foxglove. "B.C. Housing never contacted me or my family, and I think that's a disgrace. I want answers and I want change. My mum deserved better," he said. B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said in the legislature on Wednesday that in response to Chandler's death, the province implemented changes that require wellness checks every 24 hours in every supportive housing facility across the province. The province implemented changes to allow for more frequent wellness checks in January 2024, four months prior to Chandler's death. Rattée said the issue of accessing tenants' rooms does not address the issue of people dying behind closed doors in provincially-funded housing. "There's a deeper issue here and I don't think it's around wellness checks," she said. "It's about encouraging open drug use in supportive housing facilities and warehousing addiction," she said. Not an isolated incident CBC News later revealed a similar story from years earlier, and promises one mother said were broken. Cyndie Richards' son Shawn died at the Princess Rooms, a RainCity Housing facility in Vancouver, in 2017. His body was not found by staff for three days. Richards said after Shawn's death, a RainCity manager promised her that as a result of the mistake, wellness checks on tenants in the facility would be performed more frequently. She told CBC News that Chandler's death seven years later proves not enough has been done. Rattée said the stories reveal the province must urgently expand treatment and mental services. "We need to have supportive housing that is completely sober," she said. "If they want to have a mixed model, we need to make sure we encourage treatment in these facilities. We need to make sure people have an option between the two. We need to make sure those coming out of treatment aren't being put wet facilities."
CBC
28-05-2025
- General
- CBC
City of Vancouver quashes approval for hotly-debated supportive housing project
The City of Vancouver has withdrawn its support for a supportive housing project in the Kitsilano neighbourhood that has been the subject of numerous court challenges. The B.C. Housing project on city-owned land, at Arbutus Street and 8th Avenue, was approved in 2022 under a previous city council after half a dozen contentious public hearings. However, a group of local residents called the Kitsilano Coalition filed a court challenge against the rezoning — which prompted the B.C. government to issue legislation in favour of the project and bypass the courts. But that legislation was subsequently found to be unlawful by the B.C. Court of Appeal, and now, the City of Vancouver has decided to end its legal defence of the project. That means the rezoning approved in 2022 is no longer valid, and the province and city will have to work on another proposal for the site. WATCH | City withdraws support from supportive housing project: Future of Kitsilano supportive housing development unclear 13 hours ago Duration 2:00 A long-embattled supportive housing development on Vancouver's Westside has lost the mayor's support. Earlier this year, Ken Sim put a pause on net new supportive housing in the city but said he wouldn't get in the way of projects already designated. As CBC's Renee Lukacs reports, that's now changed. "It's clear this location wasn't the right fit for the scale and type of housing that was proposed," Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement Tuesday. "While we won't speculate on the future of the site, we fully believe in the important role that both supportive and social housing play in Vancouver's diverse housing mix." The Kitsilano Coalition said it mounted its court challenge over public safety concerns, with members saying the housing site was next to a park and elementary school. Coalition spokesperson Karen Finnan said she believed the public hearing that led to the project's approval was flawed and not conducted in accordance with the Vancouver Charter. "We are grateful that the current council is looking to work with us instead of pushing back on us," she told CBC News. "And we would hope that the provincial government, as well, will reassess how they are managing issues of homelessness, mental illness and addiction." Other Kitsilano residents that spoke to CBC News, however, expressed support for the proposal, which would have created 129 single-occupancy units for people who are homeless or at risk of losing their homes. "I think everyone sees that there's a huge housing crisis and homelessness crisis in Vancouver, and it's not gonna solve itself, right?" said Dina Dinat. "People have to actively create more housing and different kinds of housing to help vulnerable populations." Opposition councillor, minister disappointed Both an opposition councillor and the province's housing minister expressed disappointment with the cancellation of the rezoning, especially as there is very little supportive housing in Vancouver's Westside. OneCity Coun. Lucy Maloney said Sim's move wasn't surprising after his motion to freeze the construction of new supportive housing units in the city, and that the mayor was pointing the finger at other governments for problems he should take responsibility for. "We need to be showing leadership to solve the homelessness crisis," she said. "We need to be working with every level of government and across the region, but we also need to take responsibility for what we can do in the City of Vancouver." WATCH | Supportive housing freeze draws criticism: Vancouver pauses new supportive housing, sparking opposition and political risk for mayor's party 3 months ago Duration 2:02 Vancouver's opposition parties are hoping to pounce on council's decision on supportive housing. On Wednesday, in a six to three vote, councillors paused net-new supportive housing in the city. The housing is meant to support the city's most vulnerable residents, providing wraparound services for their unmet needs. As Chad Pawson reports, it could come with political risks for Mayor Ken Sim and his ruling ABC party. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon also expressed disappointment with the city's decision, given the support the province had put behind the proposal. "It's disappointing because we know there's people right now in that community sleeping in encampments, sleeping in parks, and we need to get people indoors to get them supports," he said.
CBC
15-05-2025
- Health
- CBC
Her son's body lay in a supportive housing building for 3 days. Years later, she says little has changed
Social Sharing Shawn Richards died at the age of 37 after ingesting toxic drugs in the room of a supportive housing building where he was living in 2017. It took three days for staff to find his body. Shawn's mother, Cyndie Richards, was already haunted by the fact that her son's lifeless body lay behind a locked door for so long. But Richards says learning almost the same thing happened to Diane Chandler seven years later "chilled her to the bone." She says after Shawn's death, a manager at RainCity promised her that as a result of the mistake, wellness checks on tenants in the facility would be performed every eight to 12 hours, instead of every 24. "I just thought, 'Oh my god, you haven't done anything, and you promised me you would,'" she said. Richards and Chandler's two children say the delay in finding their loved ones' bodies reveals gaps in B.C.'s supportive housing systems, and the dangers of using drugs behind closed doors in facilities meant to help those struggling with mental health and addiction. "I didn't make a big scene at the time; I took them at their word [that] a horrendous mistake had been made ... And then to find this indignity was done," said Richards. In a statement, B.C. Housing said, "We are deeply saddened by any loss of life and extend our condolences to the family and friends of this individual. The safety of residents is always our top priority. " The statement said in 2017, B.C. Housing "strengthened requirements in operating agreements for providers to verify resident safety when residents had not been seen for an extended period of time, not exceeding 48 hours." RainCity Housing did not respond to a CBC News request for comment. Richards said the testimonies of Chandler's two children brought back vivid memories of her own son's body being found, exactly seven years earlier. "Now they have to have the heartache like I did of knowing that my son's lifeless body lay there without someone coming to take his body away, letting his family know," she said. "It's just unbearable." Chandler, who had long suffered depression and addiction, died on April 20th in the Foxglove complex housing facility in Surrey in 2024. A CBC News investigation revealed it took 11 days for her to be found, though staff had signed off on wellness checks saying she was alive. Emails between B.C. Housing staff revealed staff members who thought they had seen Chandler had mixed her up with another tenant. It wasn't until May 1 that staff would find Chandler and the tenant they had mistaken for her, both dead in their rooms. Shawn Richards had been living in Princess Rooms, a RainCity facility on Powell Street in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, and visited his mother at her workplace on a weekly basis. Richards described him as a funny and popular kid who excelled in every sport he tried. He fell into addiction in his early 20s as he struggled with his mental health. The RainCity housing website describes Princess Rooms as a "transitional housing program focused on providing a safe, supportive housing environment for individuals with long histories of homelessness." A copy of his coroner's report, which has been reviewed by CBC News, says he was last seen alive on April 28, 2017. He was found on May 1, and the coroner concluded he likely died on April 29. Richards said shortly after her son's death, she was told an employee didn't open the door to check on Shawn earlier because they were worried about what they might find. She has little other information about why days passed without anyone from RainCity checking on Shawn. Changes implemented prior to Chandler's death In response to the CBC News story about Chandler's death, B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon said the province has implemented changes that allow supportive housing operators to enter tenants' rooms "as a way to confirm their health, well-being and safety." Those changes were implemented in January 2024, four months prior to Chandler's death. Across supportive housing in B.C., the frequency of wellness checks varies site to site depending on the level of care provided and the needs of individuals living on site. Kahlon said while the incident involving Chandler was "unacceptable," supportive housing facilities in the province continue to save lives. "If we don't have these sites, people are sleeping in parks and in encampments, and they're in a way more dangerous environment for themselves and for the public, so we're trying to meet people where they need the supports," he said. But Richards said she sometimes wonders whether the street might have been a safer place for her son to use, rather than behind a locked door. "My horror as a mother is that I fought so hard for him to get into this, and if Shawn had been on the street, he probably would be alive because there would be someone there that would have given him Narcan."
