The popular SHINE program in Nanaimo received a funding boost to help mid Island seniors secure appropriate housing. (Pixabay)

By Ian Holmes

vital service

Nanaimo based seniors’ housing program receives funding boost

Dec 29, 2021 | 7:24 AM

NANAIMO — Securing and maintaining housing is difficult for many people, while seniors can experience an even more daunting task in a cutthroat real estate market.

Seniors Housing Information and Navigation Ease (SHINE) is narrowing the gap locally with continued funding through March 2023, thanks to an injection of provincial funding.

Deborah Hollins, executive director of the Nanaimo Family Life Association, said continually escalating rental prices and limited supply puts many people, particularly vulnerable seniors, in a tough spot.

“You have to be online, you have to be able to have the necessary information at your fingertips and for a lot of older adults that’s not accessible,” Hollins told NanaimoNewsNOW.

The funding from the BC Government is part of a $720,000 pot for programs across the province.

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The mid-Island area is among several communities benefiting from the free SHINE program, which Hollins noted launched as a pilot project last year for people at least 60-years-old.

She said the breakneck pace in which available housing is claimed, along with numerous programs and resources seniors may not be leveraging, are factors clients typically struggle with.

“They’ve seen more complexity in trying to gain housing, more competition and the SHINE project can help mitigate some of those new dynamics that older adults just aren’t that familiar with,” Hollins said.

SHINE features a dedicated, compassionate navigator “Who can validate what you’ve been through and then also help you strategically to either find housing or keep your housing,” Hollins said.

Since SHINE debuted in Nanaimo, “the need has been incredible”, while Hollins noted the offering is being enhanced to serve more seniors, including people in Oceanside region.

“We were getting so many calls from the Oceanside area of Parksville-Qualicum, they just don’t have the capacity to be able to meet the needs of all of the older adults in those communities.”

Nanaimo’s Bertha Horsfield is a SHINE client who was caring for her sick husband and in desperate need of housing.

“They are very knowledgeable about resources in various areas that a senior might not be aware of. And it’s just comforting to know there is someone out there. Without their help and support, I don’t know where I would be,” Horsfield said of SHINE in a B.C. Government news release.

More details on SHINE in Nanaimo can be found at the Nanaimo Family Life Association’s website or phoning the NFLA at: 250-754-3331.

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ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes