Housing minister Ravi Kahlon makes an announcement regarding supports for those experiencing homelessness on Monday, Jan. 29. He's flanked by Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog and MLA Sheila Malcolmson. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

NEW AGREEMENT

100 new temporary housing beds coming for unhoused people in Nanaimo

Jan 29, 2024 | 12:59 PM

NANAIMO — New housing opportunities are coming to the region through a refreshed partnership between local and provincial governments.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was presented on Monday, Jan. 29 between the City of Nanaimo and the province to move forward with the Homeless Encampment Action Response Team (HEART) and the Homeless Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing (HEARTH) programs.

Provincial housing minister Ravi Kahlon said the programs, and signed MOU, commits to creating more housing for those experiencing homelessness in the region with 100 spaces identified immediately.

“We’re going to be starting with the HEARTH program at Newcastle Place, located at 250 Terminal Ave. It will welcome 50 new people when the current residents move to the permanent supportive housing site opening at 285 Prideaux Ave.”

Kahlon added BC Housing has also secured lease property at 1300 Island Hwy. South, near Tenth St. in Chase River to install pre-fabricated transitional housing for up to 50 more people.

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He told a gathering of local government and non-profit leaders the move, and future plans, would make a “big difference in the community”.

“This is 100 additional, temporary spaces that will provide an interim housing solution for people who have been staying outside or in shelters for far too long.”

While current residents will transition to Prideaux St. in the coming months, 50 beds will remain active at Newcastle Place along Terminal Ave. in Nanaimo. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Nanaimo is the fourth community in B.C. to sign onto the HEART and HEARTH program behind Prince George, Abbotsford and Kelowna.

Implementation of the HEART program locally will also involve working with Snuneymuxw First Nation, health care agencies and other non-profit groups to identify and assist those sheltering in encampments.

Approximately $9 million in funding will go to these housing projects, while the government via BC Housing will handle annual operating costs.

Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog said following the announcement the province is “very conscious” of the challenges faced in Nanaimo.

“That’s the point of the housing at Newcastle is to keep that site open temporarily because [the province] don’t have other housing…we don’t have those units in place now. It would be ridiculous to shut that down, leave it empty when you have hundreds of people sleeping in the streets creating a great deal of social disorder.”

Krog said while some residents may be concerned regarding a 50-bed facility in their neighbourhood, it shouldn’t come as a surprise.

“The [Chase River] site has been on the public agenda, a nearby site in Cranberry for a very, very long time. Just as the good citizens of Chase River are looking forward to a community centre like Oliver Woods, they’re prepared to play their part in ensuring their fellow citizens are housed.”

Resistance is expected from local residents in the Chase River area regarding news of a pending temporary housing complex.

While the facilities themselves attract a variety of surrounding public safety issues, according to Nanaimo resident Fred MacDonald, he’s angered by the lack of community consultation.

MacDonald, treasurer of the Newcastle Neighbourhood Association who lives near Newcastle Place, said local residents have no recourse when temporary housing is imposed on them.

“That’s what I take a huge issue with, it’s a totally anti-democratic process at the neighbourhood level,” MacDonald said.

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