Nanaimo’s affordable housing strategy faces complex roadblocks
NANAIMO — The City of Nanaimo’s social planner concedes homelessness in the harbour city is up against a pair of emerging challenges.
John Horn said preliminary work in forming an affordable housing strategy revealed addictions and mental health problems have heightened for many vulnerable people in Nanaimo, citing the overdose crisis as a factor.
“It means that people are deeper into addictions than they would have been 10 years ago when we started this project and the amount of mental illnesses that we’re seeing are more entrenched and more intense than what we’ve seen.”
Horn said the city hopes to have an affordable housing strategy complete in the fall of 2018 for the next council to then implement.