New Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness social enterprise model aims to alleviate youth homelessness
Photo provided.
In late January, the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH) formally announced the launch of a new social enterprise model that will provide housing, services, and job opportunities for up to 30 unhoused youth living in Greater Victoria. The project is youth-led and represents the culmination of over three years of planning, first by the City of Victoria, and then by GVCEH in partnership with BC Housing.
GVCEH Research Project Manager Jarvis Neglia says that the ball really started rolling in 2016 when Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps saw the significant overrepresentation of youth in the latest Greater Victoria Homelessness Point-In-Time Count. The survey also showed that many of the adult members of the city’s unhoused community had been on and off the streets since they were youth or young adults.