The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, in partnership with Aryze Developments, has raised more than $500,000 to build the homes and wants permission to use the parking lot for up to 18 months. “If this temporary housing is one small step towards ensuring that every community member has a home, it’s a step I think the city should take if the public indicates that it’s supportable,” Coun. Ben Isitt said. A staff report pegs the city’s share of the operating costs at about $215,000, plus another $60,000 to cover installation, and later removal, of water and sewer services. The city may be able to recover some or all of the costs from a provincial grant program, staff say.
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For campers at Royal Athletic Park, Hey Neighbour pilot project can’t come soon enough
Photo provided.
For the more than 30 campers living in Royal Athletic Park’s parking lot, the Hey Neighbour pilot project has brought a ray of hope after several months of trauma and abuse.
“I think it’s a wonderful proposal,” Tina Dawson, the director and a resident of the encampment at Royal Athletic Park, told the Martlet.
The project, a collaboration between Aryze Developments and the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, aims to move members of the camp into 30 modified shipping containers by the end of March. Aryze Developments hopes to begin construction early this month.
Hey Neighbour pilot project looks to house 30 members of the unhoused community
Photo sourced from Aryze.
As the City of Victoria moves forward with its plan to end sheltering in parks by March, a local development company has stepped in to lend a hand. Aryze Developments Inc., known for building luxury homes in the Greater Victoria area, approached the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness with an idea to transform 30 modified shipping containers into temporary housing. The project, called Hey Neighbour, has raised half of its target of $500 000 through crowdsourcing and will begin on the first 15 houses at the beginning of February.