City and province have signed memorandum but questions remain
On March 22, the City of Victoria signed a memorandum of understanding with the Province of British Columbia. With the province running out of time to move the over-200 people still sheltering in parks in Victoria into temporary housing, the city agreed to push the deadline for ending sheltering in parks back from March 31 to April 30. The province has also promised to build 280 units of permanent housing in the Capital Regional District.
In the memorandum, Victoria City Council has agreed to end the 24-hour sheltering allowance on the condition that everyone currently living in parks is given housing by the province. Councillor Sarah Potts says she would like to see the province work with service providers on the ground to make sure people have the support they need.
Province spends $9.4 million on building to house more homeless persons in Victoria
B.C. housing has purchased another building in Victoria to help provide temporary shelter space for people experiencing homelessness in the capital city.
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New property will offer 70 shelter spaces and will operate for the next year and a half
CBC News ·
Posted: Mar 31, 2021 1:53 PM PT | Last Updated: March 31
The building at 225 Russell St., is located just a block away from the Songhees Trail in Vic West and will offer 70 shelter spaces.(google maps)
So, yes, when 50 or so residents gathered in the quiet dead-end street, throwing around words like “blindsided” and “shell-shocked” to describe the way they had been treated by politicians and bureaucrats the ones who were celebrating the news as a big step in Victoria’s homelessness crisis the impression was of someone standing on shore, trying to stop a ship that had already sailed.
Here’s what’s going on: B.C. Housing is buying the property at 225 Russell as a temporary between 18 months and two years shelter for 70 people. It’s part of a plan that will see the City of Victoria and the province move more than 200 people out of encampments by April 30.
Victoria to miss March deadline to move homeless indoors vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
No such excitement on this day, though. The road is largely empty, with plenty of vacant curbside spaces for cars. Most of the vehicles sport the window decals that Oak Bay issues to drivers who live in residents-only parking zones. The calm is somewhat surprising given an Oak Bay Facebook group’s recent raging debate over who gets to park where on roads like this. By the tone of some of the comments you would think there was a non-stop game of vehicular musical chairs going on, with furious homeowners racing to the boulevard to repel invaders at barbecue-fork point.