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Once Homeless, Residents of a Granville Street Hostel Are Now Thriving
A former hostel now houses people who’ve experienced homelessness, but it’s unclear how long the arrangement will last.
Jen St. Denis is The Tyee’s Downtown Eastside reporter. Find her on Twitter @JenStDen. This reporting beat is made possible by the Local Journalism Initiative. SHARES Martin had been homeless for three years before he found a home at 1025 Granville St., one of 21 hotels leased by the province to house people or provide space to isolate because of COVID-19.
Photo by Jen St. Denis.
Residents of a backpackers’ hostel now being used as housing for low-income people hope they’ll be able to stay permanently, but the future of 1025 Granville St., along with 20 other Metro Vancouver hotels recently leased by the province, is up in the air.
This idea was not a recommendation by city staff to council, but rather it came from a city council directive approved in October 2020, when an amendment by COPE councillor Jean Swanson and seconded by Mayor Kennedy Stewart specifically calling for the use of the Jericho Hostel and 2400 Kingsway Motel as homeless shelters was approved.
It has since been determined that the city-owned Jericho Hostel, originally part of the barracks of the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Jericho Beach Station, is not suitable as a shelter. Over the past few decades, the property has been leased by Hostelling International.
HI Vancouver Jericho Beach at 1515 Discovery Street, Vancouver. (Google Maps)