A plan to build two more modular housing complexes in Vancouver at 501 Powell St. and 1115 Franklin St. should have happened 10 years ago, according to a homeless man who attended a city-run information session Thursday night.
Al Saari, who volunteers part time in the Portland Hotel Society kitchen, welcomes the projects. He suggested the society, which will run the day-to-day operations at the two sites, should offer residents work once the modular housing is up and running.
“It’s great, give them a bed to stay, but let’s look further past that,” Saari said.
He maintains work is crucial for the homeless and that offering jobs to residents would cut down on staff costs, too.
“It’s good for your self-esteem, it’s good for your pocket. It’s a win-win.”
Vancouverites were asked to provide input on the two projects at the event, which was held at the Vancouver Buddhist Temple, Dec. 7.
The evening was starkly different from four nights of acrimonious sessions in early November at the Langara golf course for the Marpole modular housing project. Hundreds voiced their opposition to that project and continue to do so.
Thursday’s event was more subdued and saw roughly two dozen attendees, many of them representatives from the city and organizations behind the projects, but also homeless residents from the area.
The PHS, which offers care services to Vancouver’s homeless and drug-using population, will have staff at the two locations around the clock to help residents with anything from financial advice and mental health care to finding permanent housing and employment.
Jennifer Breakspear, executive director of PHS, believes the two projects will have a great impact on the lives of homeless people.
“They are moving into a kitted-out home, not just a shelter, but a place to call home,” Breakspear said. “We know that’s going to be life changing for many of them.”
She also said her staff are aware that residents may use drugs at their new homes, and encourages them instead to do so openly to prevent overdoses.
Data from the BC Coroners Service shows 88 per cent of drug overdose deaths happen away from the public eye. Those who do use drugs will be able to test their substances for fentanyl at Powell Street Gateway, across the street from the Powell Street location, using either test strips or a new mass spectrometer introduced by the city last November, which it shares with Insite.
The two building projects, which will feature 39 living units each, are part of the 600 units of modular housing the City of Vancouver, the Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency and BC Housing plan to build throughout the city to address homelessness.
Ethel Whitty, director of homeless services at the City of Vancouver, said one of the most pressing issues is to house all of the homeless population and that many who will qualify for homes will not be able to get a unit due to the sheer numbers.
“The hard thing is, there will be people that apply who are absolutely eligible, who won’t get in because there [are] too many,” Whitty said. “Once we connect with those people, we will continue to work with them to try and find them housing. There is a big push now to take in these applications.”
However, the city is looking to expand modular housing by another 600 units, pending provincial review and space availability in Vancouver. The Powell Street and Franklin Street locations sit on city land.
“The problem, of course, is it’s not easy to find the sites. We are a little bit up against that right now,” Whitty said. “But if the province was willing to do another 600, I’m sure the city can find it.”
The Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency, which is the applicant for Vancouver’s modular housing projects, hopes the Powell Street location will be up and running by the middle of February and the Franklin Street one a couple of weeks later.
Luke Harrison, CEO of VAHA, said the agency is actively seeking sites that are large enough and sitting vacant. Apart from looking at city land, they are also reaching out to real estate developers to offer up properties that are going through lengthy application processes.
“We started looking at 600 modular [units] and said, ‘what land do we have available to us?’ and these two sites popped up because we didn’t have any active uses on the site,” Harrison said, adding the agency took into consideration what services were in proximity and zoning designations tied to the sites before making an application.
“We are looking into any Vancouver site that is underutilized and vacant and meets the parameters that we would need to put these buildings onto it,” he said. Harrison didn’t go into details about which developers VAHA contacted for additional projects because his agency is still in talks and he didn’t have permission to disclose that information.
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