Single Room Occupancy Hotels

Dunsmuir House to provide additional homes

The Province has leased the 166-unit Dunsmuir House (located at the corner of Dunsmuir and Richards) for three years (with the option to renew for one further year) from the Holborn Group, a Vancouver-based real estate company. The Province took possession on October 1. BC Housing reviewed the property early that month to determine the scope of renovations required to make Dunsmuir House habitable. Occupancy is planned sequentially as rooms are renovated and/or repaired. Atira Property Management is managing Dunsmuir House with RainCity Housing and Support Society providing support services. Tenants are being selected through the Supportive Housing Registry service. Units were offered to former clients of RainCity’s Granville Street and Howe Street HEAT shelters so as they can rebuild their community. These shelter clients have now moved in.

Infrastructure dollars awarded to SRO renovations

Nineteen Vancouver SROs have received funding for renovations through the new Housing Renovation Partnership funded under the Canada-BC Affordable Housing Initiative made possible through Canada’s Economic Action Plan. The funding, approximately $13 million, has been allocated to renovations that are already underway at provincially-owned sites.

Clinical Tenant Support Team working in SROs

Since April 2009, Vancouver Coastal Health staff have been working in five of the government-owned SROs, providing primary care and mental health and addictions support at the London, Dominion, Beacon, Hazelwood, and the Carl Rooms. By the beginning of November, three more hotels were receiving support from the VCH Clinical Tenant Support Team: the Arco, Gastown, and Dunsmuir House. The work the staff does is modeled after that of VCH’s Clinical Housing Team, which works in 11 other SROs in the Downtown Eastside. The Clinical Tenant Support Team is part of VCH’s contribution to the Province’s Homelessness Intervention Project.

The support offered through onsite clinics reduces the impact tenants would otherwise have on emergency health services. "Homeless people and individuals who live in low-barrier SROs often do not visit drop-in health clinics," said Jennifer Weterings, Manager, Primary Outreach Services, VCH. "So, when they do have health problems, they’ve often reached a chronic stage which requires costly emergency care."

While the tenants who access the SRO clinics generally refer themselves for treatment, VCH does require tenant support workers at sites where it offers services. "We can’t engage anyone unless they want to engage," said Jennifer, "but the knowledge tenant support workers have about their tenants is critical. They have established relationships with the tenants and can encourage them to seek medical help. Or, they might mention to us they’ve noticed someone has, for instance, an abscess. We might then knock on the tenant’s door and offer to assist them."

It is important for members of the Clinical Tenant Support Team to build relationships with the tenants. "This takes time and the first few months at a new site are often quiet," added Jennifer. "Once trust is established, we can make some real inroads. If we suspect someone has an undiagnosed mental health issue, it is easier to convince them to access mental health support if they already trust us."

Solidifying these relationships also helps create a sense of home for the people who access the clinics. Jennifer notes that about 90 per cent of the tenants who have sought assistance are still living in the SROs. "We know that when you provide shelter and a liveable income, a person’s health outcomes improve."

Jennifer takes care to ensure the right people are selected to work as part of the team. "It’s not a question of simply filling vacancies. It takes a special set of skills to do the job well," she remarked. "These are outreach positions which also need to provide long-term case management."

SRO heritage façade restoration

Several of the provincially-owned SROs are heritage buildings. As much as possible, BC Housing has worked to restore these façades and has received grants from the City of Vancouver to help fund the work. Buildings are prioritized for heritage work when there is high heritage value and good exterior restoration potential as well as interior rehabilitation. In buildings with low heritage value, the focus is to clean up the exterior, restore the building envelope performance and focus on interior rehabilitation.

Criteria for façade restoration includes: the building is on the City of Vancouver’s heritage register; a reasonable amount of the original fabric has survived; there is high restoration potential; and there is potential for high urban renewal and improvement.

Following are photos of restoration work done on the Park Hotel’s façade.

An historical photo of the Park Hotel (left) and the building prior to renovation (right). Historical photos provided valuable information on the building’s missing upper and storefront cornices and original window configuration.
The five-foot projecting cornice required a well-anchored hollow structural steel support frame, being welded in the photo above. Galvanized steel stud bracket supports were installed on the existing concrete parapet wall (right).
Above: Cornice bracket detail prior to painting.
Right: Final coats of paint are applied to the cornice to match to the original trim colour as determined in previous investigation. Above: The pressed zinc sheet spandrel panels on the building were identified as strong character defining elements and restored. Below: the restored cornice.

Mural added to side of Carl Rooms

Strathcona Community Centre is working with students at Strathcona Elementary School and art consultant Anne Marie Slater on an interpretive walk project along Princess Avenue in Vancouver. As part of the project, a mural was recently added to the side of the Carl Rooms, one of the government-owned SROs in the Downtown Eastside. The photographic display provides an historical retrospective of the neighbourhood and includes photographs taken by the elementary school’s students as well as some of their reflections on their community. Other components of the interpretive walk completed thus far include a mural on the front of the community centre and sidewalk stamps at the intersection of Cordova Street and Princess Avenue. The project is funded by a grant from the City of Vancouver with the involvement of many community partners, including Atira Property Management, PHS Community Services Society, BC Housing, Union Gospel Mission, Vancouver Coastal Health and many others.

Above: A photo of the mural now gracing the side of the Carl Rooms and a close up of one of the panels.

Tentative SRO construction schedule as of November 30, 2009

Hotel Units Tenancy status Non-Profit Operator Renovation Status Anticipated Completion Date
54 East Cordova 34 Tenanted Atira Property Management COMPLETE COMPLETE
566 Powell Street 2 12 Tenanted Atira Property Management No renovations required COMPLETE
Arco Hotel 64 Tenanted Atira Property Management Pre-renovation TBD
Beacon Hotel 40 Empty PHS Community Services Society COMPLETE COMPLETE
Carl Rooms 44 Tenanted Atira Property Management with support services provided by PHS Community Services Society COMPLETE COMPLETE
Dominion Hotel 63 Tenanted Atira Property Management COMPLETE COMPLETE
Drake Hotel 3 26 Tenanted Atira Property Management COMPLETE COMPLETE
Dunsmuir House 4 166 Phased renovation/partially occupied Atira Property Management with support services provided by RainCity Housing and Support Society UNDERWAY TBD
Gastown Hotel 93 Tenanted Atira Property Management Pre-renovation TBD
Hazelwood Hotel 112 Tenanted Atira Property Management with support services provided by MPA Society COMPLETE COMPLETE
London Hotel2 72 Tenanted Atira Property Management COMPLETE COMPLETE
Marble Arch Hotel 138 Phased renovation/partially occupied Atira Property Management with support services provided by PHS Community Services Society UNDERWAY Ph. 1: COMPLETE
Ph. 2: Nov 30 2009
Ph. 3 & 4: TBD
Marr Hotel 29 Tenanted Atira Women’s Resource Society COMPLETE COMPLETE
Orange Hall 27 Tenanted S.U.C.C.E.S.S. COMPLETE COMPLETE
Orwell Hotel 55 Empty Vancouver Native Housing Society UNDERWAY December 2009
Park Hotel 50 Tenanted Atira Property Management with support services provided by PHS Community Services Society COMPLETE COMPLETE
Pender Hotel 40 Empty Vancouver Native Housing Society UNDERWAY TBD
Rainier Hotel 41 Tenanted PHS Community Services Society COMPLETE COMPLETE5
The Rice Block 42 Tenanted Atira Women’s Resource Society COMPLETE COMPLETE
Roosevelt Hotel 42 Tenanted PHS Community Services Society UNDERWAY January 2010
Savoy Hotel 25 Tenanted Atira Property Management with support services provided by MPA Society COMPLETE COMPLETE
Shaldon Hotel 54 Tenanted RainCity Housing and Support Society Pre-renovation TBD
St. Helens Hotel 86 Tenanted Atira Property Management with support services provided by Coast Foundation Society COMPLETE COMPLETE
Tamura House 110 Tenanted Lookout Emergency Aid Society Pre-renovation TBD
Walton Hotel 48 Tenanted Lookout Emergency Aid Society COMPLETE COMPLETE
1 Unit numbers are best estimates of how many units there will be in each building post-renovations.
2 Five-year renewable lease.
3 This City-owned building is being used for tenant relocations. It will be replaced with a new building managed by RainCity Housing and Support Society.
4 Three-year lease.

Bugs Be Gone - PHS’s pest control company set to expand its business

A couple of years ago bed bugs started to make a big comeback in nooks and crannies all over the world. The Downtown Eastside was not immune, but there were several factors which made battling bed bugs and other pests like cockroaches, mice and rats here more difficult. The unique needs of the Downtown Eastside have led to innovative solutions such as bedbug saunas. These unique needs are also why, in 2007, PHS Community Services Society created its own pest management company, Bugs Be Gone, to eradicate pests from its buildings.

"We were paying other companies lots of money but they were they were totally ineffective," said Andy Bond, Director of Operations. "Workers would leave if they saw a needle; they had no training on dealing with people with addictions or mental health issues; they would claim a room was too messy to guarantee results but they would spray it anyway."

Within its first year of operation, Bugs Be Gone started offering services to other groups in the Downtown Eastside. The company also created partnerships with other social enterprises, like Mission Possible’s graffiti removal company and Atira’s paint company, whereby the non-profit operators agree to use each other’s services.

Members of the Bugs Be Gone crew.

Bugs Be Gone’s seven employees all live in the Downtown Eastside; many of the original staff came from PHS’s mental health team and all have a clear understanding of the special needs of tenants living in the area. Employees are certified and licensed in pest control management. They also take special training in needle safety and are given a community overview which includes a tour of sites in the Downtown Eastside.

"We’re at the point where we’re ready to expand our operations," said Andy. "Groups that use our services are creating jobs for Downtown Eastside folks. Our experience in SROs is unique among pest control companies - we not only understand the client group, we’re also familiar with the challenges that come with old buildings."

Up to this time, Bugs Be Gone has relied on word of mouth for referrals. They recently sponsored a seminar on pest management at the 2009 BC Non-Profit Housing Association conference. They are hoping to expand their services to other hotels in the Downtown Eastside as well as to homes and hotels in other Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods. To contact the group, call 604-998-1911 or e-mail service@bugsbegone.ca.

Income Assistance and Disability Assistance cheque issue dates

The following table shows when people will receive their Income Assistance and Disability Assistance cheques in 2010 (it is not always the last Wednesday of the month). As much as possible, BC Housing will avoid scheduling move-ins on these dates. Housing providers may also want to take note of the dates and schedule meetings with clients at other times.

For the month of Cheque issue date
January 2010 December 16, 2009
February 2010 January 20, 2010
March 2010 February 17, 2010
April 2010 March 24, 2010
May 2010 April 21, 2010
June 2010 May 19, 2010
July 2010 June 23, 2010
August 2010 July 21, 20109
September 2010 August 25, 2010
October 2010 September 22, 2010
November 2010 October 27, 2010
December 2010 November 24, 2010
January 2011 December 22, 2010

Real People, Real Lives available online

The unique storytelling photo exhibition Real People, Real Lives - Courage and hope in the Downtown Eastside has enjoyed successful runs at both the Pacific Centre rotunda and the Interurban Gallery. The exhibition, a collaboration between Atira Property Management, award-winning photographer Michael Bednar, and BC Housing, can be seen online at www.realpeoplereallives.ca.

Bednar spent more than a year working with the 12 subjects and came to know them well. Each has shown tremendous courage in coming to terms with personal difficulties such as homelessness, or drug and alcohol addiction, or past experiences working in the sex trade. Real People, Real Lives challenges viewers to see beyond these labels and to recognize the subjects as people with hopes and dreams just like everyone else.

"The tenants who live in supportive housing served as the inspiration for Real People, Real Lives," said Atira’s Janice Abbott, who developed the original concept for the exhibition. "They all have compelling stories and I wanted to share these so that others could see them as real people rather than as the caricatures seen so often on the news."

Giving SRO tenants a good start

The charitable organization Gather and Give has been providing many SRO tenants with basic household goods when they first move into their new homes.

"Some of the tenants have nothing when they move in," explained BC Housing’s Community Liaison Worker Gordon Gies. "Gather and Give has provided kits for well over 600 tenants. Providing a few dishes and sheets, and some toiletries tells the tenants we care about them."

Gather and Give provided bulk deliveries of blankets, sheets and dishes to many SROs and also assisted fire victims at the Washington Hotel earlier this year. Gordon also works with Gather and Give staff on requests for individuals and front desk staff at each of the SROs have now started contacting the organization directly for assistance.

"It’s a neat partnership and wonderful to be able to provide the essentials to help people as they move forward with their lives," said Gather and Give’s Interim Executive Director, Eleanor Herd. "Normally we provide about 80 kits a month, but with so many of the SROs opening, we’ve been doing 400 kits a month. BC Housing has provided us with a spreadsheet estimating when different projects will open so we can estimate when demand will be high."




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