Guest Editorial: Kim Stacey, Vancouver Native Housing Society

Home is not where you live but where they understand you. - Cristion Morgenstern

On a cold, snowy day in mid-December residents stood and talked among themselves at the entrance to the Orwell Hotel. In the lobby (barely large enough to "swing the hotel cat" around), residents and staff talked about the next week’s Christmas lunch and gift giving.

A typical day you may think, except for the fact that 25 residents moved earlier that day into the Marr Hotel to allow for the start of an extensive renovation and rehabilitation program. A year from now, these renovations will provide accommodation and services many of us take for granted such as on-site laundry, cooking facilities and a private, safe and secure space to call home.

A year ago, Vancouver Native Housing Society took over the management of the Orwell Hotel. I remember vividly meeting the desk and management staff and thinking how challenging it would be to create an environment of caring, respect and trust. Through a gradual learning process involving residents, staff and the agency, we have evolved into a team that managed to successfully coordinate and organize the move of 25 long-term residents in six hours with 10 days notice and without major problems. Wow, how far we have progressed!

When renovations are complete, the Orwell will have upgraded rooms, a new roof and a ground floor commercial space that will include a community craft space and a café and catering business managed and staffed by residents and the local community. We will still have a lobby barely large enough to swing the hotel cat in, but it will be a warm and welcoming space.

It is my privilege to know and work with the Orwell’s residents and staff and it is a wonderful opportunity for Vancouver Native Housing Society to manage this project as well as be a housing operator of one of the 14 City-owned sites. Collaboration between BC Housing and the housing providers is vital to the success of these initiatives. Together we may not solve homelessness, but we can provide affordable, respectful, safe, secure and supportive housing opportunities for many of our city’s vulnerable citizens.

Mayor Gregor Robertson’s Homelessness Emergency Action Team (HEAT) is partway through its 90-day mandate to provide immediate actions that the City of Vancouver can take to help people off the street and into a safe environment. Janice Abbott, Executive Director of Atira Women’s Resource Society, was appointed to the team and brings the voice of non-profit operators to the table. Janice has experience in providing emergency, short and long-term housing to hard-to-house people.

"I speak with colleagues at other non-profits regularly in an effort to ensure I speak for all," said Janice. "I feel great about the temporary shelters that opened shortly after HEAT’s creation. They’ve operated above capacity since opening and especially during those extremely difficult holiday weeks. The operators are doing an amazing job in difficult circumstances and have even found permanent housing for some of their guests."

Read more updates about the government-owned SROs including the tentative construction schedule.

More temporary shelter beds for Vancouver

On December 16, Premier Gordon Campbell and Mayor Gregor Robertson announced a partnership between the Province, the City of Vancouver and the Streetohome Foundation to provide $1.5 million to create up to 200 temporary over-night shelter beds for homeless people living in Vancouver. Each partner is providing $500,000 to fund the temporary overnight shelter beds until the end of March. These beds are in addition to Vancouver’s 687 beds funded through the Emergency Shelter Program, and 498 beds provided through the Extreme Weather Response Program.

The temporary beds are in three locations across Vancouver. The shelters were able to open within days of the funding announcement and could not have come at a better time: the freezing temperatures and record amounts of snow in the ensuing weeks made the need for the beds critical. The shelters accepted shopping carts and/or pets in a bid to encourage people who are normally reticent of staying in shelters to come in out of the cold. All of the shelters have been operating over capacity.

Read more about the Emergency Shelter Program in Vancouver.