As debate rages in Penticton, B.C, over how best to support those experiencing homelessness, two organizations that operate social housing projects in the city released new data on Monday that highlight the need for complex care housing while dispelling myths in the Okanagan city.
The Ask Wellness Society, which operates Burdock House and Fairhaven Place, as well as the Penticton and District Society for Community Living, which operates Compass Court, together offer 121 units of supportive housing in the community.
Over the past 18 months, 76 per cent of clients (142 people) who accessed supportive housing have remained housed, either continuing to live in temporary housing or moving into market housing.
However, 17 per cent of clients (33 people) over the same time period lost their spots due to bad behaviour.
While all three facilities in Penticton are considered ‘low barrier,’ meaning residents can consume drugs or alcohol on-site, clients can be kicked out of facilities if intoxication results in threatening behaviour towards staff and other residents.
In 14 of the cases (42 per cent), a client was asked to leave their supportive housing facility due to behavior connected to substance use. In 12 of the cases (36 per cent), clients were forced out due to behaviour connected to a combination of mental health and substance use, and seven cases involved mental health-related poor behaviour alone.
The non-profit organizations say the data proves there is a need for a new model of complex care housing that is not available in Penticton.
“It is the hope of the agencies operating these programs, as well as 100 More Homes Penticton, that future efforts by the City of Penticton, Penticton’s Mayor & Council, BC Housing, the Interior Health Authority, and all other stakeholders both locally and provincially can focus on developing strategies and alternative forms of housing to work with this population in a way that aids these individuals to get the support they need,” the agencies said in a joint statement.
Bob Hughes, Ask Wellness Society CEO, acknowledged the proposed model of supportive housing is a new approach to homelessness in B.C.
“This initial effort to review housing and shelter programs in Penticton speaks to the desire of operators like ASK Wellness Society and PDSCL to find out what is working and where the gaps remain.,” Hughes said.
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“The results speak to both the value and success of the current supportive housing facilities and the emerging need for find another approach to support those whose complex health and behavioral needs exceed the resources and capacity of our resources,” he said.
Tony Laing, executive director with the Penticton and District Society for Community Living, said the data clearly shows there is a need for more services to support those with mental health and addiction issues.
“Housing First is only the first step in recovery for many individuals and without increased support for the next steps housing will fail for many,” Laing said.
“Access to rehab, detox, and mental health services, safe and alternative drug supplies, these are some of the next steps that need support for housing to succeed for many. The COVID pandemic and the opioid crisis have led to an increase in homelessness across the province and we call on all levels of government and healthcare services to continue to work with us on creative solutions,” he said.
The organizations are also dispelling assumptions that most of the clients residing in Penticton’s social housing facilities are transients from other areas of the province.
In February, Penticton city council endorsed city councillor Julius Bloomfield’s motion to prioritize shelter spaces for those who have lived in Penticton for more than one year.
The organizations note that clients are required to take part in a Vulnerability Assessment Tool (VAT) to get into supportive housing.
A review of those records indicate that 89 per cent of clients have been in Penticton for at least three years, including 34 per cent who grew up in the area.
Penticton’s mayor, John Vassilaki, is currently in the midst of a public feud with B.C. housing minister David Eby, after city council unanimously rejected a BC Housing application to continue operating a temporary emergency shelter for another year.
Eby suggested a homeless encampment was inevitable in Penticton after 42 shelter residents are displaced at the end of March when the Victory shelter closes.
The war of words culminated in a protest at Gyro Park on Friday that drew approximately 100 people.
Protesters rallied against council’s decision to close the shelter. Some pitched tents as a visual warning of what could happen this spring due to a shortage of shelter spaces in Penticton.
BC Housing is proposing a fourth supportive housing facility on Skaha Lake Road to accommodate the unhoused in Penticton, but city council is pushing back, calling for the province to commission a third-party independent audit of existing social housing facilities before a fourth one is built.
Mayor and council have expressed concern that promised wrap-around-support services in the housing facilities may be falling short, resulting in neighbourhoods experiencing an increase in property crime, loitering, littering and open drug use.
About 140 residents and business owners submitted a petition to Penticton city hall in opposition to the Victory shelter’s location near the downtown core.
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