It’s the final move-in day for sleeping cabin residents at Centre 70, after a quick switch from Portsmouth Olympic Harbour.
“The people are really nice,” says cabin resident Marsha Wiggins. “At some of the stores I talked to people, really friendly.”
The moving process began early on May 18, after a vote by city council in favour of the new summer location.
“The residents stepped up and helped us move all of our, we got a 5-ton truck, and moved all of our possessions,” says Our Livable Solutions Executive Director Chrystal Wilson.
“Two of the residents stayed at Portsmouth and scrubbed it spotless, so having their help has been really great in making this transition easy,” Wilson continues. “And the city’s help has made it really easy as well.”
Wiggins and the other cabin residents are making the Centre 70 space their own through decorations and personal effects, while also opening up to members of the Lakeview community.
“If you’re curious, you know, come meet us,” Wiggins says. “We’re open to chat and we’d love to have, you know when we settle in, probably maybe another week or so.
“We’re going to see about setting up a neighbourhood barbecue type of thing where everyone comes, has a barbecue and gets to meet us.”
Wiggins wants her new neighbours to know that there won’t be any problems from the addition of their community.
“We’re just people that need a home, and need our life back,” she says.
The new space is larger than the Portsmouth location, offering more opportunities for privacy and activities.
“I’m really thankful for the support from the neighbourhood and the neighbours that have dropped by to give donations or just warm wishes,” Wilson says.
She says that people have stopped by to have tours, including a number of people coming off buses for the park-and-ride who want to see what it’s all about.
“We’re open and transparent, and we welcome people in to take a look,” says Wilson. “But the support the neighbourhood has given us has been really great and we’re really thankful for it.”
Wilson says the city plans to move the sleeping cabin program back to Portsmouth Olympic Harbour some time in the Fall.
A time will be determined to coincide with when boats will be out of the harbour, and ice will be back on the Centre 70 rink.