As efforts to remove an entrenched homeless encampment from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside continue, the B.C. government says it is in the process of bringing another 200 units of social and supportive housing online.
Ninety-five of the units will be in a reopened single-room occupancy (SRO) building at 112 Water Street in Gastown, which was evacuated last year due to the deadly fire that destroyed adjacent the Winters Hotel.
The Ministry of Housing said 25 of the units in the SRO, operated by the Atira Women’s Society, will go to existing tenants that were displaced by the evacuation, while the remainder will be offered to people living in Hastings Street shelters in need of stable housing.
Those tenants will be selected through a coordinated assessment process and based on individual needs and filled over the next month, the ministry said.
Another 115 units of supportive housing will be available next fall in a building at 1450 West 12th Ave. the province has purchased.
The ministry has earmarked $54.6 million to buying and renovating the 12-storey building, which was previously operated as an assisted-living facility by the Chalmers Foundation. Its occupants have already been relocated to a facility in Burnaby as a part of a separate agreement between the province and BC Housing.
The building consists of bachelor suites with in-unit bathrooms, lounge areas, a central dining room, a commercial kitchen and office space for staff.
The ministry said the new supportive housing will be used to house people currently living in SROs, with a priority on seniors.
The SRO units vacated by the new tenants will be offered to people at risk of or currently experiencing homelessness, it said.
The “decampment” of East Hastings Street has been underway for nearly a week, and Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said Tuesday that more than 80 tents had been removed from the area and 18 people had recieved short-erm housing.
City crews, supported by police, will regularly return to the street to “tactically and very compassionately” remove structures and help people find housing, he said.
The Hastings Street encampment has been under an order from the city’s fire chief to remove structures due to fire and life-safety concerns.
The decampment has faced criticism from a number of advocacy groups who allege people have had their personal possessions thrown in the trash, and that moving people from the area does nothing to alleviate homelessness and puts those sheltering on the street further at risk.