Province supports 72 more shelter beds in Victoria, amid calls for more

The province has announced funding for 72 net new shelter beds in Victoria, as a city taskforce pushes to get people out of homelessness.

“I would guess that we’re somewhere in the area of 300 beds short on a daily basis,” says Fred Cameron, founder of SOLID Outreach Society.

“So 72 puts a significant dent into that shortage.”

The new spaces are being rolled out at existing shelters. Our Place Society has 20 online already from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and another 20 are being added by fall.

“I think this is particularly fitting given that Pandora Avenue has been at the epicentre of this crisis,” says Julian Daly, CEO of Our Place Society.

The province says the shelter spots at Our Place are for adults 19 and older who don’t have a permanent address or home. The Salvation Army is also expanding service to include another 32 spots for men seeking recovery-oriented programs.

“It’s key for us to get people into a shelter so we can assess their needs," says Ravi Kahlon, B.C.'s minister of housing. "You don’t want to move people straight into housing without having opportunity to address their core needs, but also to ensure that we’re putting people into the right places when we have spaces that open up. We know we need to do more.”

The new spaces have been partly made possible by work flowing from a memorandum of understanding between the City of Victoria, non-profits and government ministries to develop new shelter and housing options.

Victoria’s mayor says this is the kind of announcement the city hoped to see.

“I cannot more strongly urge my colleagues in the surrounding municipalities in the Capital Regional District to look at these examples and adapt them to find their own solutions,” says Mayor Marianne Alto. “These people are here because no one else is stepping up to provide the same services and space.”