Nanaimo tent-city occupants sign up for housing

Occupants of Nanaimo’s tent city have flocked to sign up for 170 supportive housing units that are set to be unveiled late next month.

So far, 260 applications have come in from the Nanaimo area. Of those, 226 applications are from people living at the fivemonth-old DisconTent city.

“The review of housing applications will begin this week to identify people for supportive housing, who may be ready for market housing through rent supplements, and those for whom shelter spaces will be offered,” a Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing statement said Monday.

This interest comes after housing activists with the Alliance Against Displacement said that homeless citizens do not want to be in supportive housing because of the rules associated with that type of living.

Anyone wanting to live in a supportive housing unit will first meet with building managers and sign an agreement that includes working toward individual goals.

Nanaimo’s homeless population is located at the tent city at 1 Port Dr. and in many smaller camps scattered around the region.

The tent city swelled to an estimated 300 residents, but numbers appear to have diminished in recent weeks.

The City of Nanaimo went to court and won an injunction that ordered campers to move out this month.

The province then stepped in with an investment of $3.6 million to buy land on Terminal Avenue and to purchase workplace modular housing, now in the process of being converted to supportive housing. The city has offered another site on Labieux Road for modular housing as well.

A B.C. Supreme Court ruling is allowing campers to extend their stay at the tent city until Nov. 30.

“Given the significant need, B.C. Housing continues to work with the City of Nanaimo to identify the potential shelter and housing options, in addition to the supportive housing planned for Terminal Avenue and Labieux Road,” the ministry statement said.

Needs will be assessed on an individual basis. “Not all of the applicants will be in need of supportive housing,” the statement said.

The city’s fire department is spearheading efforts to clean up the property and remove fire hazards, as permitted under an order from the B.C. Supreme Court.

So far, seven large bins, each able to hold 30 cubic yards, have been filled, Fire Chief Karen Fry said. Tractors were brought to help clear the site on Friday and might be brought back this week.

Crews will return after Wednesday.

There are now fewer than 140 structures, including tents, on site, she said. That’s down from more than 300.

“We cleared up a lot of the egress routes,” Fry said. It is important that people have a way to leave the site if there is an emergency.

Last week, a camper was injured when a fire broke out in her tent as she was preparing to consume drugs. The camper was back at tent city the next day.

There are still some wooden structures to be dismantled. Some people have been living in an area with dense bushes on the site and that area will be cleared out, she said. Tents will be supplied by B.C. Housing, Fry said.