‘Different’ form of supportive housing to test council’s resolve
We’re just days away from learning if Penticton city council will stick to its guns and maintain a moratorium on new supportive housing while awaiting a thirdparty audit of existing facilities or retreat from that position and approve a new project that promises a different approach.
Two non-profits will appear in front of council on Tuesday to request a development permit for the 54-unit project at 3240 Skaha Lake Rd. they would operate under contract to BC Housing.
Notably, residents would have to commit to not consuming drugs or alcohol on site, in contrast to three existing supportive housing projects in the city that all feature dedicated rooms where people can take drugs under the supervision of trained volunteers.
“This is not a lower-barrier housing model,” said Bob Hughes, CEO of ASK Wellness, which is partnering on the project with the Ooknakane Friendship Centre.
“This is a complement to the existing services and housing in the community. What we’ve done with this is focused our whole model on recovery, with higher expectations for people who are going to be residing there.
“We won’t be supporting people in that building who are using drugs actively. That’s not what this is for. This is for people who are ready and are committed to recovery and wellness.”
Hughes described it as a “made-inPenticton approach” that responds to concerns about the existing supportive housing projects and a lack of services for their residents.
“We’re ensuring this program will have staffing for the clinical side as well,” he explained. “So, unlike other supportive housing, we will be hiring our own alcohol and drug counsellors, our own cultural workers and vocational specialists.”
All of the programming would be delivered through an “Indigenous cultural lens” with the help of the Ooknakane Friendship Centre, added Hughes, whose own society already operates the Fairhaven and Burdock supportive housing projects in Penticton.
Concerns about crime and public disorder around those existing sites, plus one more supportive housing facility and two homeless shelters operated by the Penticton and District Society for Community Living, have prompted city council to take a hard line with BC Housing.
Besides going to court to try to close the old Victory Church shelter that’s operating in contravention of the local zoning bylaw, council has also asked BC Housing to complete a third-party audit of the three existing supportive housing facilities to gauge their success and impacts on the community before applying to build any more.
BC Housing ignored that request, but has hired a consultant to do the audit, which isn’t expected to be done until early 2022.
Hughes hopes cooler heads prevail when he meets council Tuesday to discuss the design and operation of the proposed project, which has been named Nxastwilxtn (pronounced: N-hast-wheel-stn), a word derived from the Syilx language that speaks to the facility being a place of wellness and healing.
“It’s such a politicized issue between the province and the city,” said Hughes, “and we just hope council can see through that and recognize this is different and this is something the community, including council members, have been asking for several years to have happen.”
Mayor John Vassilaki said in an interview Friday he could “absolutely” support the project if there are safeguards in place, such as performance bonds, to ensure the facility runs as promised with minimal impact on neighbours and the community at large.
“And I don’t think the public would be against doing this,” added Vassilaki.
Penticton RCMP Supt. Brian Hunter has also publicly expressed support for the project when it was first announced in May.
“If this comes to fruition, this is very exciting for me,” said Hunter. “If we can get some of those vulnerable clients out of the cycle of addictions…. crime will go down.”