Face 2 Face with Stigma is now available for booking

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The Face 2 Face with Stigma workshop is once again available for booking! This pioneering team paints the reality of facing stigma in their unique, highly sought after, workshop. Face 2 Face with Stigma is an anti-stigma workshop that is inspired, led, developed, and delivered entirely by people with lived experience of substance use, mental health disorders and homelessness. Together, we use our powerful stories to inspire empathy and compassion, educate and reduce fear in the community.

GVCEH is now Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region (AEHCR)

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The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH) is now operating under the name Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region (AEHCR).

Our new name will allow us to continue the extensive work that the GVCEH started in 2008 and build on our focus on leading change toward Functional Zero Homelessness in the Capital Region and beyond, grow partnerships to drive prevention and shape a future where everyone has a safe place to call home.

Over the next few weeks, we look forward to rolling out our rebranded collateral including our social media accounts and website to reflect our new organization name. Our commitment to our members and community partners remains our highest priority and we will continue to update you as these branding changes take place.

You are requested to refer all further communications by the name Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region.

We thank you for your continued support!

 

Public Information Session: Tiny Homes Village Licence Extension

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BC Housing, Our Place Society and the Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region have requested a six-month licence extension from the City of Victoria to continue to provide temporary housing at the Tiny Homes Village (940 Caledonia Ave.) until September 30, 2023. The current licence expires on March 31, 2023.

The community is invited to attend a public information session at an upcoming meeting of the North Park Neighbourhood Association on February 14, 2023 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room, 1025 Mason Street.

Project partners will provide an update and the community will have an opportunity to ask questions about the licence extension and provide feedback. Feedback about the licence extension can also be provided to the City by emailing engage@victoria.ca. by February 16, 2023. Feedback gathered will be summarized for Council’s consideration of the licence extension request in a Council meeting to occur in March 2023.

Since May 2021, this Tiny Homes Village has offered safe and warm conditions to our community’s most vulnerable people while BC Housing builds permanent supportive homes in the region. While many building projects are nearing completion, industry-wide construction delays have caused need for this extension.

It is now anticipated that all Tiny Homes residents will move into permanent homes by the end of September 2023, at which time the Tiny Homes Village will be removed from the site.

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The Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region (AEHCR) is a partnership of local housing, health & social service providers, non-profit organizations, all levels of government, businesses, post-secondary institutions, the faith community, people with a lived & living experience of homelessness, and members of the general public. The AEHCR’s mission is to ensure experiences of homelessness in the Capital Region by 2030 are rare, brief, and non-recurring and that housing and supports are culturally adaptive, creative, caring, and person-centered.  

Candlelight Vigil in Remembrance and Respect for those who died on the streets of Greater Victoria

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Victoria, BC, December 19, 2022 − The Committee to End Homelessness Victoria and the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH) invite the public to join a candlelight vigil at the Whale Wall (Reeson Park, 1304 Wharf Street), Victoria, BC on December 21st at 4pm. Everyone is encouraged to stand alongside those of us with lived and living experiences of homelessness to honor and remember the lives of those who have died in our community in 2022, while experiencing homelessness, poverty, and failures in policy. To acknowledge local Indigenous Protocol, Naw-Hea’Mowha Melissa Barnhard, a cultural support worker with the Songhees Nation, will open the event.

Housing is a social determinant of health. As such, the experience of homelessness, particularly chronic or recurring experiences, dramatically elevates one’s risk of illness, injury, and death. For every age group, our unhoused neighbors die and suffer the same illnesses experienced by people with homes, but at a significantly higher rate. While living on the streets and in poverty, people face exacerbation of health concerns including physical disabilities, mental health challenges, substance use risks, accidents, extreme weather exposures, and are often victims of violence.

According to the 2014 report, ‘Dying in the Streets: Homeless deaths in BC’, the median age of death for person experiencing homelessness in the province of BC is between 40 and 49 years of age. Median life expectancy for this population is anticipated to be reduced because of the drug supply poisoning public health emergency, ongoing since April 2016.

Mayor Marianne Alto will be joining the event to read the City of Victoria proclamation recognizing December 21st, the first day of winter and the longest night of the year, as the “National Memorial Day for Persons Experiencing Homelessness”.

“I am 75 years old. I watch the same thing year after year. When a person is down and out, and needs help, no one is there. Yet look around, now they’re dead, and we are so sad and mourning. Let us do something to keep people alive 364 days of the year! One homeless person dying is one too many…how many will be enough?’ Bill Krampé, GVCEH Lived and Living Experience Council Member.

The Committee to End Homelessness Victoria has been meeting since 2006. We bring together people with lived/living experiences of homelessness and housed allies to find solutions and press for change. We listen to the concerns voiced by people living on the streets and others who experience homelessness in Victoria, and we promise to take action by bringing those concerns to the attention of those who can act and make a positive difference in their lives. We challenge our politicians, bureaucrats, service providers, and police to work collaboratively to change the system and advocate for action that will positively impact the lives of our street family.

 

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The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH) is a partnership of local service providers, non-profit organizations, all levels of government, and business, post-secondary, and faith communities. The GVCEH’s mission is to ensure experiences of homelessness in the Capital Region by 2030 are rare, brief, and non-recurring and that housing and supports are culturally adaptive, creative, caring, and person-centered.

 

 

For more information:

Janine Theobald
Director of Collaborative Engagement
Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness
250-217-3709
jtheobald@victoriahomelessness.ca

2022 Municipal Elections Town Hall for the City of Victoria Candidates

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Victoria, BC, September 22, 2022 – The Downtown Service Providers (DSP) Committee will be hosting a Municipal Elections Townhall on September 27, 2022, at the First Met Fellowship Hall, from 6 – 8 PM.

The town hall aims to bring together all candidates running for Mayor and Councilor of the City of Victoria with the primary focus of putting the homelessness issue at the forefront of the discussion. It will also provide the opportunity for the candidates to engage with the audience and answer their questions.

Gregor Craigie will moderate this public event, wherein each candidate will have an opportunity to make a short statement. This will be followed by a question-and-answer session from those in attendance. Attendees wishing to pose a question to the candidates may do so by submitting their question(s) in writing at the event. Questions will be prioritized by topic, with the moderator asking the most frequently submitted questions first.

All mayoral and city council candidates in the City of Victoria have been invited to the town hall. The following are the Mayoral and Councilor candidates who will participate in the Town hall.

Mayoral Candidates:

  • ALTO, Marianne
  • ANDREW, Stephen
  • JOHNSTON, David Arthur
  • WIBOLTT, Michelle

City Council Candidates:

  • CARADONNA, Jeremy
  • COLEMAN, Christopher Mark
  • DUNCAN, Rob
  • GARDINER, Marg
  • KIM, Susan
  • KING, Anna
  • LOUGHTON, Krista
  • ORCHERTON, Steve
  • PARENTEAU, Emmanuel
  • THOMPSON, Dave
  • YACOWAR, Tony

Five questions have been sent out to all candidates running for the municipal elections across the region. The questions do not only ask about candidates’ plans and stand on the homelessness issue, but also seek their commitment to support concrete actions, should they be elected. The questions and candidates’ answers are posted here https://victoriahomelessness.ca/2022-municipal-elections/.

The DSP Committee is comprised of service providers operating in Victoria’s downtown core or serving populations in the downtown core, who meet monthly since 2002 to share information, coordinate activities, and develop collaborative strategies to address the needs in the downtown core. Membership includes representatives of service delivery organizations, city council, city staff, police, and local businesses, as well as funding, advocacy, and social policy agencies.

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The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH) is a partnership of local service providers, non-profit organizations, all levels of government, and business, post-secondary, and faith communities. The GVCEH’s mission is to ensure experiences of homelessness in the Capital Region by 2030 are rare, brief, and non-recurring and that housing and supports are culturally adaptive, creative, caring, and person-centered.

 

 

For more information:

Althea Divinagracia
Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness
c: 250.893.6570
adivinagracia@victoriahomelessness.ca

Downtown Service Providers Committee holds Project Reconnect 2022

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Victoria, BC, August 23, 2022 – Today, the Downtown Service Providers committee brought together dozens of service providers and information booths at the Royal Athletic Park for Project Reconnect.

Project Reconnect, the revitalization of a pre-COVID annual event known as Project Connect, is a one-day service and information fair for those experiencing homelessness and extreme poverty in Greater Victoria. More than 30 organizations participated in this year’s Project Reconnect, offering an estimated 200 attendees access to a variety of services including medical care, peer support, professional portraits, an ID clinic, and more.

Volunteers from the community and across the sector supported the delivery of the event, including people with lived and living experiences of homelessness.

The event began in a good way acknowledging Indigenous Protocols. Cyril Morris, of the Songhees Nation, opened the event and welcomed people to the territory, and Guy Louis Senior and Junior, of the Ahousaht First Nation shared powerful drumming and songs.

“Project ReConnect is a good time to reevaluate the looking glass we view marginalized people in our society, whether they struggle with drug misuse or homelessness, we need to reevaluate and reconnect,” says Darrin Murphy, person with lived experience and one of the attendees. “I believe it’s instrumental in bringing us together in working towards a common solution”

“It has been a sincere community effort to bring back this event, in a new way, after having to put so many activities on hold over the course of the pandemic. The landscape of service and support provision changed as a result of COVID-19, here, providers can showcase changes, make new connections, and reconnect with folks today”. Janine Theobald, Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness Director of Collaborative Engagement. “This couldn’t be done without a dedicated team whose excitement has been contagious, in a good way! “

Attendees also received a BBQ lunch and care packs filled with personal hygiene products, non-perishable snacks, vitamins, and other essential items – donated by the Congregation Emanu-El Synagogue, and new shoes from Frontrunners Footwear.

This year’s Project ReConnect is generously sponsored by the United Way of Southern Vancouver Island (UWSVI) and the UWSI Labour Council.

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The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH) is a partnership of local service providers, non-profit organizations, all levels of government, and business, post-secondary, and faith communities. The GVCEH’s mission is to ensure experiences of homelessness in the Capital Region by 2030 are rare, brief, and non-recurring and that housing and supports are culturally adaptive, creative, caring, and person-centered.

 

 

For more information:

Althea Divinagracia
Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness
c: 250.893.6570
adivinagracia@victoriahomelessness.ca

Face 2 Face with Stigma Community Event

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Victoria, BC, June 28, 2022 − On July 9th from 1:00 to 4:00pm at the Downtown Community Center located on 755 Pandora Street, a group of experiential storytellers warmly invite you to open your heart and challenge your preconceptions at ‘Face 2 Face with Stigma’, an anti-stigma workshop. You will hear people’s journeys and be invited to share and collaborate on person-centered communication tools. Face 2 Face with Stigma (F2F) workshops are inspired, led, developed, and delivered entirely by people with lived and living experiences of homelessness, substance use and mental health disorders. They share their powerful stories to create systemic change and reduce barriers by opening discussions about stigma with people living and working in our community while providing stipend-paid opportunities for our passionate experiential storytellers. There is no charge to attend the event, although registration through Eventbrite is required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/face-to-face-with-stigma-community-event-tickets-343074534167

Face 2 Face with Stigma is a robust and sought-after program celebrating 3 years in July 2022. It was born in July 2019 out of the idea to bring people out of the fringe and shadows of society due to stigma through storytelling at a one-time day-long workshop. The event closed with a call to action and the resounding consensus called for “more workshops for more people”. To date, the Face 2 Face with Stigma Team has presented 44 workshops and 3 conferences to audiences that include the Victoria Police Department, classes of students from universities and colleges, hospitals, services providers, and many other groups. Learn more about this program at https://victoriahomelessness.ca/f2f/.

This program is not only transformative for attendees and the broader community, but it also fosters healing and growth for team members, “over the last 3 years, I have seen the tremendous impact of Face 2 Face with Stigma workshops and witnessed a shift in the perception and understanding of those that hear our stories. Not only has F2F benefited the community, but it has also enriched the lives of the whole team by giving us purpose, meaning, and a platform to share our message. Moving forward, F2F’s goal is to continue to spread awareness for those who have been pushed to the shadows and fringe of society due to stigma.” Kay Martin, Creator of Face 2 Face with Stigma, and the Voices of Experience coordinator.

Previous workshop participants report day-to-day interactions, and their professional practice being positively impacted by the workshops:

“I hold so much gratitude for the work Face 2 Face does, it’d such an invaluable resource in our community”

“It’s not the end of the journey I know there’s more work to do, but I have a broader range of the stories that brought people to their experiences and that helps expand the scope of my own narrow worldview or my own narrow assumptions about the world”

“It’s widened the story. It’s taught me to just stop and really check in with what assumptions I have”

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The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH) is a partnership of local service providers, non-profit organizations, all levels of government, and business, post-secondary, and faith communities. The GVCEH’s mission is to ensure experiences of homelessness in the Capital Region by 2030 are rare, brief, and non-recurring and that housing and supports are culturally adaptive, creative, caring, and person-centered.

 

 

For more information:

Kay Martin
Voices of Experience Coordinator
Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness
c: 250 580-2751
kmartin@victoriahomelessness.ca

An image of the BC Legislature building on a sunny day.

BC Budget 2022 begins to acknowledge systemic causes of homelessness

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The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness notes with hope the provincial government’s commitments to increase supports for people experiencing homelessness – particularly its commitments to youth.

The 2022 Budget commits $35 million over the next three years to respond to the heightened risk of homelessness faced by former youth in care. The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness hopes to see this commitment ­- which includes permanent housing, rent supplements, and expanded support services like life-skills programming and counselling – rolled out across the Capital Region. The province’s pledge aligns with knowledge gained from The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness’s 2018 Point in Time count, which found that more than half of respondents had first experienced homelessness as a youth and more than 40 per cent of respondents had their first experience of homelessness when they were under 18 years old.

The government’s promise to expand supports for youth beyond their 19th birthday is a vital step in the right direction. Youth leaving government care often enter homelessness within one year. More shockingly, 35 per cent are homeless in less than one month.

“From consultations with our Youth Task Force, we know that early intervention is critical,” says Janine Theobald, Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness director of collaborative engagement. “Young people who bridge the youth and adult age brackets need housing and emotional support, plus services that meet them where they’re at. Investing in youth may be the difference in preventing lifelong experiences of chronic homelessness.”

The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness is also excited by the opportunity presented by the allocation of $100 million for the Community Housing Fund, as well as investments to double the current number of community integration specialists. But even though these investments are critical, so too is the need for a budget that helps people to not only remain housed but become included members of their community. Eviction prevention and community inclusion requires ongoing, peer-based support, cultural services, and reliable, ongoing, and integrated support services. Funding is necessary to ensure these specialized support services are researched, developed, piloted, and implemented to meet the unique social and cultural needs of priority population groups.

Though more is needed, the province’s inclusion of funding for homelessness response and prevention in the 2022 budget is a sign of hope that our government is beginning to acknowledge the root systemic causes of the ongoing homelessness crisis. As we wait to see if and how these investments will be rolled out, The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness will continue to advocate for the tangible action-based system changes and supports needed to reach functional zero in the Capital Region.

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The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness is a partnership of local service providers, non-profit organizations, all levels of government, and the business, post-secondary, and faith communities.

 

 

For more information:

Nina Grossman

Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness

c: 250.893.6570ngrossman@victoriahomelessness.ca

$500,000 Goal for Transitional Housing Community Reached

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News Release

VICTORIA, BC – (March 5th, 2021) – In less than 3 months time, the citizens and local businesses of Victoria have come together to raise more than $500,000 to fund the capital expenses for 30 transitional housing units to be built from repurposed shipping containers. Set to be located at 940 Caledonia Ave., this tiny home community will provide safe, warm and secure conditions for some of our community’s most vulnerable currently sheltering outside, unhoused.

“This is the vision and commitment we have been looking for in Victoria, thank you so much for bringing help and dignity to our street populations,” said one anonymous donor. “I hope housing for the homeless is changed forever by this pandemic in a positive way; everyone deserves a roof over their head and food in their belly, ” said another.

“I want to sincerely thank everyone who has donated to this project, whether it is $25 or $25,000,” said Mayor Lisa Helps. “At this time when there is so much division around the issue of homelessness and some vocal stigma against people who are poor and living without homes in our community, it is amazing and so hopeful to see our community come together to pitch in and build homes for their neighbours.”

Once built, the transitional tiny home community will be operated by Our Place, an experienced housing provider focused on addressing the residents’ physical, mental health, addiction, housing, income and employment needs on their pathway to permanent housing.

Each unit in the community is approximately 100 sq. ft. and is fully heated, ventilated and insulated for optimal breathability and livability. Designed to include a bed, side table, desk with chair, small fridge, and an armoire, all units are move-in ready and turn-key for the residents. Shared washroom and shower facilities will be located within the enclosed community, along with storage, flex space and on-site office space for the 24/7 operations staff.

“I want to express my profound appreciation to the many members of our amazing Greater Victoria community that have supported the fundraising efforts for the Tiny Homes Project,” said Kelly Roth, Executive Director of the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness.  “The ‘Hey Neighbour’ project has provided the opportunity to demonstrate that Victoria is a place where everyone belongs and all are welcome,” said Roth.

Aryze Developments has proceeded to submit the Temporary Use Permit application, with support from Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness. Yesterday Council unanimously voted to send Hey Neighbour to Public Hearing on March 18th, which is the final step in authorizing the Temporary Use Permit.

“As homebuilders, we have a responsibility to provide diverse housing solutions for all citizens – especially our community’s most vulnerable,” said Luke Mari of Aryze Developments. “Thanks to the generous community contributions over the last few months, we are honoured to be moving into our traditional role as constructor, so the experienced team at Our Place can bring this innovative concept to life.”

 

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For More Information:

Clare Pugh, Communications Coordinator, Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness

Unit 211 – 611 Discovery St.

Victoria, BC V8T 5G4

250-507-7903

Communications@victoriahomelessness.ca

 

Melanie Ransome, Communications Manager, Aryze Developments

1839 Fairfield Rd.

Victoria, BC, V8S 1G9

(250) 661-2619

melanie@aryze.ca

Victoria’s First Youth-Led Social Enterprise Model

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News release

Victoria’s first youth-led social enterprise model
Will house youth experiencing homelessness

VICTORIA, BC – (January 27, 2020) – Victoria’s first youth-led social enterprise housing model will initially welcome 12 youth experiencing homelessness and/or aging out of care into innovative supportive housing this month. The goal is to engage, employ, and house 25 to 30 youth experiencing chronic or marginal homelessness who are interested in co-designing an innovative housing model.

Fifteen staff with special competencies are now onsite and ready to meet the youth regardless of their personal circumstance, as the intake process begins for this project. To protect youth’s privacy the address of the housing site will not be released.

“This initiative allows for unparalleled community involvement in research, and places youth squarely in the driver’s seat by taking them seriously as agents of change within their own lives,” said Jarvis Neglia, Project Manager of Research for the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness. “It’s vital to invest in empowering young people experiencing homelessness to change their own lives through collective learning and action.”

For the past three years, a collaboration of local community agencies, government, and funders have participated in the Youth Task Force to discuss factors relating to youth homelessness in Greater Victoria. Local data and the review of national and international models of best practice have informed the development of this housing initiative.

The Province, through BC Housing, in partnership with the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, will provide operating funding for this project.

“It is critical that young people experiencing homelessness have a safe place to live with supports,” said David Eby, Attorney General and Minister Responsible for Housing. “I commend all the partners for developing this innovative model, which will have a significant impact on the lives of youth in Victoria for years to come.”

The Youth Leadership Research Team (YLRT), a team of five youth with recent lived experience of homelessness, were hired to inform each stage of the development process of the housing project. Moving forward the youth on-site will co-design the program within the housing site.

“Insecure housing early in life is something we would refer to as an “adverse childhood experience”, or ACE. Without adequate supports and care, ACEs can set people up for difficulties later on in terms of both physical and mental health,” said Dr. Colette Smart, registered psychologist, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Victoria, and trauma researcher. “Stable housing is at the core of everything – without that, it is very hard to work on other important life goals such as building friendships, seeking meaningful work, and developing one’s identity.”

Youth will have the opportunity to access mentors and coaches to support their journey out of homelessness through arts, business, community, and university partnerships. Training for residents will be provided in research ethics, methods, and design, and the youth on-site will have the opportunity to work with research experts to develop innovative approaches to address trauma and other impacts of homelessness.

“When choices are always prescribed, youth feel unprepared to enter adulthood. This project supports youth by prioritizing autonomy through self-assessment and discovery,” said Emily Jackson, Prevention of Youth Homelessness Coordinator for GVCEH and former youth in care.

 

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About the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness

The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness is a backbone organization of local housing, health and social service providers; non-profit organizations; all levels of government; businesses; educational institutions; and the faith community in the Capital Region of British Columbia. The Coalition’s mission is to create a region without homelessness. They achieve this by ensuring appropriate solutions are in place to serve individuals experiencing chronic homelessness in the region, and by ensuring all people facing homelessness in the Capital Region have access to safe, affordable, appropriate, long-term housing.

https://victoriahomelessness.ca

 

For more information or to arrange an interview:

Clare Pugh

Communications Coordinator

Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness

(250) 507-7903

cpugh@victoriahomelessness.ca

Charitable#: BN: 842615221RR0001

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Unit 535 – 645 Fort Street
Victoria, BC V8W 1G2

Email: admin@victoriahomelessness.ca
Phone: (236) 638-3683

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