Victoria music school, advocates call on province to house people sleeping rough in city's downtown

Housing advocates and the leader of a Victoria music school say they need "fierce" political leadership from the province to find housing for those sleeping on the streets of Pandora Avenue in the city's downtown.

The directors of both the Victoria Conservatory of Music and Our Place — a community agency that serves vulnerable people— say they are proposing a compassionate plan to address the health and housing needs of those living in tents and makeshift shelters on the block where both organizations are located, the 900-block of Pandora Avenue, west of Quadra Street.

They're calling for a senior provincial politician who can offer strong leadership to step forward to provide resources and help co-ordinate the work.

Julian Daly, the CEO of Our Place, told CBC's On The Island that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he and a group of other service providers helped house about 500 people who had been camping in the city's parks. The group met every week with a politician who helped co-ordinate resources, and everyone held each other on task and accountable.

"Our feet were held to the fire, and we got all those people inside, sheltered and housed … people said we couldn't do it, but we did it because it was focused, it was properly resourced, and it was led with fierce leadership."

Affordability crisis

Daly and Nathan Medd, the CEO of the Victoria Conservatory of Music, wrote a joint opinion piece outlining a plan to address the crisis in Victoria, which was published Thursday in the Times Colonist.

"Most of the folk that you see on Pandora and living rough in our city are there for two primary reasons: one is unmet housing needs, and the other, it's often linked … to mental illness and addictions," Daly said.

Daly says that increasing rental rates are driving homelessness, with people losing their homes as rent goes up and then not being able to find another affordable place.

"They cannot afford to rent anywhere, not even a studio anymore."

Daly and Medd say they want to see a community outreach initiative to assess the needs of those living on the street in the area. Then, they want the province to provide a range of options to meet the housing and health care needs that have been identified.

"[Ask] what it would take to get them off the street and talk to them, build that relationship so that when we do have the solution for them, they'll actually go with it," Daly said.

Accessing conservatory becoming difficult

Medd told On The Island that the conservatory can't do business as usual because the street outside the building is often blocked. He says staff at the organization witness the difficulties faced by those living on the street and have empathy for the situation in which they find themselves.

"At the conservatory, we see people [outside] suffering gravely. We see people [who are homeless] being taken advantage of. We see crimes happening out in the open, and we're really compelled to speak up," said Medd.

Temporary steel fencing has been set up around the conservatory's building so that staff, students and concert-goers can better access the building's entrances and exits, but it's an imperfect solution.

Tents and shelters have been set up adjacent to the fencing, and Medd says that fire exit access is still a concern, particularly for one of its concert halls. As a result, the conservatory isn't selling as many tickets, which is creating financial difficulties.

"That's the piece that's broken. We're far behind where we should be in the comeback of the Alix Goolden Hall, especially after COVID.

"We're running the venue cautiously … and we're not filling the room too much."

95 units coming soon

B.C. Housing Minister Ravi Kahlon says that some housing is on its way for vulnerable people in Victoria. Forty-five supportive housing units are opening in the capital city in the "coming weeks," and another 50 are opening in the fall. All of the units will be given to people who are currently staying in shelters and whose needs have been assessed, he says.

"That's always been the pathway that we've built, it's proven to be successful," he told On The Island.

In addition, Kahlon says 85 new complex care beds are opening up at the end of the summer.

Kahlon says that the province still needs more funding from the federal government to address B.C.'s housing needs. He and B.C. Premier David Eby met with deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland last week to ask her government to increase its funding for Indigenous housing, purpose-built rental housing, and increased supports for vulnerable people who aren't housed.

"I left cautiously optimistic from that conversation that they understand, but we'll have to see this fall," he said.