Victoria is shelving plans for a temporary storage facility for homeless people’s possessions after a tender call failed to produce an acceptable location.
Council had budgeted $130,000 for the storage facility, which would have allowed homeless people to leave their belongings in a secure place for the day, rather than having to carry or cart them around.
The city will hold the $130,000 in reserve until 2017 budget deliberations in the event an opportunity arises.
“I think there are groups that are still trying to work on it and I think if something comes up I want us to be able to respond in a timely matter,” Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe said.
The facility would save people from having to pack everything they own everywhere they go. As well, the city receives complaints of carts on the street and materials being abandoned.
“I think this is still extremely important, not just for those experiencing homelessness but also for issues of downtown and some of the complaints we receive,” Thornton-Joe said.
“So I think it would be a win/win situation if we could find an opportunity to have a storage facility.”
The city issued a request for proposals in the spring for a private operator to open and operate the facility but the top-ranked applicant was unable to secure a site, said Andrea Hudson, city assistant director of community planning. The other submitted bids were not considered suitable.
The proposed facility would be modeled after one operating in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The onetime setup costs for the Vancouver facility were $45,000, with annual operating costs of $85,000.
Suggested terms of reference for the Victoria facility called for it to be dry and heated, able to accommodate the belongings of 50 to 70 people, and located downtown. To minimize impact on the neighbourhood, it was recommended that no perishable goods, drugs or weapons be allowed and that patrons be limited to 15 to 20 minutes per visit. City staff had recommended that the facility be open eight hours a day, 7 to 11 a.m. and 5 to 9 p.m.
Councillors also deferred hiring an outreach worker for six months at a cost of $35,000. The hope was the outreach worker could offer support to people sleeping rough who were not already connected to local services to help them find housing. But given recent provincial initiatives, city staff say the support worker isn’t needed at this time.
“Since that gap in services was identified, circumstances have changed in the region,” Hudson said, noting the province has invested in new housing facilities throughout Victoria and the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness is working to improve co-ordination efforts across the region in managing homelessness.
Mayor Lisa Helps said the coalition has struck a task force “aimed at housing the most vulnerable soon.”
It’s possible that initiative could see B.C. Housing, Island Health and the coalition collectively hiring an outreach worker to do the type of work the city had been contemplating, Helps said.
