Kiwanis Village Society offers seniors housing to Ukrainian refugees

The Kiwanis Village Society is offering more than a dozen units in one of its seniors housing buildings to Ukrainian refugees who come to Victoria.

The society’s two-storey Heatherington House on Cook Street near Cedar Hill Road will soon be vacant and the ­society is reaching out to the local ­Ukrainian community to see if it can use the space on an interim basis.

“It’s just a way that we thought we might be of assistance,” David McLean, chair of the organization’s building committee, said Thursday. “It’s a new building. It’s in good shape.

“We would sit down and talk with the community leaders and say: ‘OK, what makes sense for them?’ ”

Previous residents have moved out into a higher level of care and the building is in transition as the society considers different living arrangements for future residents.

The property is zoned for seniors affordable housing. The building has a common kitchen, and each unit has its own bathroom and sitting room.

McLean said it hasn’t decided if the society would charge rent for the space, saying that, too, would be part of any discussions with community leaders.

“We haven’t got that far, but it would be definitely affordable versus what’s out in the community.”

Units are not furnished but McLean anticipates that the Greater Victoria ­community would be generous with ­furniture donations if refugees moved in.

The non-profit society is constructing independent-living buildings along Cook Street for seniors. The goal is to offer a range of housing options for seniors on its eight-acre property.

The Kiwanis Village Society’s proposal is the latest offer of housing in the capital region for Ukrainian refugees forced out by the Russian invasion.

One couple with 100 acres on the Malahat have offered their property rent-free to refugees, with the idea of setting up modular homes or trailers. Another couple have offered the Grouse Nest Resort in East Sooke.

A centralized website for Vancouver Island Ukrainian organizations is at Ukrainehelpvi.ca. Those seeking to help can also go to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress website at ucc.ca.

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