Individuals and businesses are coming up with free or low-cost housing options, from RVs to discounted hotel rooms, for medical personnel and first responders who need to self-quarantine after treating patients potentially infected with COVID-19.
Ryan Oakley has started a Facebook page offering the free use of his four-month-old, 30-foot recreational vehicle to hospital personnel and first responders.
“First responders are at the front line trying to defend us from COVID-19. I am offering to lend my RV, free of charge, to any first responders or Emergency Health Services personnel [paramedics] that may need to self-quarantine and can’t be in contact with their families,” said Oakley, who lives in Duncan.
“I thought, with COVID-19, we can’t go camping any time soon anyway — the camper will just be sitting there. So why not offer it so that front-line workers [have] a little bit of comfort when they are self-quarantining?”
He is hoping that other community members will follow his lead and offer up their idle RVs.
He contacted Fiona Formby, manager at RV Rent Vancouver Island, who is receptive to the idea after earlier being contacted by nurses and a number of health-related organizations.
“Both were looking at the campers as a safety measure, as a place to self-isolate,” said Formby, who manages the rental agency with her father, Fraser Sim. “We can’t do it for free, but we can offer it to them at a heavily reduced rate. We are thankful for their work and happy to help.”
She has a fleet of 15 fully-contained campers available, from a 19-foot unit that sleeps two to four, to a 30-foot Class-C motorhome with a power generator that can accommodate up to seven people.
She plans to give all the units a comprehensive sterilization upon their return.
While all of the RVs are motorized and can be driven to where they are needed, they need to have electrical, water and sanitary disposal hookups if they are parked for any length of time.
Formby said she is in preliminary discussions with a local RV park to provide a place to park the vehicles, preferably together.
But there might be reluctance about accepting the offers.
Asked about the RV offer, the Saanich Emergency Services Department said the fire department would not consider accepting a citizen’s unit, or renting one from a business, for members to self-isolate.
“While we appreciate this citizen’s generosity, there are other processes and resources in place for first responders to self-isolate in a safe and healthy way,” said Megan Catalano, speaking for the Saanich Emergency Operations Centre. “For example, Island Health has been providing this service by partnering with local hotels/accommodations.”
Last week, Accent Inns in Victoria started offering special rates — and a separate wing — to health-care and other essential-services workers who need to self-isolate and are fearful of returning home and potentially infecting their families with COVID-19.
Once news broke of the hotel chain’s initiative, many people came forward and offered to help pay for the accommodations. In response, the hotel has, in partnership with the United Way, launched a Hotels for Frontline Workers Fund. Those donating to the initiative can direct funds to pay for hotel stays by frontline workers in Victoria, Lower Mainland, Kamloops and Kelowna.
Metropolitan Hospitality Management, which operates the Motel 6 Victoria Airport, Holiday Inn Express and Howard Johnson-Elk Lake, has also announced dedicated rooms and reduced rates for essential and front-line workers.
“We aren’t in the money-making business right now — we are in the help-our-community business,” said Micaela Smith, general manager at the Motel 6 location.
She said two of the four buildings at Motel 6, two floors at the Holiday Inn Express and 16 outside rooms at the Howard Johnson-Elk Lake have been set aside for health workers.
The cleaning protocol, which includes sweeping the room with a black light (to discover biological stains), will be heightened as well. Discounted room rates will range from $45 to $69 per night.
The Villa Eyrie Resort, a mountainside retreat located at the summit of the Malahat, is also offering rooms at discounted rates for people who wish to self-isolate away from the city. While the restaurant is closed, the kitchen at the hotel remains open to prepare meals for guests. The property is part of the GAIN group of companies, with its headquarters in Victoria.
For more information, go to RVs for 1st responders on Facebook, rvrentvancouverisland.com or rvezy.com.
For more information on the Hotels for Frontline Workers Fund, go to accentinns.com. To donate, go to uwgv.ca.
