Editor: I have been living in Willoughby over a dozen years. I am so proud of our community as it is serene, safe, family-friendly, and beautiful.
However, the proposed supportive housing project in Willoughby has caused me to become very anxious and many concerns have gone through my mind.
The first factor that causes me anxiety is the model of low-barrier and no sobriety, which will be adopted in this proposed supportive housing project. My understanding is this means the tenants in this kind of supportive housing will be allowed to be active drug users.
Based on the statistics provided by 2017 Homeless Count in Metro Vancouver Final Report in September 2017, 53 per cent of the homeless population has addition issues and 38 per cent of them have mental illness. With that high percentage of tenants with drug addition problems and mental illness, I request more information regarding how these tenants are to be managed.
To house the homeless is one thing. To adequately help those needing treatment for their drug addiction and mental illness is another. I understand that there will be an intensive care management team that will have an office on site in the supportive house facility.
Does this ICM team, consist of a drug addition counsellor, a psychiatrist, a clinical counsellor, and a physician to mentor, guide, counsel and treat the 49 tenants with medication if necessary?
Will there be an actual drug addiction treatment program to help the Supportive Housing tenants? Will there also be an ongoing mental illness treatment program in place?
With the low-barrier and no sobriety model, how are the safety issues not only inside the supportive housing but also in relation to the surrounding community going to be managed? Has a community risk assessment and a management plan for our 91原创 community been developed?
If these components are not in place and the model fails, the consequences for our present community could be dire. The space inside the proposed supportive housing will become unsafe for its own tenants. The problems associated with the internal breakdown will spill out into our community. The Marguerite Ford Apartment in Vancouver is a good example of such a failure 鈥� 729 police calls were generated in first 16 month of its opening.
The proposed site for supportive housing is located in the heart of the densely populated Willoughby community. Elementary schools, day care centres, family homes surround this site. There are family restaurants located around the corner from this proposed site.
The question is, why did BC Housing pick Quality Inn to convert into supportive housing? Was the incentive to save a few dollars? Is it worthwhile to take the risk of developing this model at this location? In my opinion community safety far outweighs any financial gain.
Nevertheless, I do believe that it is our responsibility to take care of our own people. Homeless people are our own people.
91原创 is so vast. I suggest it will not be that hard to find an alternative location for the supportive housing.
Mayor Froese and councillors, we elect you to serve and protect our community. We ask you to make a more acceptable choice to ensure the safety of our present beautiful and serene community.
Victor Guo,
Willoughby
