October 18

Nine joined this ASK Salt Spring conversation with the Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region CEO Sylvia Ceacero and Michelle Vanchu-Orosco, Director of Research and Data Analysis. This organisation (https://victoriahomelessness.ca/) was established in 2007 by the mayor of Victoria and other local leaders. Its mission is to arrive at functional-zero homelessness by 2030 as agreed with community through the 2025-2030 Community Plan. Functional-Zero is described as experiences of homelessness being rare, brief, and non-recurring which implies that there are sufficient wrap -arounds to ensure people entering homelessness will safely and rapidly transition out of homelessness to never return (https://bfzcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/Defining-Functional-Zero-FAQs.pdf).

Sylvia began our time together with a meaningful Territorial Acknowledgement noting that she had immigrated to Canada and that she had consistently been welcomed by First Nations individuals throughout her time here. With Spanish roots, as a child she had been taught about the Spanish impact upon Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. She is convinced that, while we must acknowledge past injustices, we must also focus on doing better. She recommended we all read Guns, Germs, and Steel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel) to better understand centuries of colonization. She ended with a comment recently made to her by an Indigenous man also enjoying watching enormous seals lolling on a dock: “I want you to forgive yourself but just don’t f— it up again.”

When asked what “Excited and Delighted” her, Sylvia responded that her days were filled with constant new challenges, both daunting and exciting and is committed to constantly making a positive impact.

Michelle expressed her “excitement and delight” with her work, telling us that the research department currently has 14 ongoing projects. She spoke with enthusiasm of a new project that was especially inspiring to her. Collaborating with the University of Victoria, the Vancouver Foundation has funded a prototype to develop a support system for women facing homelessness. Based upon a peer support model, women with lived experience will be hired to support and empower other women navigate the complicated Victoria systems. An identified gap in our system of supports for those facing homelessness, Michelle is hopeful that this pilot will result in similar peer support programs throughout the CRD.

Shifting to Salt Spring, there was a brief conversation about the possibilities of such a women’s support program here. Some of the participants in this discussion were in a role to make this happen: They are interested to see if Michelle’s exciting new initiative takes Victoria closer to achieving Functional Zero homelessness.

Later in our time together, a story Michelle shared clearly illustrated the roots of her passion for the new pilot program: As a young college student, she had been close to homelessness, alarmingly close to being unable to pay her rent. Unaware that she was on the brink of homelessness, this commitment to support other women navigate the systems they need is strong.

The conversation following provided more detail about the Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region. By 2009 the Alliance had achieved charitable status and had broadened its scope to include all communities in the CRD. With service agreements with CRD, BC Housing, Islands Health, and the City of Victoria, to name a few, this alliance nurtures collaboration among the many agencies addressing homelessness. One of the results of this multi-agency collaboration is the Community Plan to End Homelessness of 2019-2024 (https://victoriahomelessness.ca/mission-critical/community-plan/). 

With the current community plan wrapping up, the Alliance team is working on the 2025-2030 community plan. As a part of this process, there is also a recognition that the situation concerning homelessness has not improved. While there has been some momentum as illustrated by the creation of the BC Ministry of Housing in December 2022 (https://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2024/sp/pdf/ministry/hous.pdf), the needed systematic changes are yet to materialize. While it is clear that success reducing homelessness is being made in other countries, it is frustrating that Canada does not seem to have made significant progress in addressing homelessness.

Sylvia recognizes that some of the reason for the Alliance’s inability to support the sector to achieve Functional Zero may be simply the fact that, as a backbone organization, it has very little funding and only 4.6 staff. The Alliance, as a non-profit organization, is not able to offer carrots or sticks to encourage/force agencies to work together. Salt Spring might be an apt illustration of the challenges faced by the Alliance: With neither funding to offer nor repercussions for not collaborating, to date, Salt Spring has been only minimally involved with the Alliance’s work. Building on this ASK Salt Spring conversation, this participation may change. . . .

Sylvia and her Alliance team are convinced that the only way we will successfully address homelessness is to change the systems that have unintentionally created it.

Questions asked were:

• Do we have the will to look courageously at the capitalistic systems that underpin our society?
• Are we able to let go of our moral judgments about those experiencing homelessness?

Other countries have overcome barriers to housing all. As well, other jurisdictions in Canada are reaching Functional Zero for specific populations such as veterans. Sylvia, and her team are working to influence change to the systems that are perpetuating our inability reach Functional Zero.

When creating the 2025-2030 Community Plan to End Homelessness, the team like to see:

1. All communities in the CRD working together to create a plan for all, not just CRD municipalities, not just Victoria or the Greater Victoria Region.
2. Prevention as a key element of this plan. Unfortunately, there is almost no funding for prevention. Clearly, one of the most cost-efficient method to address homelessness is prevention. However, agencies like BC Housing and Island Health adhere to funding systems that seldom include prevention.
3. Data, as data drives funding decisions we embarked on a complex data discussion. While some participants in the field were able to follow the discussion; others of us understood that current systems to quantify our homeless information are inadequate. Issues of undercounts, inappropriate aggregation of data, and control of this data by one agency were discussed. Want to learn more? You may be interested in learning about HIFIS – Homeless Individual and Family Information System (https://housing-infrastructure.canada.ca/homelessness-sans-abri/hifis-sisa/index-eng.html). Need more? Check out the Alliance’s Community Data Dashboard (https://victoriahomelessness.ca/about-us/stakeholder-tables/) 
4. Housing Stock. As the success of functional zero relies on an array of affordable housing stock, this needs to be a key element of the Community Plan. Successes expanding Salt Spring’s array of affordable housing were noted, including Salt Spring Commons, Croftonbrook, year-round funding for our Community Services shelter, and the current Drake Road construction 32-units of supportive housing (plus four worker housing units). As this is clearly not enough, a participant suggested declaring a housing emergency to allow the Hotel Act to take precedence over the Residential Tenancy Act (Residential Tenancy Act (https://www.bclaws.gov.bc.ca/civix/document/id/complete/statreg/02078_01). In his opinion, this would allow landowners to billet friends at their property without invoking tenant rights considerations.

While finding a legal way for owners to billet friends in need of a place to sleep was a very interesting idea, there was also a brief discussion about the current and legal ways landowners can share their homes without creating a landlord/tenant relationship and the fears sometimes associated with the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA).

While not offering those moving into someone else’s home the same protections offered to tenants through the RTA, HomeSharing is a viable option on Salt Spring. Did you know that more than 1,500 homes here are occupied by only one person? By providing a space in one’s home and sharing at least a kitchen or bathroom, an owner can legally welcome others into their home without invoking the RTA. Salt Spring has just such a program, offering a registry, matching, and support for those wishing to share their home. Interested? Check out Housing Now: (https://www.sgicommunityresources.ca/housing-now-home/).

A participant reminded us that boarding houses allowing a manager/owner and up to eight unrelated individual to share a home are legal on Salt Spring. This is a largely-overlooked cost-efficient way to create more affordable housing. This boarding house option is being piloted by the Lookout Society on one of the former Land Bank properties with folks now moving into this promising housing option. Stay tuned. . . .

As our time together had come to an end for this week, we thanked Sylvia and Michelle for introducing us to the work of the Alliance to End Homelessness in the Capital Region, trials and triumphs, and the promise of a new collaborative plan to move us closer to Functional Zero homelessness by 2030. Before they left, Sylvia reminded us that, to make a difference, we must jettison our moral judgments regarding those with less. (Thanks, Sylvia and Michelle!)