Twenty-three joined this ASK Salt Spring gathering to welcome the Lookout Housing and Health Society’s CEO Shayne Williams and Lee Fox, Director of Operations for the Vancouver Island Region. After our Acknowledgement, all in our circle had a chance to introduce themselves, many expressing their delight that Lookout has been awarded the BC Housing contract to manage our new supportive housing community at 161 Drake Road.
Lee expressed her delight in the imminent opening of Drake Road, confident that something wonderful would happen there. She is thrilled that Lookout will have a far larger presence on Salt Spring, an island she characterized as full of big hearts and good intentions.
Shayne, expressed his excitement about the amazing work Lookout is doing . . and has been doing since 1971 (https://lookoutsociety.ca/). Begun by Karen O’Shannacery (https://www.theawesomeawards.org/nominations/Karen_OShannacery_),
its Executive Director from 1971-2014, Shayne is pleased that her vision of care, relationships, and engagement remain foundational principles for Lookout. We learned that Lookout serves 24 different communities with 1,600 staff and 22 outreach teams caring for 6,000 everyday. Shayne is also pleased that the Canucks smoked their opponents in a recent game!
As its second Executive Director, Shayne has guided Lookout beyond its initial housing focus to also include health. Having watched the physical and mental deterioration caused by insecure housing, Lookout recognizes the necessity of pairing health services to housing.
More recently, Lookout has also begun to link employability to its housing and health services, convinced that contributing to the community through work is another important step towards full health. Shayne spoke of watching countless Lookout guests arrive fragile and bitter, slowly gaining health and eventually realizing that they were bored, wanting more. His conclusion was that these recovering guests needed the skills and opportunity to work and contribute. As a result, Lookout offers skills training for outside employment as well as plentiful social enterprise opportunities.
An eager proponent of social enterprises, Shayne spoke with joy of some of their successful ones, offering Lookout guests the opportunity to earn rewards a well as contributing to the community. These include a very successful thrift store and a peer operated van that helps over 1,400 move to and from Lookout facilities each year. We learned a bit about the successful Trash to Treasures social enterprise, begun when a substance-using carpenter began making amazing furniture from pallets and donated wood.
Opportunities for such successful social enterprises on Salt Spring abound. But, one step at a time: let’s get 161 Drake guests moved in and comfortable before exploring the multitude of possible new ventures, warned Shayne and Lee.
In addition to Lookout social enterprises, this multi-faceted service organization offers guests job skills to prepare them for outside employment, cognizant that, as guests recover, the need to contribute grows.
Throughout our time together, we heard over and over again that all who work at Lookout offer non-judgmental, nonsectarian support, meeting all of their guests wherever they are and addressing their needs, a true societal safety net for all. The foundation of this support held by all who work at Lookout is the “Internal Optimism” of hope and care.
We learned that the Lookout Society has many government contracts like the one with BC Housing for the Drake Road facility, each with very precise and demanding requirements. And, that Lookout is very successful acquiring and fulfilling these often-arduous government contracts, with an impressive string of successful provincial grant awards.
This success with government contracts has revealed an unmet need: It became apparent that Lookout needed another source of funding to fill the gaps left by these prescriptive contracts. As a result, the Lookout Foundation was established to provide the funding needed to address the unique needs of guests beyond the government contract parameters. Together, Shayne and Lee are confident that the widely diverse needs of Lookout guests, all 6,000 of them, will be met.
Lee and Shayne are excited about the possibilities of Drake Road and their central role in Salt Spring social services, aware and eager to collaborate with the many other service providers on Salt Spring. Although they got a slow start on Salt Spring with their Dean Road boarding house, bumping headlong into some of Salt Spring’s complexities, this exciting new initiative, hiring 22 mostly local staff, is exactly what Lookout does best. When asked if staff would live at 161 Drake Road, we learned that they would not occupy any of the 32 units. They will, however, offer 24/7 on-site service to residents.
While BC Housing added an interesting wrinkle by creating four below market rental units, Shayne and Lee are well versed in multiple housing challenges and confident that, while there will be hiccups, within a few months all will soon settle comfortably into their new homes. While most of the 32 units are studio apartments, Shayne and Lee are especially pleased with the two 2-bedroom units, accommodating a couple or small family as well as a few 1-bedroom options, presumably for those with needs requiring more space.
While confident in the good work Lookout does day after day, Shayne is continually seeking feedback and criticism as one of the best ways to grow and improve. Despite being immensely busy, he devotes four 2-3 hour sessions every month to get this feedback and continually build these relationships, one with staff, two via Zoom and open to all guests, and one in-person visit each month. He also spends many hours each month working alongside staff, watching, learning, and listening.
Lookout is thrilled to have just hired the manager for Drake Road. She will bring continuity as she is already well versed in Salt Spring ways as the former Umbrella manager of the temporary Kings Lane housing. She is, according to Shayne, “an amazing force of nature.” He is confident that the trust that she has built with Kings Lane residents will serve all well as they encounter the expected start-up hiccups.
We learned about a recent well-attended open house welcoming many, including neighbours, to tour the facility. Shayne spoke about efforts to make sure that any with concerns have easy access to those who can address these concerns, offering email and phone options for feedback. Staff also plan a “door knock” just before Drake Road welcomes its first guests to let neighbours know what is happening and reiterate Lookout’s openness to feedback and criticism.
In addition to learning lots about Lookout, many participants at this ASK Salt Spring gathering took the opportunity to introduce the work of their organization, quite often also serving vulnerable Salt Springers. Participants expressed appreciation for Lookout’s collaborative approach to working with other Salt Spring service providers, eager to inform Shayne and Lee about their role in our tapestry of services. Even during this gathering, plans for future meetings with interested nonprofits who want to work with Lookout were arranged.
While building these connections, Shayne and Lee were clear that their top priority is the successful opening of 161 Drake Road. When all permits are in place, plans are for a staged move-in, beginning with those from the Kings Lane temporary housing and allowing them to settle before welcoming other residents.
As our time together drew to a close, participants expressed their joy about the large role Lookout will now play in our community, confident that the experience Lookout brings will create a remarkable community on Drake Road. They also recognized all of the hard work and tenacity that will be required of the Salt Spring Lookout team. With enthusiastic applause, Lee and Shayne were given a grateful welcome to our community, the beginning of what is sure to be a long and productive relationship. (Thanks, Shayne and Lee!)
Just in case you are interested. . . .This report has been written by Gayle Baker, founder of ASK Salt Spring, currently also a Salt Spring Local Community Commissioner. It has been reviewed and edited by the Lookout Team.
Did You Know: ASK Salt Spring first gathered October 4, 2019 and is now beginning its 7th year of offering weekly discussions?