Breaking down barriers: modular housing tenants integrating into their communities

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Housing the homeless in Metro Vancouver has come with conflict in some communities. As NEWS 1130 concludes a series on how temporary modular housing and other supportive shelter is integrating into neighbourhoods, we look at how tenants and operators are building bridges with those living around them.

Residents of temporary modular housing made available by BC Housing talk about how their lives have transformed in the supportive units — the stability, the safety, the rebuilding of normalcy as they work toward regular employment or a return to school.

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Patrick Beatty manages Chartrand Place on Franklin Street in Vancouver and says tenants also work to be a positive influence in their neighbourhood.

“We want to keep the community safe and clean. We are getting people to clean up outside around the neighbourhood,” he explains. “We want everybody who’s already here in the community to know we are good neighbours.”

Beatty says it is not just for the community’s sake but to help tenants feel that they are part of the fabric of the neighbourhood.

Vancouver’s Managing Director of Homelessness Services and Affordable Housing Programs says outreach also includes community gatherings.

“We’ve had neighbours and residents celebrate things like Chinese New Year or Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter together. There has been a lot of support around food provision. We have seen them really well integrated into the community,” she tells NEWS 1130.

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In New Westminster, city councillor Nadine Nakagawa says they have long taken a proactive and welcoming approach to homelessness, providing a range of options from low-barrier shelters to supportive units.

Nakagawa, who sits on the city’s affordable housing task force, points out they plan to bring temporary modular housing to Queensborough soon and they have seen both concerns and support at the community level.

“I think the reality is, people without homes are in our community already and the best way to protect everybody’s safety is to make sure that everyone’s basic needs are met,” she says.

“That includes housing, which is the first intervention, along with making sure we have additional services to make sure people are getting the supports that they need.”

Nakagawa says when plans for the 44 modular housing units on Ewen Avenue went to a public hearing, there was some opposition.

“So the city has a committee made of community members, people from mental health, police and the city to ensure that the housing works in that place and that people are well-supported.”

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Nakagawa suggests open conversation is key.

“I really look forward to having conversations that are not quite as oppositional where we can talk about concerns in a way that seems less about ‘yes’ and ‘no’ and more about decisions that work for the entire community, where people feel like their voices are heard and it actually brings the community together.”

The ultimate goal, she says, is to allow everyone, including tenants of supportive housing, to be active members of the community.

-With files from Ria Renouf