East Vancouver’s Italian Cultural Centre opposing nearby supportive housing project

A City of Vancouver and BC Housing supportive housing project in East Vancouver is under fire from a nearby cultural centre.

The Italian Cultural Centre (ICC), located on Grandview Highway and Slocan Street, says it is against the rezoning application which is currently before council that would see a Permanent Modular Supportive Housing Initiative (PMHSI) placed just a block away.

According to the city, the proposed supportive housing project is for 64 social housing units within a six-storey residential building. The development was first submitted to council in April 2022, and referred to a public hearing on Jan. 13 of this year.

In an interview with CityNews, Executive Director of the ICC, Mario Miceli, agrees these sorts of housing projects are needed, but says this is the wrong location.

“Should we be housing them in a neighbourhood that is really keyed for families and children?” he said, noting the ICC hosts multiple programs for children and seniors.

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Miceli says he and the cultural centre weren’t properly consulted about how the housing project will be managed and fears there won’t be adequate support for those with addiction and mental health challenges.

“I think the community would have done better to have that information. I think community builders in the city would have done better with that information so we can have a more fulsome discussion and a collaboration on how we could make this work,” he said.

“We just want to be informed. We just want to have an opportunity so that we collaborate on what risk-mitigation strategies we can implement together… so we don’t have the kind of issues that inevitably people jump to when they hear something like this is coming up.”

Miceli says he first heard about the project in the spring of last year when the development was first submitted to the council but did not know of the details of the building until Friday when the reports were made available for Tuesday’s meeting.

“It’s a little disingenuous to say that it was an open process when we didn’t have the fulsome (sic) of the information that we do now,” he said, adding his community feels “disrespected” in the process.

“This isn’t a NIMBY (not in my backyard) situation. What we’re asking for is ‘just tell us who’s going to be there and what are you going to do to protect the remainder of the community.'”

Opposition to project ‘disappointing,’ advocate says

While there is an effort to have the re-zoning for the low-barrier housing project blocked, a drug user advocate says the core of the issue for these types of conflicts is often the same.

Vince Tao, a community organizer with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU), says he thinks entities like the ICC could be more collaborative when these projects are proposed.

“I’m not trying to say that their feelings are not real, but I want people to think a little more logically about if they truly do believe that they care about low-income folks, that there’s better solutions and it takes work,” he said.

“They’re afraid that because there’s low-income housing…in their neighbourhood, that this will somehow be some kind of threat to the community, which is absolutely disappointing and unfortunate.”

Tao says there are many instances throughout the years in Vancouver where communities move to block supportive housing projects over misinformed perceptions of drug users.

“If we have these important institutions, like the Italian Cultural Centre and civil society organizations, on the wrong side of this and reproducing the kind of stigma. And fundamentally, they’re advocating for not building housing,” he said.

“There’s better solutions, and it takes work, and it takes talking. Having a conversation or dialogue here, rather than showing up whenever there’s a thing happening in your neighbourhood and just saying ‘no, we don’t want it’ then walking out.”

Tao suggests organizations that are opposed to supportive housing projects consult other entities like VANDU for more information about drug users and people experiencing homelessness.

A statement from BC Housing reads in part that the proposed facility will have 24/7 support for the residents, including resources for residents facing challenges with substance use.

“BC Housing and partners have been engaging with the community on this project since it was first announced in February 2022, and have met with the Italian Cultural Centre, schools, businesses, community groups and residential neighbours close to the site to ensure they were informed of the proposal and had an opportunity to share their input and ideas,” the statement said.

“Virtual online engagement sessions were also available for neighbours and the general public to attend and learn about the proposal, ask questions and provide feedback, and the City of Vancouver has been leading their own public consultation process through their Shape Your City website.”

Due to the issue being before city council, the City of Vancouver has declined to comment on this story.