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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder |
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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder |
SURREY – Premier Gordon Campbell today announced plans to create up to 172 new supportive housing units and 20 new sobering beds in Surrey.
The Province and the City of Surrey have agreed to create up to 106 new supportive housing units, to be built by 2010, on two City-owned sites. The Province will also purchase two existing buildings, which will provide an additional 66 supportive housing units.
“The Province is committed to breaking the cycle of homelessness, both by partnering with the City of Surrey to expedite new supportive housing and by purchasing existing properties to provide more immediate housing for those in greatest need,” said Campbell. “These four sites will help address homelessness in Surrey, and we look forward to more housing and support services to come.”
“The City of Surrey is proactively responding to the issue of
homelessness by providing these two City-owned sites,” said Surrey mayor Dianne
Watts. “By partnering with the Province to expedite these sites, we are
committed to creating affordable, supportive housing for people living in
Surrey who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.”
The first City-owned property, 13670 94A Ave., will provide supportive housing to men and women requiring drug and alcohol treatment and rehabilitation and/or who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. The development will include a 20-bed sobering centre, up to 30 units of stabilization and transitional housing, up to 40 units of supportive housing, and space for outreach addictions services and a mental health clinic. A proposal call seeking applications from non-profit societies to manage and operate the housing component will be undertaken shortly by the Province.
The second City-owned property, 13775-95 70th Ave., will be developed with about 36 self-contained supportive housing units for women and children who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This development will be operated by YWCA Vancouver.
“While everyone needs safe, affordable housing, women with dependent children are especially vulnerable when they are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless,” said Janet Austin, chief executive officer of YWCA Vancouver. “With this development, the YWCA will be able to provide a safe home and the necessary support services to help residents make a successful transition to economic independence.”
Under the terms of a memorandum of understanding agreement between the City of Surrey and the Province, the Province will pay all pre-development costs to design the two developments through to the issuance of development and building permits. The City has agreed to provide these sites and to ensure the approval process is expedited in a timely fashion.
Two additional properties with existing units are being purchased by the Province for $5.4 million to provide more immediate access to supportive housing. The first property, 13630-32 110A Ave., will be operated by Cwenengitel Aboriginal Society as a 12-person recovery house for Aboriginal men who have been through addictions treatment. The second property, 13245 King George Hwy., will be operated by Fraserside Community Services Society and provide 54 units of supportive housing.
The City of Surrey is the fourth community to partner with the Province by providing land on which to create new supportive housing developments. The other communities are Vancouver, Victoria and Kelowna.
The Province’s contribution to pay
for predevelopment costs is part of the Provincial Homelessness Initiative,
which has committed to the creation of more than 4,000 new and upgraded
supportive housing units across B.C.
Budget 2008 increased the amount the Province invests in affordable
housing and shelters to more than $380 million a year, more than
three times as much as in 2001.
Details on this initiative can be found at:
www.bchousing.org/programs/homelessness/municipal_approvals
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Contact: |
Bridgitte Anderson Press Secretary Office of the Premier 604 307-7177 |
Patricia
Morrison Senior
Communications Specialist BC
Housing 604
314-1458 |
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Joel Giebelhaus Special
Assistant to the Mayor City of
Surrey 604 591-4192 |
April Fahr Marketing &
Communications Manager YWCA Vancouver 604 895-5829 |
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For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca. |
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