Dozens of unhoused Duncan residents could soon be without shelter, as the Ramada motel prepares to shut its doors this month.
The closure of the temporary shelter has concerned community members demanding local governments step up with a permanent housing solution for the city’s most vulnerable residents.
On Sunday the Cowichan Community Care Network held a rally behind the Ramada, which has operated as a temporary winter shelter.
Unhoused residents currently staying there, alongside their supporters, shared their concern over the lack of a plan for any permanent facility once the motel closes.
One of the temporary shelter’s residents, Colby, has lived there for more than a month. (The Discourse is identifying him only by first name, for his safety).
He said the motel played a vital role in helping him stabilize his life.
“My wife and I got so many things done that we struggled to get complete on the street,” he said, “like entering into a treatment center, joining BC Housing [waitlists], and countless other small helpful tasks.”
His current temporary home is operated by the Lookout Housing and Health Society — which provides shelter to 24 individuals, and is open 24/7.
“Once again, these folks are getting evicted to nowhere,” Alex Schiebel said, referring to the city authorities’ sweep of Lewis Street last November.
The Cowichan Community Care Network also sent a letter to North Cowichan and Duncan municipal councils asking them to extend the shelter’s services until April 30.
The Ramada was chosen for the temporary winter shelter by a working group composed of officials from the City of Duncan, North Cowichan, the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) and the Cowichan Housing Association.
According to John Horn, director of social planning and protective services with North Cowichan, winter shelters like this one — which are funded by BC Housing — can in some cases have their closures postponed into April.
But that depends on local weather conditions. Typically, however, March 31 is the “drop dead date” for most temporary winter shelters in the province, he said.
“To get an extension on the winter shelter program is going to be difficult if not impossible,” he said.
He added that the lease with the Ramada’s owner is a constraint, and noted that “they don’t want us much longer past March 31.”
In a statement to The Discourse, BC Housing said the shelter’s closure date is determined by the CVRD’s lease with the site’s owner — and as of now, no local governments have requested to extend either program.
Horn told North Cowichan council he’d prefer there be a permanent year-round shelter, and hopes one can be requested in the near future.
For Colby and other speakers at Sunday’s rally, the many positive benefits of having a 24/7 shelter in the community are being overlooked.
“Honestly, it would be truly tragic to see this space becoming anything less than what it’s already doing for the people of Duncan,” he said.
Funding for ‘village-style’ sites on hold
Although the network acknowledged that local governments rely on the province to fund housing, its letter listed what it argued are several actions North Cowichan could take immediately to provide safe places for unhoused people.
These include: designating more sanctioned camping sites before the shelter closes, convening a meeting about housing justice, and inviting unhoused people’s input on decisions about sheltering options, and designating new “village-style” housing sites similar to the one in Duncan.
As of writing, Horn told The Discourse there are no updates on potential sites for such a “village style” housing development in North Cowichan.
“We are continuing a dialogue with North Cowichan elected officials on this topic,” he said, “and will share what we can when we can.”
Horn told council at its March 4 meeting that the province had frozen funding for “Heart and Hearth” projects like the village sites in Duncan and Campbell River.
“The door is temporarily closed,” he said. “They are not funding any additional services or programs at the moment.”
As for proposed new designated camping sites, the network isn’t the first to call out safety concerns at the current such sites on Beverly Street, York Road, and Hiddenluck Road.
There are currently no plans to add more shelter sites beyond the existing ones, Horn said.
He added the municipality is open to dialogue with unhoused individuals on the topic of housing and sheltering options, through their non-profit partner organizations.
Current options not enough
A long-awaited 48-unit supportive housing development on White Road in Duncan opened this week.
It is expected to welcome residents this month.
Horn told councillors there is a possibility some of the current residents of the temporary shelter could be accepted into the White Road development.
“They are a bit more stable,” Horn told council, “having spent their winter at the shelter.”
The soon-to-open development will offer individual studio-sized units, 24/7 staffing, meal programs and health-and-wellness services.
But the Cowichan Community Care Network said it won’t solve the larger housing problems locally.
“There are nowhere near enough units in White Road to house all the people who need it,” the network said, “and the barriers to living there are too high for many people staying at the Ramada and living outside to even be considered.”
An estimated 428 people in the Cowichan Valley were experiencing homelessness last November, according to the latest point-in-time count conducted by the United Way and Cowichan Women’s Health Collective, the most recent data available.
A point-in-time count represents a one-day snapshot of homelessness, and such surveys are believed to undercount the true scope of homelessness in an area.
According to the report from that count, more than half of those individuals reported being unsheltered at the time.
“White Road is one tiny piece of the housing that’s needed here,” the network argued.
“With the huge number of people in need of housing, there is almost no way that all 24 people at the Ramada will be offered a spot at White Road.”
