{"videoId":"https://video.isilive.ca/victoria/New%20Encoder_VCC_2026-06-11-09-31.mp4","source":"isilive_vtt","segments":[{"t":6,"text":"Before we begin our work together tonight and before we"},{"t":9,"text":"begin any of our work together when we gather together"},{"t":12,"text":"here at City Hall, we like to start by just"},{"t":14,"text":"taking a moment to ground ourselves in the acknowledgement and"},{"t":19,"text":"expression of gratitude that we all have for being able"},{"t":22,"text":"to be here. Not the least of which is for"},{"t":25,"text":"the generations of stewardship and care taken by the LeQuangan"},{"t":30,"text":"people know known to us as the Song He's in"},{"t":33,"text":"Kosopp submissions who have for so many generations taken it"},{"t":37,"text":"upon themselves to be the stewards and caretakers of these"},{"t":40,"text":"lands and the waters that surround them. And whenever we"},{"t":44,"text":"have an opportunity to join together for whatever purpose we'd"},{"t":47,"text":"like to just reflect for a moment on all of"},{"t":49,"text":"the opportunities and experiences that are available to us through"},{"t":54,"text":"the generosity and continuing commitment of the nations to do"},{"t":58,"text":"the work that they have done for so long continually"},{"t":61,"text":"and to continue to do that. I always urge those"},{"t":65,"text":"who are here with us and those who may be"},{"t":67,"text":"listening to take a moment each day and to find"},{"t":70,"text":"some experience or some sound, some thought, something that reminds"},{"t":75,"text":"them on a very personal level of their own ability"},{"t":78,"text":"to be here by virtue of those efforts. And for"},{"t":82,"text":"that moment to really appreciate the reality of what the"},{"t":86,"text":"nations have undertaken for so many, many years. And the"},{"t":90,"text":"cost that that has had to them and the resilience"},{"t":92,"text":"it has shown for them. We continue to be very"},{"t":96,"text":"thankful for the ongoing generosity that the nations have and"},{"t":99,"text":"continuing to want to work with us and to help"},{"t":102,"text":"us experience the opportunity to learn from and with them."},{"t":105,"text":"And when we do that we like to thank them"},{"t":107,"text":"by just saying hi to Kasian Aquilia, which is to"},{"t":110,"text":"say thank you. And their language and to offer our"},{"t":113,"text":"thanks to everyone who's listening who takes a moment each"},{"t":116,"text":"day or many days and for many of you who"},{"t":118,"text":"are here tonight, all of your days, to do good"},{"t":121,"text":"work for all of us who have the privilege of"},{"t":124,"text":"being here in Victoria. As you can see, I'm Nick"},{"t":128,"text":"Williams. We would usually start the evening tonight with a"},{"t":132,"text":"performance from one of our poets laureate, but I do"},{"t":135,"text":"not see Karen with us yet tonight. So we are"},{"t":139,"text":"going to hold that thought and should Karen arrive at"},{"t":142,"text":"some point this evening. We will try and ensure that"},{"t":145,"text":"there is an opportunity for her to share her quite"},{"t":148,"text":"remarkable poetry with us. I do not have any remarks"},{"t":153,"text":"to make particularly this evening, nor are there any late"},{"t":156,"text":"items. And so I would look first for someone to"},{"t":159,"text":"move the agenda as his husband published. Thanks Councillor Coleman,"},{"t":162,"text":"Second of my Councillor Dell. Any discussion of the agenda."},{"t":167,"text":"Not seeing any of those in favor. Anyone opposed. That"},{"t":170,"text":"is unanimous. I will note that we are a full"},{"t":173,"text":"complement this evening as Councillor Hamilt is joining us online."},{"t":177,"text":"And so he will be with us this evening. And"},{"t":179,"text":"tonight, as I mentioned, it's a very special counsel meeting"},{"t":181,"text":"because what we do now is because we no longer"},{"t":184,"text":"have the authority to help public hearings, which used to"},{"t":186,"text":"be the bulk of our evening meetings. And we now"},{"t":189,"text":"meet three or four times a year for a particular"},{"t":192,"text":"opportunities to share information, themes, or to learn together. And"},{"t":197,"text":"tonight we have an opportunity to hear a dozen of"},{"t":200,"text":"our community serving agencies who have been working with us"},{"t":204,"text":"through the priorities and funding available through the Community Safety"},{"t":208,"text":"and Well - being plan. And so we are about"},{"t":211,"text":"to hear some incredible stories, I know, based on who's"},{"t":214,"text":"here to speak with us about what an amazing things"},{"t":218,"text":"they can do with so very little help. And so"},{"t":221,"text":"I think this is going to be a very unique"},{"t":224,"text":"and special evening for all of us. We will undercoat"},{"t":229,"text":"this the same way that we do in a way"},{"t":230,"text":"about addresses to Council. And so I'll just remind all"},{"t":232,"text":"of you tonight you have unusually up to 10 minutes"},{"t":236,"text":"to share your stories with us, each one of you."},{"t":239,"text":"Uh, and you do when you come up to the"},{"t":241,"text":"podium here, many of you have been here before and"},{"t":243,"text":"you'll know that there is a lighting system that runs"},{"t":244,"text":"green, yellow, and red. It'll go green when you start."},{"t":248,"text":"It'll be yellow when you have a minute left, and"},{"t":250,"text":"then it'll go red when you're supposed to be done."},{"t":252,"text":"And, uh, please be done when it's read because I"},{"t":255,"text":"really don't want to cut you off particularly today, because"},{"t":257,"text":"I know how much you're going to share. Uh, this"},{"t":260,"text":"is an opportunity not for QA, not for questions that"},{"t":263,"text":"answers, but it is, in fact, an opportunity for us"},{"t":265,"text":"to listen and learn. We have all different ways to"},{"t":269,"text":"follow up with you. Should we wish to do so"},{"t":270,"text":"after the fact? That's also the case for the rest"},{"t":273,"text":"of the audience. We hope that you will also listen"},{"t":276,"text":"with the same amount of respect for each other for"},{"t":280,"text":"the speakers and for our protocols to ensure that we"},{"t":282,"text":"have a civil and open dialogue tonight. Uh, it is"},{"t":288,"text":"important for you when you come up to us to"},{"t":290,"text":"address the Council, because that's what the purpose of tonight"},{"t":292,"text":"is. And that for that reason we would prefer that"},{"t":294,"text":"you actually speak to us as opposed to your colleagues"},{"t":298,"text":"in the audience. And finally, when you do begin, because"},{"t":301,"text":"I think most of us know who most of you"},{"t":303,"text":"are, it would be great though when you begin your"},{"t":305,"text":"remarks if you could introduce yourselves just so that those"},{"t":307,"text":"who may be with us tonight or those who are"},{"t":309,"text":"watching. And I will remind you that you are on"},{"t":312,"text":"TV and you are being recorded that they'll be able"},{"t":315,"text":"to find out who you are and what you're doing"},{"t":317,"text":"as well. So with that, why don't we get started?"},{"t":321,"text":"And I will just call them up one at a"},{"t":323,"text":"time. And so first up tonight, uh, our colleagues and"},{"t":326,"text":"friends from peer - to - peer indigenous society. Come"},{"t":330,"text":"on up. Yep. Don't worry, we won't bite. This is"},{"t":339,"text":"your evening. All right. You'll want to pull the mic"},{"t":342,"text":"down just a little bit so it's a bit closer"},{"t":344,"text":"to you. Perfect. Can you hear me? You bet. I"},{"t":347,"text":"have a little voice. That's okay. Not really, but I"},{"t":352,"text":"say that is not the case, not in my experience"},{"t":354,"text":"for sure. Tanishi, kaya, let me see if it's going"},{"t":357,"text":"to Marcy Choo. My name is Karen Mills and good"},{"t":361,"text":"evening mayor and council. I am the founder and executive"},{"t":366,"text":"director of peer - to - peer indigenous society and"},{"t":370,"text":"indigenous mate he led organisation serving or unhost indigenous relatives"},{"t":375,"text":"here in Victoria. Thank you for providing me with the"},{"t":381,"text":"opportunity to speak this evening. I am honoured to share"},{"t":385,"text":"the impact of our relocation program funded by the City"},{"t":388,"text":"of Victoria. Since our program launched in November, we have"},{"t":392,"text":"successfully successfully supported 12 indigenous family members in returning home"},{"t":398,"text":"to their communities. A relocation program begins with an application"},{"t":404,"text":"and one - on - one interview from their participants"},{"t":408,"text":"are guarded through a personalized process based on their individual"},{"t":412,"text":"goals and needs supports may include housing addiction recovery, mental"},{"t":417,"text":"health services, and connections to Community Resources, ensuring that participants"},{"t":422,"text":"have support in place before and after returning home. These"},{"t":429,"text":"relocations have included destinations as far away as Edmonton, in"},{"t":434,"text":"one case due to lack of identification, limited transportation officer"},{"t":439,"text":"options, our team personally drove a participant from Wilkinson Rojail"},{"t":444,"text":"to Edmonton to ensure they would safely connect with their"},{"t":447,"text":"family. Each book relocation represents more than a bus ticket."},{"t":454,"text":"It represents hope, reconnection and an opportunity for individuals to"},{"t":459,"text":"leave survival mode behind and return to community, culture, and"},{"t":462,"text":"loved ones. And I raised my hands to each and"},{"t":466,"text":"every one of you for believing in me and for"},{"t":468,"text":"supporting peer - to - peer indigenous society. Your investment"},{"t":472,"text":"in this work is making a real difference in the"},{"t":474,"text":"lives of people. Indigenous people in our community. And I"},{"t":479,"text":"wrote this program from my own lived experience for being"},{"t":482,"text":"unhost multiple years and being stuck up island and wanting"},{"t":487,"text":"to come home. And I couldn't do it. So I"},{"t":489,"text":"had to take the chances of hitchhiking. So that's partial."},{"t":494,"text":"The other part was doing outreach here for many, many"},{"t":498,"text":"years, but worth peer - to - peer indigenous society"},{"t":501,"text":"listening to our clients on the street. Saying, I wish"},{"t":504,"text":"I could go home. And I just kept hearing it"},{"t":506,"text":"over and over. And so I decided to write a"},{"t":509,"text":"program. And connect with their mayor. And thank you for"},{"t":514,"text":"sitting down with me that day and listening to my"},{"t":517,"text":"idea and my program believing in me and letting me"},{"t":521,"text":"succeed in this, uh, relocation program. So, uh, you know,"},{"t":526,"text":"it's not just like Cade, want to go home. It's"},{"t":529,"text":"extensive. Um, as soon as somebody approaches me, we do"},{"t":533,"text":"an interview. I do a, um, we do an interview"},{"t":538,"text":"and we fill out paperwork and I have to have"},{"t":541,"text":"like who are, who's there to support you because we"},{"t":543,"text":"don't want people going from unhost Pandora to unhost Calgry"},{"t":548,"text":"Edmonton wherever that we don't want that. So we want"},{"t":552,"text":"success. So, uh, it starts when I can get ahold"},{"t":556,"text":"of somebody and, you know, the, the interview process is"},{"t":560,"text":"what do you need from me? What are you looking"},{"t":561,"text":"for? What do you need on the other end? And"},{"t":563,"text":"then we connect all those services. So three, out of"},{"t":567,"text":"these 12 people, three people have entered long - term"},{"t":571,"text":"recovery for a year. And so some of them are"},{"t":575,"text":"just beginning some or halfway there and so on. When"},{"t":578,"text":"they're done, we connect with their community and their community,"},{"t":583,"text":"when I say community, I'm talking about, um, you know,"},{"t":587,"text":"everybody has a relationship with their family. So their community"},{"t":590,"text":"is what they think they're, who is their community. Their"},{"t":593,"text":"indigenous routes, their culture, uh, being unhoused. I was, you"},{"t":597,"text":"know, like I was unhost for multiple years. I lost"},{"t":599,"text":"my identity. I lost my culture. I lost my mate"},{"t":603,"text":"tea, uh, bean as an indigenous woman. So it's important"},{"t":608,"text":"for me to connect all the dots. I want people"},{"t":612,"text":"to be successful, um, and so, uh, you know, just"},{"t":617,"text":"takes that one person for chibly even somebody that somebody"},{"t":622,"text":"believed in me 13 years ago. I've been host for"},{"t":626,"text":"14 years and I've been in recovery for 13 years"},{"t":628,"text":"and it just took that one person to believe in"},{"t":630,"text":"me to change still, I could change my life. And"},{"t":633,"text":"I'm that person amongst a lot of other people. So"},{"t":639,"text":"that's my presentation. Thank you. Thank you, Karen."},{"t":652,"text":"We usually have a protocol that we don't like people"},{"t":653,"text":"to clap because it's intimidating, but you know what? I"},{"t":656,"text":"don't think we're going to do that tonight. I think"},{"t":659,"text":"that all your stories are very worthy of a type"},{"t":661,"text":"of simple acknowledgement because it is there so amazing. Up"},{"t":665,"text":"next are folks from Big Brothers at Big Sisters of"},{"t":668,"text":"the Capitol region. Welcome. Thank you."},{"t":678,"text":"Okay. Awesome. Um, good evening everyone. Um, thank you for"},{"t":683,"text":"inviting me here to speak about Big Brothers, Big Sisters"},{"t":686,"text":"and our continued impact on youth safety and wellbeing thanks"},{"t":689,"text":"to the SPARC program funding we received earlier this year."},{"t":693,"text":"My name is Julia Ross. I'm here to represent Big"},{"t":695,"text":"Brothers Big Sisters of Victoria Capital Region. Uh, my role"},{"t":698,"text":"with BBBS is the Community Mentoring Team Leed and Family"},{"t":701,"text":"Intake Coordinator, which is mouthful, which means basically I facilitate"},{"t":706,"text":"intake for all of the families and children applying for"},{"t":708,"text":"our community mentoring program. Um, and I also get the"},{"t":711,"text":"privilege of actually creating the meaningful matches between the youth"},{"t":714,"text":"and our wonderful volunteer mentors. For those of you who"},{"t":717,"text":"might be unfamiliar with our agency, um, Big Brothers, Big"},{"t":719,"text":"Sisters, has been in Victoria for just under 50 years."},{"t":722,"text":"Um, our agency serves most of the Southern island, uh,"},{"t":725,"text":"from Zook up to Sydney, um, as well as a"},{"t":727,"text":"few elementary schools out in the COMOX Valley. We are"},{"t":731,"text":"part of an international federation, um, so we have about"},{"t":733,"text":"97 agencies across Canada. Um, we are a nonprofit organisation,"},{"t":737,"text":"um, and so we rely on our social enterprise, local"},{"t":740,"text":"grants, uh, community donations, fundraising. And of course, our amazing"},{"t":744,"text":"volunteer mentors to be able to run our programs. We"},{"t":747,"text":"run three different programs out of our agency, Community Mentoring,"},{"t":750,"text":"which is the program that I run is our one"},{"t":753,"text":"- to - one Community - based program for Youth"},{"t":755,"text":"Ages 7 to 17, who are paired with our volunteer"},{"t":757,"text":"mentors. Uh, they meet in the Community once a week."},{"t":760,"text":"They do a variety of awesome activities and it can"},{"t":762,"text":"be as simple as going to the beach, doing crafts,"},{"t":765,"text":"um, attending Royals games or Harbour Kats games thanks to"},{"t":768,"text":"our partnerships and just being together to create a meaningful"},{"t":771,"text":"developmental relationship. Our second program is our in - school"},{"t":775,"text":"mentoring program, which as the name suggest is our mentoring"},{"t":777,"text":"program run through our partner elementary schools. And that's for"},{"t":781,"text":"children kindergarten to grade five. Um, these matches are also"},{"t":784,"text":"one - to - one. Um, and they meet with"},{"t":785,"text":"their mentor, uh, at their school for one week or"},{"t":789,"text":"one hour per week during the school year. And our"},{"t":792,"text":"third program is our BU Healthy Bodies Healthy Minds program."},{"t":795,"text":"Um, this is our only group program and that's also"},{"t":797,"text":"run primarily in elementary schools and middle schools, uh, for"},{"t":800,"text":"young girls and gender diverse youth. This is a discussion"},{"t":804,"text":"and activity - based program where youth are free to"},{"t":806,"text":"talk about balanced eating, positive body image, um, wellness, physical"},{"t":810,"text":"activity. Basically just what it means to be a young"},{"t":813,"text":"person today. The children and the youth coming into our"},{"t":817,"text":"programs come from a wide variety of backgrounds, but one"},{"t":819,"text":"thing that they have in common is that they are"},{"t":821,"text":"in need of a positive, reliable adult role model as"},{"t":824,"text":"they navigate childhood. Over 40 percent of families applying to"},{"t":827,"text":"our programs indicate that their child is coping with mental"},{"t":830,"text":"illness. And almost childhood experience scores of four out of"},{"t":836,"text":"12 or higher. Our programs are often the only source"},{"t":839,"text":"of a consistent adult connection the child receives. We have"},{"t":843,"text":"a heavy emphasis on prevention rather than intervention, so we're"},{"t":847,"text":"not a crisis support program or an intervention program, but"},{"t":850,"text":"we are an excellent choice for families who are looking"},{"t":852,"text":"to build their child Circle of Support and keep them"},{"t":854,"text":"on track for early positive outcomes and experiences. We know"},{"t":858,"text":"that mentorship works, and I get to see it every"},{"t":860,"text":"single day. Um, I had a parent recently share with"},{"t":863,"text":"me, um, after their child graduated from our program, um,"},{"t":866,"text":"that the child or he's a young man now, but"},{"t":869,"text":"he's been accepted into his first choice post - secondary"},{"t":871,"text":"program. Through tiers, she told me that he likely would"},{"t":875,"text":"not have graduated high school without his mentor coming into"},{"t":878,"text":"his life. They were matched for over nine years in"},{"t":880,"text":"our programs and they continue to see each other now"},{"t":882,"text":"that he's an adult. We have over 130 youths on"},{"t":886,"text":"our wait list waiting for this life - changing opportunity."},{"t":889,"text":"And thanks to funding programs such as Spark, we were"},{"t":891,"text":"able to keep our staff working and moving towards creating"},{"t":893,"text":"a safe wellness - driven community for our youth to"},{"t":896,"text":"grow up in. All of our programs rely heavily on"},{"t":900,"text":"the generosity of not only our volunteer mentors, but of"},{"t":904,"text":"our community partners, donors, and funding opportunities such as this"},{"t":907,"text":"program. As a non - profit organisation, like many of"},{"t":910,"text":"the others in the room today, funding is a consistent"},{"t":912,"text":"challenge. Um, it feels like it really never ends sometimes."},{"t":916,"text":"Um, and our agency was really excited to participate in"},{"t":918,"text":"the Spark program. And as a recipient, we've used the"},{"t":921,"text":"funds for professional development, collaboration with other organisations, some of"},{"t":925,"text":"which are in the room today. Um, and truthfully, just"},{"t":927,"text":"being able to maintain our programs uninterrupted. Without this funding,"},{"t":931,"text":"we would have needed to cut down on our already"},{"t":933,"text":"small team, which would have paused our programming. And in"},{"t":936,"text":"turn, change the trajectory for the kids we've been able"},{"t":938,"text":"to serve so far this year. With this funding to"},{"t":941,"text":"continue programming, we have served 33 youth in three schools"},{"t":945,"text":"in our BU program in Victoria. 15 youth in matches"},{"t":949,"text":"in four elementary schools in Victoria, and 57 youth in"},{"t":952,"text":"our community - based program in Victoria. In addition to"},{"t":955,"text":"the youth served, we were able to collaborate and partner"},{"t":957,"text":"with Victoria's Sexual Assault Centre for them to come into"},{"t":960,"text":"our office and deliver their wonderful, safer spaces training for"},{"t":963,"text":"our staff, volunteer mentors, practicum students and community partners. Again,"},{"t":967,"text":"this training would not have been possible without defunding that"},{"t":969,"text":"we received. I personally was also able to use this"},{"t":972,"text":"funding to participate in and complete a two - day"},{"t":975,"text":"intensive course for mental health first aid, which I am"},{"t":978,"text":"not certified in. I took the learnings and applied them"},{"t":981,"text":"immediately to family and mentee interviews and check - ins"},{"t":983,"text":"as mental health challenges are often very prevalent in youth"},{"t":986,"text":"- seeking support from our volunteer mentors. And this is"},{"t":989,"text":"allowed me my work to be more trauma - informed,"},{"t":991,"text":"knowledgeable and supportive. We've been fortunate to collaborate with Community"},{"t":995,"text":"Organisations, including the human's right Commissioner of BC at the"},{"t":998,"text":"Royal BC Museum. Kids up front, um, for events and"},{"t":1002,"text":"community services, uh, of course, the Victoria's Sexual Assault Centre"},{"t":1005,"text":"for their wonderful workshop, Joni for sustainable period products for"},{"t":1009,"text":"our BU participants, Crystal Pool passes over March break, um,"},{"t":1013,"text":"and just for our community matches to have a fun"},{"t":1015,"text":"activity, uh, to do for together. And we've strengthened our"},{"t":1018,"text":"existing relationships with the Victoria Rose Foundation, um, and soap"},{"t":1022,"text":"for Hope Canada among many others. We are always looking"},{"t":1025,"text":"for further opportunities to collaborate, and we're always interested in"},{"t":1028,"text":"connecting with other YouTering agencies to provide the most holistic,"},{"t":1032,"text":"well - rounded support that we can. There is a"},{"t":1034,"text":"wealth of knowledge and resources and commitment in this room"},{"t":1037,"text":"and collaboration really is the key to turning that collective"},{"t":1040,"text":"strength into meaningful action. So now what? As many of"},{"t":1044,"text":"us are all too familiar with demand for programs significantly"},{"t":1047,"text":"outpaces the funding that we have. We still need funding"},{"t":1050,"text":"in order to continue to the work that we do"},{"t":1052,"text":"and to expand our reach to shrink our ever -"},{"t":1054,"text":"growing rate list. Youth safety and well - being is"},{"t":1056,"text":"always the top of our minds, and we will always"},{"t":1058,"text":"need funding to keep our programs running for free and"},{"t":1061,"text":"as low barrier as possible. We're so excited for potential"},{"t":1064,"text":"future opportunities to collaborate with you all and continue giving"},{"t":1067,"text":"youth opportunities they deserve to reach their full potential. Thank"},{"t":1070,"text":"you. Thank you so much, Julia. Indied. Next up, Community"},{"t":1079,"text":"Social Planning Council."},{"t":1091,"text":"Welcome. Alright, good evening, Mayor and Council, and thank you"},{"t":1097,"text":"for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Miranda"},{"t":1100,"text":"Levert, and I'm a case manager with the greater Victoria"},{"t":1102,"text":"Rent Bank. I'd like to begin by thanking the City"},{"t":1104,"text":"of Victoria for being such a strong partner and supporter"},{"t":1107,"text":"of our work. We're extremely grateful for the city's investment"},{"t":1110,"text":"in homelessness prevention and housing stability. Um, and for the"},{"t":1113,"text":"opportunity to share how this investment is already helping Victoria"},{"t":1116,"text":"residents remain housed. Today, I'll be providing a brief overview"},{"t":1120,"text":"of our program, the importance of eviction prevention, our impact"},{"t":1123,"text":"over the past year, and how we've already begun utilising"},{"t":1125,"text":"the city's most recent investment. So the greater Victoria Ramping"},{"t":1131,"text":"provides interest - free loans, grants, and ongoing rental subsidies"},{"t":1134,"text":"to support low and moderate income residents experiencing temporary financial"},{"t":1137,"text":"hardship. Our goal is to prevent eviction and help people"},{"t":1140,"text":"remain housed when unexpected crisis threatens their housing stability. Many"},{"t":1145,"text":"of the people we support are facing situations such as"},{"t":1147,"text":"illness, ham reduced work hours, delayed benefits. Family violence, or"},{"t":1151,"text":"other unexpected expenses. In many cases, the issue is just"},{"t":1155,"text":"that they're experiencing a temporary financial disruption that places them"},{"t":1158,"text":"at immediate risk of losing their housing. Um, even if"},{"t":1160,"text":"they can typically manage their cost of living. The REMPINK"},{"t":1165,"text":"exists to bridge that gap, then it helps maintain people"},{"t":1167,"text":"or helps people maintain their housing throughout that crisis. So"},{"t":1171,"text":"housing losses often the result of a short - term"},{"t":1173,"text":"financial crisis that escalates over time. A missed paycheck, a"},{"t":1177,"text":"medical issue, an unexpected expense, or a delay in benefits"},{"t":1181,"text":"can quickly lead your rental arrears and somebody's housing being"},{"t":1183,"text":"at risk. When housing is lost, the impacts extend two"},{"t":1187,"text":"loss of employment, education disruption, loss of access to healthcare"},{"t":1191,"text":"services, community supports, and other important connections. Eviction prevention focuses"},{"t":1196,"text":"on intervening before a crisis reaches that point. By helping"},{"t":1199,"text":"people remain housed, we can reduce disruptions for individuals and"},{"t":1203,"text":"families while preventing the need for more expensive and intensive"},{"t":1205,"text":"interventions later. So because prevention has demonstrated effectiveness, Victoria identified"},{"t":1213,"text":"housing security and homelessness as priorities... Here, sorry. So Victoria"},{"t":1220,"text":"has identified housing and security and homelessness as priorities and"},{"t":1224,"text":"invested in prevention - focused approaches. As identified in the"},{"t":1227,"text":"City's Community Safety and well - being plan, housing affordability"},{"t":1230,"text":"and availability remain major concerns for Victoria residents. Specifically inadequate"},{"t":1235,"text":"housing supply and homelessness. The priority is smeared in a"},{"t":1240,"text":"2025 vital science report from the Victoria Foundation, in which"},{"t":1243,"text":"the region gave a degrade to housing, noting that the"},{"t":1245,"text":"availability of affordable rental housing is below average rapport. And"},{"t":1249,"text":"that housing is ranked as the second largest concern for"},{"t":1251,"text":"residents at about 58 percent behind only cost of living,"},{"t":1254,"text":"which is at around 70 percent. Your commitment to our"},{"t":1257,"text":"program not only reflects a priority for individuals, but it"},{"t":1260,"text":"also supports the community - level benefits of homeless prevention"},{"t":1262,"text":"initiatives, reducing strain - on health, social, and emergency services,"},{"t":1266,"text":"improving stability for residents, and aligning with the approach outlined"},{"t":1270,"text":"in the community safety and well - being plan. Which"},{"t":1272,"text":"calls for interventions to address root causes of housing and"},{"t":1275,"text":"security. So the City of Victoria has very generously approved"},{"t":1281,"text":"210, 000 dollars in total applications to the greater Victoria"},{"t":1283,"text":"rent bank, 110 of this is allocated annually for loan"},{"t":1287,"text":"capital, and the additional 100 has been divided into loan"},{"t":1289,"text":"capital, grants, and additional support hours. This investment expands our"},{"t":1294,"text":"financial resources, but it also increases our capacity to respond"},{"t":1297,"text":"to residents with the most complex needs. All right, so"},{"t":1304,"text":"in this reporting period, we received 360 applicants from Victoria"},{"t":1308,"text":"residents, which is a 21 percent increase. The rent to"},{"t":1313,"text":"income ratio was reported at around 64 percent Now when"},{"t":1316,"text":"we talk about rent - to - income ratio, we're"},{"t":1318,"text":"talking about the proportion of someone's income that goes towards"},{"t":1320,"text":"rent and the Canadian mortgage and housing corporation identified that"},{"t":1324,"text":"a housing is affordable when people are spending 30 percent"},{"t":1327,"text":"or less of their gross income on their rent Our"},{"t":1329,"text":"applicants are spending more than twice that, which reflects extreme"},{"t":1332,"text":"core housing need. In terms of demographics, we see a"},{"t":1337,"text":"large number of increasingly vulnerable individuals from Victoria applying. Over"},{"t":1342,"text":"14 percent of our applicants are experiencing some sort of"},{"t":1344,"text":"violence at the time of applying, most commonly this is"},{"t":1347,"text":"gender - based or intimate partner violence, but it also"},{"t":1349,"text":"encompasses financial abuse stalking and intimidation, violence from a landlord"},{"t":1354,"text":"or coworker, and abusive seniors. Additionally, This includes individuals who"},{"t":1362,"text":"fell ill and are waiting for medical EI to begin,"},{"t":1364,"text":"or those who sustain a workplace injury, and are waiting"},{"t":1366,"text":"for their workers'compensation claim to be assessed, and are unable"},{"t":1369,"text":"to maintain their housing in the meantime. So these figures"},{"t":1373,"text":"illustrate that many applicants are already navigating, compounding vulnerabilities, when"},{"t":1377,"text":"a housing crisis occurs, and with our support many have"},{"t":1380,"text":"been able to maintain their safe and stable housing throughout."},{"t":1385,"text":"So in this reporting period, we supported Victoria residents with"},{"t":1388,"text":"a combination of loans, grants, and ongoing rental subsidies. In"},{"t":1392,"text":"total, we provided over 108, 000 dollars in assistance to"},{"t":1395,"text":"local households. From municipalities has allowed us to leverage our"},{"t":1399,"text":"existing for additional grants and subsidies. So this means that"},{"t":1404,"text":"we can stabilize households with the right tool at the"},{"t":1406,"text":"right time, it's appropriate for their situation, and prevent eviction"},{"t":1409,"text":"more effectively. The City's contribution remains essential to the functioning"},{"t":1413,"text":"of the program and the impact of the rent bank,"},{"t":1415,"text":"and this year it helped us bring more even more"},{"t":1416,"text":"resources to the community. Beyond the dollars distributed, these investments"},{"t":1421,"text":"represent households who are able to remain safely housed during"},{"t":1424,"text":"a crisis. So in this reporting period, 102 people were"},{"t":1431,"text":"directly impacted by funding, which included 22 children. For reference,"},{"t":1436,"text":"this is equivalent to an entire school classroom remaining housed."},{"t":1440,"text":"This number does not include people we connected with external"},{"t":1442,"text":"resources such as housing supports through Pacifica or BC housing,"},{"t":1447,"text":"family programs like Burnside Gorge Community Association, Financial Literacy Supports"},{"t":1451,"text":"through Credit Counseling Referrals, and organisations addressing immediate needs such"},{"t":1454,"text":"as food and clothing. We work really closely with these"},{"t":1457,"text":"partners, and often actually coordinate services between multiple organisations to"},{"t":1461,"text":"ensure that housing stability for challenges that fall outside our"},{"t":1464,"text":"scope are still being assisted with. Now we recognise that"},{"t":1468,"text":"a lot of the renters that reach out to us"},{"t":1469,"text":"are in difficult situations, and sharing personal and financial details"},{"t":1473,"text":"can make them feel very vulnerable. So our team prioritizes"},{"t":1476,"text":"maintaining dignity and providing a supportive and non - judgmental"},{"t":1479,"text":"environment throughout the process. We very firmly believe that a"},{"t":1483,"text":"one - time crisis should not cost somebody their housing,"},{"t":1486,"text":"and our goal is really to ensure that those temporary"},{"t":1487,"text":"setbacks remain temporary. Alright, so in the first six weeks"},{"t":1494,"text":"of offering expanded support through the additional City of Victoria"},{"t":1497,"text":"funding, we've been able to distribute 4, 427 dollars in"},{"t":1501,"text":"grants These grants supported nine residents, which included a few"},{"t":1505,"text":"children, a newborn child, and a senior. One household had"},{"t":1509,"text":"recently fled unsafe housing, and their needs could not be"},{"t":1511,"text":"met through a traditional loan or grant streams. The city's"},{"t":1514,"text":"investment allowed us to provide urgent stabilization support. We were"},{"t":1517,"text":"able to distribute funds within days of them reaching out,"},{"t":1519,"text":"and they did not lose their housing. When an otherwise"},{"t":1522,"text":"they may have not been able to access support. Beyond"},{"t":1526,"text":"direct financial assistance, the funds have increased our capacity to"},{"t":1528,"text":"respond to urgent situations. In one instance, staff were able"},{"t":1532,"text":"to meet with a client with a disability at her"},{"t":1533,"text":"home to complete documentation and facilitate access to support that"},{"t":1537,"text":"otherwise we may not have been able to offer to"},{"t":1538,"text":"her. What we only began working with the funds a"},{"t":1541,"text":"short time ago were already seeing how increased flexibility and"},{"t":1544,"text":"capacity can help us reach residents who may have otherwise"},{"t":1547,"text":"fallen through the gaps and services. All right, so looking"},{"t":1553,"text":"forward to measure the impact of these funds, we've implemented"},{"t":1556,"text":"some tracking metrics. For grants, we'll be tracking demographics and"},{"t":1560,"text":"population served, and we'll be measuring the reach based on"},{"t":1562,"text":"how many people we've been able to affect and evaluating"},{"t":1565,"text":"how additional support hours have affected service delivery. We're looking"},{"t":1569,"text":"forward to building a strong evidence base around the impact"},{"t":1571,"text":"of these investments over the coming year. All right, so"},{"t":1576,"text":"before I wrap up, I just wanted to share some"},{"t":1577,"text":"direct quotes from tenants who've been directly impacted by the"},{"t":1580,"text":"greater Victoria rent bank. Um, one individual said, thank you"},{"t":1585,"text":"again for your help and kindness. I'm extremely grateful to"},{"t":1588,"text":"you and your organisation for helping me make ends meet"},{"t":1590,"text":"and keeping me housed. Another said from the bottom of"},{"t":1593,"text":"my heart, you and above and beyond to help me,"},{"t":1596,"text":"and literally saved me from having to live on their"},{"t":1598,"text":"street. For this I will forever be grateful. Again, thank"},{"t":1601,"text":"you. Much of the feedback we received centres around feelings"},{"t":1606,"text":"of relief and dignity. Renters to reach out to us"},{"t":1608,"text":"have generally explored all other options and genuinely have nowhere"},{"t":1611,"text":"left to go. Um, the previous quotes are from individuals"},{"t":1615,"text":"who have been directly impacted by funding, but we also"},{"t":1617,"text":"receive positive feedback from those who are not eligible. One"},{"t":1621,"text":"applicant, for example, reach out to us after exhausting every"},{"t":1623,"text":"other resource. And they were at risk of losing their"},{"t":1627,"text":"home and felt they had nowhere else to turn. Although"},{"t":1629,"text":"they couldn't receive financial assistance, our case managers took the"},{"t":1632,"text":"time just to listen to their story and help them"},{"t":1634,"text":"create an actionable plan. By the end of the process,"},{"t":1638,"text":"this individual was able to resolve their housing situation on"},{"t":1640,"text":"their own. Um, so this is a powerful example of"},{"t":1644,"text":"how sometimes guidance and understanding is just as valuable as"},{"t":1647,"text":"the direct dollars distributed. The greater Victoria rent bank has"},{"t":1651,"text":"been an essential tool for homeless prevention serving the region"},{"t":1654,"text":"since 2021, and through the generous contributions of the City"},{"t":1656,"text":"of Victoria, we've only been able to expand our impact,"},{"t":1659,"text":"and we hope to be able to continue providing this"},{"t":1661,"text":"vital service to those at risk of homelessness. Thank you."},{"t":1664,"text":"Thank you, Miranda. Up next is a Salvation Army."},{"t":1674,"text":"God. Welcome. Okay, hopefully I can get this. Alright. Good"},{"t":1684,"text":"evening, and thank you to Merira Alto and Council members"},{"t":1687,"text":"for inviting the Salvation Army Victoria ARC to the City"},{"t":1691,"text":"of Victoria's Open House tonight. My name is Karen Shaw,"},{"t":1695,"text":"and I'm the Director of Programs with the Victoria Arc."},{"t":1697,"text":"It is my pleasure to be here tonight to talk"},{"t":1699,"text":"about our recent partnership with the City of Victoria. I'd"},{"t":1702,"text":"like to start by giving you a little bit of"},{"t":1704,"text":"background for those of you who may not be familiar"},{"t":1706,"text":"with our services at the arc. Can you read that"},{"t":1710,"text":"okay. Although the Salvation Army on Johnston and Wharf Street"},{"t":1714,"text":"has been actively supporting the Community of Victoria for over"},{"t":1717,"text":"130 years, our facility as you see now has been"},{"t":1720,"text":"a fixture in the City's Social Service landscape since we"},{"t":1722,"text":"opened our doors in 1982. We're a diverse, inclusive recovery"},{"t":1727,"text":"- oriented community dedicated to providing a sober and safe,"},{"t":1731,"text":"dignified space where people can heal and reconcile their lives."},{"t":1734,"text":"Today the air sea delivers eight core programs from Johnson"},{"t":1738,"text":"Street, including emergency shelters, a 50 - bed halfway house,"},{"t":1742,"text":"and 18 - bed long - term recovery, program, transitional"},{"t":1746,"text":"housing, and seasonal extreme weather response program. Our community, excuse"},{"t":1751,"text":"me, our community dining lounge serves lunch Monday to Friday"},{"t":1754,"text":"and is a place to rest and recharge over a"},{"t":1757,"text":"hot meal. Internally, the ARC supports up to 155 individuals"},{"t":1763,"text":"to meet their needs daily, with our capacity increasing to"},{"t":1767,"text":"185 people during the months when our EWR program is"},{"t":1771,"text":"activated. The salvation army ARC has committed to evidence -"},{"t":1777,"text":"based best practices and service delivery. And we reflect the"},{"t":1782,"text":"core values of dignity, stewardship, hope, and service. Each guest"},{"t":1788,"text":"residing at the ARC is assigned a caseworker who can"},{"t":1790,"text":"assist them to navigate daily challenges and access resources in"},{"t":1793,"text":"the community to help them thrive. Additionally, case management services"},{"t":1797,"text":"focus on helping clients obtain stable housing, connecting them to"},{"t":1801,"text":"in - house and external resources setting goals and developing"},{"t":1805,"text":"individualized plans that foster empowerment and well - being. Services"},{"t":1809,"text":"in the housing program include accommodations, nutritious males, hygiene products,"},{"t":1814,"text":"laundry access, and secure storage. In all ARC guests have"},{"t":1817,"text":"access to daily programming activities, events, such as recovery meetings,"},{"t":1821,"text":"health and ID clinics, spiritual care and recreational opportunities. Addiction,"},{"t":1831,"text":"housing and security, mental health concerns, barriers to healthcare and"},{"t":1834,"text":"poverty continue to place immense pressure on the city's ability"},{"t":1838,"text":"to respond effectively to community needs. These issues have been"},{"t":1841,"text":"further exacerbated by the ongoing toxic drug crisis declared a"},{"t":1846,"text":"public health emergency in 2016. Within the downtown core, residents"},{"t":1851,"text":"and business owners report frustration and concern over the visible"},{"t":1853,"text":"homelessness, the human despair, service gaps and safety issues, while"},{"t":1859,"text":"clients continue to face overlapping barriers that make achieving stability"},{"t":1862,"text":"extremely difficult. The ARC with the City of Victoria recognises"},{"t":1867,"text":"the urgent need for recovery - oriented supportive housing options"},{"t":1870,"text":"to help address the situation. On April 1st, 2026, the"},{"t":1875,"text":"ARC and partnership with the City of Victoria, launched our"},{"t":1878,"text":"short - term engagement program, a two - year commitment"},{"t":1881,"text":"to strengthen emergency shelter and support NERC community. This initiative"},{"t":1885,"text":"directly aligns with the City's Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan"},{"t":1888,"text":"by addressing the growing need for sober living environments that"},{"t":1891,"text":"emphasize human dignity, stability, and recovery within a supportive network"},{"t":1896,"text":"of Community Services. Expanding the emergency shelter strengthens the City's"},{"t":1901,"text":"coordinated response to homelessness by providing a safe, sober living"},{"t":1905,"text":"space where people can access nutritious meals. A warm bed"},{"t":1908,"text":"and staff support to overcome barriers in pursue recovery. The"},{"t":1912,"text":"funding from the City of Victoria provides 13 emergency shelter"},{"t":1916,"text":"beds serving adults 19 and older who are committed to"},{"t":1919,"text":"maintaining sobriety while we prioritize those living in the downtown"},{"t":1923,"text":"core. With this program expansion, the total number of available"},{"t":1926,"text":"emergency shelter beds increase their capacity from 53 to 66."},{"t":1934,"text":"As part of the cities of Victoria's commitment, uh, roughly"},{"t":1938,"text":"13, 839 dollars for capital expenses was provided to the"},{"t":1942,"text":"arc to refurbish two dorm rooms within the housing and"},{"t":1945,"text":"support service department to supporter capacity. These capital expenses represent"},{"t":1950,"text":"only the initial startup and will not reoccurn subsequent fiscal"},{"t":1954,"text":"years. With the capital commitments, we were able to purchase"},{"t":1957,"text":"13 sealed seam mattresses that are water and begged bud"},{"t":1961,"text":"proof from Vancouver's bunk bed Canada furnishings. Um, this is"},{"t":1966,"text":"where the cost come in your help means everything. These"},{"t":1970,"text":"mattresses are 434 dollars each. Storage lockers that we use"},{"t":1976,"text":"to help refurbish the dorms, our 630 dollars each. 26"},{"t":1985,"text":"operating costs is roughly 146, 000 dollars, which works out"},{"t":1989,"text":"to 900 dollars and 30 cents a day. Per bed."},{"t":1999,"text":"So I don't know if you can see that slide,"},{"t":2002,"text":"but I'd ask you to really have a look at"},{"t":2003,"text":"the cost comparison between housing people in prisons. Or in"},{"t":2008,"text":"recovery centres or what the average person can afford at"},{"t":2013,"text":"1600 dollars a month rent Even at that they're paying"},{"t":2016,"text":"50 dollars a day. The City funded spaces operate in"},{"t":2021,"text":"accordance with the Salvation Army's accreditation standards and the term's"},{"t":2024,"text":"existing BC housing contractual agreements. No additional frontline staff were"},{"t":2028,"text":"hired. The ARC staff managed the Xpanic capacity through existing"},{"t":2032,"text":"operational resources. Quarterly, the Salvation Army ARC will provide a"},{"t":2039,"text":"report to the City for the previous four months. This"},{"t":2042,"text":"information will be anonymous and are fantastic caseworkers track all"},{"t":2045,"text":"of our reportables. So for example our STEP program must"},{"t":2050,"text":"remain at a 90 percent capacity or higher. This was"},{"t":2054,"text":"our average for the year of 2025. And I can"},{"t":2057,"text":"tell you since April 1st of this year when we"},{"t":2060,"text":"started April and May we have been at capacity every"},{"t":2063,"text":"day. The only time that those beds are empty is"},{"t":2067,"text":"when they're being flipped over, turned over and a new"},{"t":2070,"text":"resident is coming in. The average length of stay is"},{"t":2074,"text":"52 days. That was the average in 2025 and we're"},{"t":2077,"text":"looking at that as a likely average in step as"},{"t":2080,"text":"well. We'll be tracking the housing type that the client"},{"t":2084,"text":"moves on from, from step, whether that's market housing, uh,"},{"t":2087,"text":"supportive housing, perhaps a rehab facility, or even going home."},{"t":2095,"text":"The STEP partnership demonstrates what can be achieved when organisations"},{"t":2099,"text":"come together to address complex social challenges with compassion, accountability,"},{"t":2105,"text":"and practical solutions. And by investing in safe, sober shelter"},{"t":2109,"text":"spaces, we are not only meeting the immediate needs of"},{"t":2111,"text":"vulnerable people in Victoria, but creating opportunities for individuals to"},{"t":2115,"text":"rebuild their lives, strengthen their connection to the community, and"},{"t":2119,"text":"move towards a future of hope and independence. To close,"},{"t":2123,"text":"as we look ahead, the salvation army, Victoria ARC remains"},{"t":2126,"text":"committed to working alongside the City of Victoria, B. C."},{"t":2130,"text":"housing. Our awesome and amazing Community Partners. And those we"},{"t":2134,"text":"serve to create pathways towards stability recovery and housing. So"},{"t":2138,"text":"thank you, Mayor. Council. And providers and service providers for"},{"t":2147,"text":"your continued support and commitment to improving the well -"},{"t":2150,"text":"being and safety of our community members."},{"t":2160,"text":"Thank you, Karen. Up next is the Youth Empirement Society."},{"t":2171,"text":"Welcome. Great, thank you. There's two of us tonight, and"},{"t":2176,"text":"I'll get us started. Thank you so much for having"},{"t":2179,"text":"us today. My name is Keysai Peterson. I'm the operations"},{"t":2183,"text":"director for the Victoria You Youth Empowerment Society. And Julianne"},{"t":2186,"text":"Hunter is our executive director. And we're grateful to be"},{"t":2190,"text":"here and share with you news about our funding through"},{"t":2194,"text":"the SPART program, as well as through the community wellness"},{"t":2198,"text":"and safety program. So in starting, I would just like"},{"t":2203,"text":"to introduce the Victoria Youth Environment Society. We are an"},{"t":2208,"text":"organisation that for more than 30 years has walked alongside"},{"t":2212,"text":"young people and families in our community, providing responsive individualized"},{"t":2217,"text":"support that build safety, stability, connection, and the skills that"},{"t":2222,"text":"young people need to thrive. Our vision is that every"},{"t":2226,"text":"young person has the support opportunities and confidence to shape"},{"t":2230,"text":"their future and move successfully into adulthood. Every year, uh,"},{"t":2237,"text":"Victoria Youth Empire Society supports more than a thousand individual"},{"t":2241,"text":"youth and families across the greater Victoria region through a"},{"t":2245,"text":"continuum of services that provides prevention, family support, outreach, housing"},{"t":2252,"text":"and shelter services, mental health and wellness programming. Life skills"},{"t":2256,"text":"development and safe welcoming spaces. We're young people can connect"},{"t":2260,"text":"and belong. Earlier this year, we received funding through the"},{"t":2265,"text":"SPARC program, and this allowed us to scale up three"},{"t":2268,"text":"program areas. The first was for Youth HS14 to 19,"},{"t":2273,"text":"who were involved in the justice system. Our outreach you"},{"t":2276,"text":"support workers were able to work with youth who had"},{"t":2279,"text":"charges, but no experience with the justice system previously. So"},{"t":2283,"text":"the youth workers provided info and support on navigating the"},{"t":2287,"text":"justice system and understanding their rights and responsibilities. For other"},{"t":2292,"text":"youth on probation, the focus was on connecting youth to"},{"t":2295,"text":"their probation officers and attending court. During January to March,"},{"t":2300,"text":"2026, there were 11 youths who were supported in this"},{"t":2303,"text":"way. The outcomes include improved attendance and participation with probation"},{"t":2308,"text":"and court processes. There were fewer breaches and increased understanding"},{"t":2312,"text":"of youth rights and responsibilities. A second area is our"},{"t":2318,"text":"youth recovery groups, which are led by staff in our"},{"t":2321,"text":"outreach and specialized youth detox programs. One group is for"},{"t":2325,"text":"you who are using substances and who are interested in"},{"t":2328,"text":"recovery through a smart recovery model. The second group is"},{"t":2332,"text":"an abstinence - based support group for youth who are"},{"t":2335,"text":"maintaining recovery. This approach, as you centred, is trauma -"},{"t":2339,"text":"informed and allows for a safe and supportive environment for"},{"t":2342,"text":"youth to have meaningful conversations about substance use and recovery."},{"t":2347,"text":"During January to March, there were 18 youth who accessed"},{"t":2351,"text":"recovery groups and three staff received the SMART recovery training."},{"t":2355,"text":"In seven cases, the youth asked to access our youth"},{"t":2359,"text":"detox program and other treatment options. The last program funded"},{"t":2364,"text":"through Spark is our youth food pantry program, which provides"},{"t":2367,"text":"youth access to food, cleaning supplies, toiletries, clothing and small"},{"t":2373,"text":"household items. The food pantry is accessible from Monday to"},{"t":2377,"text":"Friday at our downtown location and allows you to choose"},{"t":2380,"text":"for themselves, um, what food supplies they would like. And"},{"t":2385,"text":"as well, they're cooking workshops to build up their skills."},{"t":2388,"text":"This generous contribution to the food pantry allowed greater access"},{"t":2391,"text":"to perishable items such as meat, milk, yogurt, and butter."},{"t":2396,"text":"And popular items cleaning supplies and special dietary requests. It"},{"t":2402,"text":"also allowed our food pantry staff and volunteers to purchase"},{"t":2405,"text":"ingredients to make nutritious protein - rich meals that were"},{"t":2409,"text":"portioned and frozen for later use. We also were able"},{"t":2412,"text":"to install a dishwasher, which was very welcome and improved"},{"t":2416,"text":"hygiene and purchase new tables and chairs for the cooking"},{"t":2419,"text":"workshops. During January to March, there were 74 individual youth,"},{"t":2425,"text":"HS15 to 20 who access the food pantry, and many"},{"t":2429,"text":"of these come on a weekly basis. I'll hand this"},{"t":2432,"text":"over to Julianne to talk about the other aspects. Great."},{"t":2437,"text":"In addition to the city's spark program, yes is also"},{"t":2440,"text":"received funding through the Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan. The"},{"t":2443,"text":"first grant provides funds to help you as staff support"},{"t":2446,"text":"youth from other communities to return to their homes. Our"},{"t":2449,"text":"range of service areas typically greater Victoria, but sometimes youth"},{"t":2453,"text":"do come from up island or the mainland or the"},{"t":2455,"text":"golf islands. And our transportation budget doesn't allow us to"},{"t":2458,"text":"get youth home easily or quickly. We know that that"},{"t":2464,"text":"is the best place often for youth to be at"},{"t":2466,"text":"their home community. And often they want to be there."},{"t":2469,"text":"So this grant has helped the costs of transportation helped"},{"t":2472,"text":"us offset the cost of transportation and worker accompaniment to"},{"t":2475,"text":"support youth and returning home. I would also, um, add"},{"t":2479,"text":"that this fund has also been used to help youth"},{"t":2482,"text":"get to treatment and to be able to accompany them"},{"t":2485,"text":"off Victoria to other places as well. The second grant"},{"t":2490,"text":"is for supported independent living program, which is our only"},{"t":2493,"text":"program that supports young people up to the age of"},{"t":2495,"text":"24. The focus is to support this important transition time"},{"t":2499,"text":"into independence and to help youth who age out of"},{"t":2502,"text":"youth services, um, navigate the supports and services required for"},{"t":2505,"text":"them to be resilient and supported into their adulthood. Are"},{"t":2510,"text":"you support workers support their clients'goals around education, housing, income,"},{"t":2514,"text":"employment, health skill development and community connection. We were funded"},{"t":2519,"text":"for 1. 5 FTE, but in the last few years"},{"t":2523,"text":"we have been experiencing longer wait lists as youth need"},{"t":2525,"text":"help longer. Which puts these youth and young adults at"},{"t":2528,"text":"risk of being unhoused and deteriorating mental and physical health."},{"t":2532,"text":"The grant from the City of Victoria provides for an"},{"t":2535,"text":"additional 0. 5 FTE for our sport independent youth worker,"},{"t":2540,"text":"uh, for the next two years. With this funding, we've"},{"t":2543,"text":"significantly reduced the wait list, which had been at 30"},{"t":2545,"text":"prior to this additional funding. And more young people are"},{"t":2549,"text":"experiencing greater stability and resiliency into adulthood. And the impact"},{"t":2554,"text":"of these grants is obviously direct in what we're able"},{"t":2557,"text":"to do in a short term, but really what's supporting"},{"t":2561,"text":"youth represents is the long - term commitment of our"},{"t":2563,"text":"community to our community. These youth now can have access"},{"t":2567,"text":"to jobs, access to stability to post - secondary. And"},{"t":2571,"text":"what we know is that represents hope, not only for"},{"t":2574,"text":"them, but for all of us in our community. And"},{"t":2577,"text":"we can see that with our supported independent living program,"},{"t":2580,"text":"we have so many youth who access that program who"},{"t":2582,"text":"are in post - secondary who want to get into"},{"t":2584,"text":"the work of supporting others. And they just need that"},{"t":2587,"text":"extra help while they get there. Um, we have youth"},{"t":2589,"text":"who access these recovery groups who never thought people would"},{"t":2592,"text":"take a chance on them in their recovery as they"},{"t":2594,"text":"figure that out. And what we can see with this"},{"t":2597,"text":"funding is the opportunity for these youth to feel good"},{"t":2601,"text":"about themselves and that we support them and that you"},{"t":2604,"text":"all support them. There is something incredibly valuable about this"},{"t":2607,"text":"collaboration to be able to say to young people, we"},{"t":2610,"text":"see you and your city sees you. And we know"},{"t":2613,"text":"that the roots that are planted in these grants and"},{"t":2617,"text":"hopefully future collaboration opportunities will grow. They'll become the trees"},{"t":2621,"text":"in our city as these youth come back and go,"},{"t":2623,"text":"I got help. And so how can I help others?"},{"t":2626,"text":"And so I think for myself, one of the things"},{"t":2628,"text":"I just wanted to say is the impact of this"},{"t":2630,"text":"is so long reaching. When you have a 12 year"},{"t":2633,"text":"old who can access this, they are going to grow"},{"t":2636,"text":"up and be supported. So we wanted to just say"},{"t":2639,"text":"thank you so much for this opportunity to create this"},{"t":2641,"text":"larger impact, helping our youth is one of the easiest"},{"t":2645,"text":"fundamental things we can do for prevention in our city."},{"t":2648,"text":"And all it really takes is the opportunity to say"},{"t":2650,"text":"to youth, how can we help? And these funds have"},{"t":2652,"text":"allowed us to do that. So thank you very much."},{"t":2655,"text":"Thank you. Up next is the"},{"t":2665,"text":"Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness Society. Welcome."},{"t":2687,"text":"Aguibjalazi Nindeloisi, Julia Oquin, DeLeawey, the Homgok. Good evening everyone."},{"t":2694,"text":"It's a pleasure to be here with you all this"},{"t":2696,"text":"evening. Um, my name is Julia Oquin. I'm honoured to"},{"t":2699,"text":"be here representing the aboriginal coalition to end homelessness society"},{"t":2703,"text":"this evening. Uh, the aboriginal coalition is an indigenous -"},{"t":2710,"text":"led nonprofit organisation, uh, with an island - wide mission"},{"t":2714,"text":"to end homelessness for First Nations Inuit and BT relatives."},{"t":2719,"text":"We are actually marking our 10 - year milestone as"},{"t":2723,"text":"a nonprofit this year and really want to acknowledge the"},{"t":2726,"text":"City of Victoria who has been an integral supporter, uh,"},{"t":2730,"text":"since we had our founding executive director in the early"},{"t":2734,"text":"beginnings of the organisation. Also want to take a moment"},{"t":2739,"text":"to acknowledge these beautiful lands that we gather on today."},{"t":2742,"text":"Uh, of our song He's and a Squammold Nations. We"},{"t":2746,"text":"have representation across our executive team, our board of directors"},{"t":2751,"text":"and our elders advisory as well, uh, who guide the"},{"t":2754,"text":"direction of the organisation and to the Community is who"},{"t":2758,"text":"have provided their blessing for our organisation to do this"},{"t":2763,"text":"important secret work, um, on these territories. Uh, so earlier"},{"t":2769,"text":"this year, we were fortunate to be the recipient of"},{"t":2772,"text":"a spark grant. And with these funds, we really dedicated"},{"t":2777,"text":"and honed in on the supports that we provide for"},{"t":2779,"text":"our young ones. Uh, so more than a service provider,"},{"t":2783,"text":"we are really looking at the systemic structural barriers to"},{"t":2787,"text":"indigenous homelessness. And this funding provided us a way to"},{"t":2791,"text":"begin to focus some attention in this area. Uh, so"},{"t":2796,"text":"when we look across our community, these are numbers we"},{"t":2799,"text":"won't be too unfamiliar with. But when we look at"},{"t":2802,"text":"our unhoused relatives, uh, around 36 percent have experienced, um,"},{"t":2809,"text":"in the foster care system. And 55. 6 percent of"},{"t":2813,"text":"our unhoused community have experienced homelessness as a young person."},{"t":2818,"text":"So the importance, it can't be emphasized enough around prevention."},{"t":2823,"text":"And when we're looking at our indigenous youth specifically, um,"},{"t":2828,"text":"in January of this year, nearly 70 percent of euthan"},{"t":2832,"text":"care, our indigenous youth. That is, um, a very unsettling"},{"t":2837,"text":"place to be. As a community, as a province, as"},{"t":2841,"text":"a country. Um, considering that, uh, being a child in"},{"t":2846,"text":"CARE is considered a super highway into homelessness. So protecting"},{"t":2850,"text":"our young ones, ensuring they have those circles of care"},{"t":2853,"text":"around them are vitally important during their formative years. So."},{"t":2859,"text":"Um, through the SPARC program, we had four different focuses"},{"t":2862,"text":"working with our young ones. Uh, we hosted a regalia"},{"t":2866,"text":"fashion show down at Wawadidla. We held the land based"},{"t":2870,"text":"healing camp out with patchy dot First Nation. Uh, we"},{"t":2874,"text":"organised a range of land - based traditional food preparation"},{"t":2877,"text":"with our young ones and held a blanketing ceremony after"},{"t":2881,"text":"our young ones who were just completing returning home from"},{"t":2884,"text":"treatment programs. So just a glimpse into each one of"},{"t":2888,"text":"these, uh, for events that we held, uh, and all"},{"t":2891,"text":"of them really centring these three themes, um, a lot"},{"t":2895,"text":"of our youth have grown up away from their communities,"},{"t":2898,"text":"away from their families. So bringing into their lives a"},{"t":2901,"text":"sense of identity, which leads to a sense of belonging"},{"t":2904,"text":"and community, which then helps them find their purpose. Uh,"},{"t":2908,"text":"so these are a few snapshots from earlier this year"},{"t":2911,"text":"down at Wahuditla. This was an open event to our"},{"t":2915,"text":"community to come out and celebrate our and how is"},{"t":2918,"text":"relatives those in our culturally supportive housing sites, uh, so"},{"t":2922,"text":"leading up to this very beautiful celebration. We had many"},{"t":2927,"text":"people involved working with our young ones to weave cedar,"},{"t":2931,"text":"uh, to make ribbon shirts, ribbon skirts, uh, regalia that"},{"t":2935,"text":"reflects their own individual cultures, both traditional regalia and urban"},{"t":2939,"text":"regalia. So they had the opportunity to walk this as"},{"t":2942,"text":"part of a fashion show to be introduced to the"},{"t":2945,"text":"community and to be celebrated by the community. Uh, so"},{"t":2949,"text":"just to give a few acknowledgments here, uh, the many"},{"t":2952,"text":"elders and knowledge holders who supported this day, Nicole Mandrick,"},{"t":2956,"text":"Crystal Brun, uh, Gloria Rose, Caleb Child, Doug and Kathleen,"},{"t":2961,"text":"uh, Lafortune Lillian Underwood and Guy and Calvin Louie. Moving"},{"t":2968,"text":"on to the land - based healing camp. So this"},{"t":2970,"text":"was held over spring break of the school year with"},{"t":2975,"text":"some of our youth who live in our, um, hot"},{"t":2978,"text":"palazzos lalim, sacred cradle house, our youth housing. And those"},{"t":2982,"text":"we work with through our outreach programs, uh, so we"},{"t":2985,"text":"were able to bring them out for a week of"},{"t":2987,"text":"cultural learning and experience, uh, to patchy that First Nation,"},{"t":2992,"text":"where we were warmly welcomed by Chief Jeff Jones. Uh,"},{"t":2995,"text":"he brought the youth right to the beach. They had"},{"t":2998,"text":"a crab boil there together. Uh, the first evening, they"},{"t":3002,"text":"were invited to attend culture night. So you can see"},{"t":3005,"text":"there some of the Community members and their regalia. Uh,"},{"t":3008,"text":"so the youth having the opportunity to, uh, learn the"},{"t":3011,"text":"songs, learn the dances of communities and really be embraced"},{"t":3015,"text":"wholeheartedly, um, and again, acknowledging our dear elders, Doug and"},{"t":3019,"text":"Kathy, uh, pictured here who attended and supported the duration"},{"t":3023,"text":"of the camp. Throughout the springtime. We also had the"},{"t":3027,"text":"opportunity to get our youth out on the land, learn"},{"t":3031,"text":"some essential survival skills, how to build a fire, how"},{"t":3034,"text":"to prepare traditional foods from their own communities. Um, on"},{"t":3038,"text":"this particular day, it was very special because we also"},{"t":3041,"text":"invited siblings, aunties, uncles, parents, grandparents to all come out,"},{"t":3046,"text":"um, to enjoy this feast that the youth prepared themselves."},{"t":3049,"text":"So just a celebration of family and connection that day."},{"t":3053,"text":"Um, I can't share too many photos from the ceremonial"},{"t":3056,"text":"part of the work. However, just wanting to acknowledge, uh,"},{"t":3059,"text":"we work in close partnership and have through the spark"},{"t":3062,"text":"program, uh, with surrounded by cedar child and family services,"},{"t":3065,"text":"which is our delegated Aboriginal agency for the Victoria area."},{"t":3070,"text":"Uh, so we had a number of young people in"},{"t":3072,"text":"the springtime who have been away for three to six"},{"t":3074,"text":"months working really hard on their recovery. Uh, so this"},{"t":3077,"text":"was a day where we came together again, bringing families"},{"t":3080,"text":"in, bringing community members in to sing and drum and"},{"t":3083,"text":"welcome them home and acknowledge the good work. Um, that"},{"t":3086,"text":"they've done on their healing pathways. I want to share"},{"t":3091,"text":"with you as well just a few words that were"},{"t":3093,"text":"shared from our young ones as part of this, uh,"},{"t":3096,"text":"program. I think a lot more powerful than any words"},{"t":3099,"text":"I can share here this evening. Uh, so when you"},{"t":3103,"text":"shared, if I was in Victoria, I would have gone"},{"t":3105,"text":"back to substance use. So speaking to that importance of"},{"t":3108,"text":"that connection on the land and having a reprieve from"},{"t":3111,"text":"some of those day to day stressors. Uh, I came"},{"t":3115,"text":"on this land based healing camp to get away from"},{"t":3118,"text":"the city and everything going on with my family. I'm"},{"t":3121,"text":"glad I came here. I heard the drums as soon"},{"t":3126,"text":"as I opened the car door and I knew I"},{"t":3129,"text":"was in the right place. My highlight was when I"},{"t":3134,"text":"was singing with Joe at the Culture Night. And I'm"},{"t":3138,"text":"really excited to be sober and remember my birthday. I"},{"t":3142,"text":"haven't remembered my birthday since I was 11. Uh, yeah,"},{"t":3149,"text":"this one hits me particularly hard. This is a young"},{"t":3151,"text":"girl. She just had her 16th birthday. So that's, you"},{"t":3156,"text":"know, five years that she's been struggling and she was"},{"t":3159,"text":"able to come to this camp, uh, following her time"},{"t":3162,"text":"at treatment program really as a way to sustain that"},{"t":3164,"text":"connection. Know that she's landed at home with a sense"},{"t":3168,"text":"of community and be able to continue on her recovery"},{"t":3171,"text":"journey. I just want to acknowledge, um, a big part"},{"t":3177,"text":"of the work we do is really going beyond just"},{"t":3179,"text":"providing housing, providing a safe structure of course is an"},{"t":3183,"text":"important part. But really focusing on the healing work that's"},{"t":3186,"text":"needed. Um, that's really the root of homelessness for many"},{"t":3190,"text":"of us. Um, and so we've been very fortunate to"},{"t":3194,"text":"have our elders advisory from Coseless Quackwakywak new channelth and"},{"t":3199,"text":"mate representation come together and develop this healing model. We"},{"t":3204,"text":"bring our community members across the island and we followed"},{"t":3208,"text":"the seasonal teachings of each of the territories. And so"},{"t":3212,"text":"we're very fortunate for the time they've taken to share"},{"t":3215,"text":"those traditional ways to build out this model that our"},{"t":3218,"text":"organisation follows can offer our young people, um, but all"},{"t":3222,"text":"of those that we support as well. Um, so just"},{"t":3225,"text":"a special thank you to the city for making these"},{"t":3227,"text":"opportunities possible for our young people. Um, you know, I"},{"t":3232,"text":"can share with you some words this evening, but these,"},{"t":3235,"text":"um, experiences are lifelong memories for our young people that"},{"t":3242,"text":"they won't forget. So hiatchka will elio. Thank you."},{"t":3254,"text":"Thank you so much, Julian. Up next is BC Housing."},{"t":3266,"text":"Welcome. Hi. Just wondering if the PowerPoint's coming up."},{"t":3276,"text":"Yeah. Thank you. We have the PowerPoint, Becky. Good evening."},{"t":3281,"text":"Hi, everybody. I'm Jen Fox. Regional Director for Vancouver Island"},{"t":3284,"text":"Region BC housing. And thank you for the opportunity to"},{"t":3287,"text":"be here this evening to celebrate the Strong Partnership between"},{"t":3290,"text":"BC Housing and the City and to highlight meaningful work"},{"t":3293,"text":"for accomplishing together. Oh, it's me. Oh, there we go."},{"t":3299,"text":"I have to do both here. I'd like to acknowledge"},{"t":3301,"text":"with gratitude that we're here this evening on the traditional"},{"t":3305,"text":"territory of the Le Klingan speaking people known as today,"},{"t":3309,"text":"Azia Squilt Nation and Songhees Nation. There's been a longstanding"},{"t":3318,"text":"and valued collaboration between BC Housing and the City of"},{"t":3321,"text":"Victoria. And I'd like to begin by highlighting our most"},{"t":3324,"text":"recent work together. And then move into key partnership projects"},{"t":3328,"text":"that demonstrate the strength of this relationship. And then close"},{"t":3331,"text":"by sharing the positive impact of this work brought to"},{"t":3334,"text":"life through the story of a shelter resident who generously"},{"t":3337,"text":"shared his experience with us. There's a lot. We've got"},{"t":3343,"text":"two slides like this. It's great. Um, as part of"},{"t":3346,"text":"the province's belonging in BC Strategy, it was announced February,"},{"t":3349,"text":"2024, that the province and the City signed a memorandum"},{"t":3353,"text":"of understanding to bring the homeless encampment action response team."},{"t":3356,"text":"That's heart. And the homeless encampment action response temporary housing"},{"t":3360,"text":"programs to Victoria. B. C. Housing as the delivering implementation"},{"t":3366,"text":"arm of the province and the City of Victoria was"},{"t":3369,"text":"support from local nonprofits identified opportunities for provincial funding under"},{"t":3373,"text":"the HARTH program to expand resources to better support individuals"},{"t":3377,"text":"experiencing homelessness in Victoria. In 2024, we saw Caledonia place"},{"t":3383,"text":"reopened 30 units. Shelter capacity expanded to provide more shelter"},{"t":3387,"text":"spaces. Additional outreach staff were added with weekly outreach coordination."},{"t":3392,"text":"Continuing amongst the city, BC housing, island health, social development,"},{"t":3396,"text":"poverty reduction. Service providers and local nonprofits. And in June,"},{"t":3401,"text":"the victorious Strategic Working Group table brought together the city"},{"t":3405,"text":"BC housing. I'm going to say a lot of these"},{"t":3407,"text":"people. Island Health Provincial Partners, service providers and nonprofits for"},{"t":3411,"text":"a coordinated encampment response that supported 60 people in Victoria"},{"t":3415,"text":"to shelter and housing. Then in 2025 in partnership with"},{"t":3420,"text":"the province through BC housing, the City and CRD, construction"},{"t":3423,"text":"started to bring 158 affordable rental homes and 47 supportive"},{"t":3428,"text":"housing homes to Pandora Avenue with 90 supportive housing homes"},{"t":3432,"text":"underway at 726 Discovery Street. And this year work began"},{"t":3436,"text":"at Wellness Host with our partners at the Aboriginal Coalition"},{"t":3440,"text":"to End Homelessness to bring 34 culturally supportive homes for"},{"t":3443,"text":"indigenous people experiencing homelessness to Victoria. And these are permanent"},{"t":3449,"text":"homes coming to Victoria. Then of course in July, 2025,"},{"t":3454,"text":"Councillor adopted the city's Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan, followed"},{"t":3459,"text":"by shelter expansion at Rock Bay Landing and we coordinated"},{"t":3463,"text":"together on the Shigela response with numerous partners for the"},{"t":3466,"text":"response for Victoria. Additionally, in February, the leadership table, um,"},{"t":3473,"text":"expanded, oh wait a second, sorry, in February, the launch"},{"t":3476,"text":"of the integrated regional governance that's moving away from the"},{"t":3479,"text":"Victoria's Strategic Working Group into a regional governance under the"},{"t":3483,"text":"federal and provincial coordinated access alignment on homelessness brought together"},{"t":3488,"text":"a leadership table that includes BC Housing, CRD, the City,"},{"t":3491,"text":"island health, municipal and provincial partners, service providers and local"},{"t":3495,"text":"nonprofits working together on opportunities for coordinated systems improvement and"},{"t":3500,"text":"flow within the shelter and housing ecosystem. And this spring"},{"t":3503,"text":"Johnson Manor and Bridges opened. What did I just do?"},{"t":3510,"text":"Sorry about that. There we go. Okay. Specific collaborations. So"},{"t":3515,"text":"these are the outreach activities that we worked on together."},{"t":3523,"text":"We saw the shelter expansion at shelters operated by our"},{"t":3525,"text":"place society, Salvation Army, solid and COOL - Aid. Provincial"},{"t":3530,"text":"funding under the HARTH program provided an additional 132 spaces"},{"t":3534,"text":"with an existing sheltered funded under the emergency shelter program."},{"t":3541,"text":"We have new projects by pulling City funding and resources"},{"t":3544,"text":"with provincial hearth funding and in partnership with local nonprofit"},{"t":3548,"text":"partners. Victoria has additional shelter spaces. The new recovery oriented"},{"t":3552,"text":"housing at Johnson Manor and the Bridge Street Pathways Shelter"},{"t":3556,"text":"and more opportunities for flow within the shelter and housing"},{"t":3559,"text":"ecosystem. Just spotlighting again, Bridge Street Pathways shelter. We have"},{"t":3566,"text":"a really great quote from Mayor Alto there. Which is"},{"t":3569,"text":"fantastic. So that's the referral shelter. We're 34 spaces are"},{"t":3573,"text":"supporting folks as a pathway in housing. And of course,"},{"t":3579,"text":"Johnson Manor in partnership with City, the province through BC"},{"t":3582,"text":"housing and COOL - Aid. Another strong example of provincial"},{"t":3586,"text":"investment in the city's Community Safety and Wellbeing Plan working"},{"t":3589,"text":"together to create positive pathways to housing for everybody. I"},{"t":3594,"text":"just want to close out. By sharing. A really great"},{"t":3598,"text":"shelter resident story thanks to Ian, who's currently living at"},{"t":3602,"text":"Johnson Manor. Thank you, Angel. Ian's life was once filled"},{"t":3607,"text":"with chaos and he felt hopeless. He began rebuilding his"},{"t":3610,"text":"life at new roads, therapeutic recovery community operated by our"},{"t":3614,"text":"place, where he spent 15 months in recovery. Seeking continued"},{"t":3620,"text":"support in his recovery. He moved to Johnson Manor, where"},{"t":3623,"text":"residents share responsibilities attend recovery meetings and have the opportunity"},{"t":3627,"text":"to connect with meaningful paid work through Kool - Aid's"},{"t":3630,"text":"labour pool program. And it's a really good way to"},{"t":3633,"text":"sort of close out all of this tremendous work that"},{"t":3635,"text":"our leadership and teams are doing together, whether we're having"},{"t":3638,"text":"meetings, figuring out quick solutions for things. We do so"},{"t":3642,"text":"with really honourable and intentional collaboration. And on behalf of"},{"t":3647,"text":"our regional team, thank you. Thank you very much, Jen."},{"t":3656,"text":"Wow, kind of overwhelming sometimes. Up next is the Victoria"},{"t":3660,"text":"Kool - Aid Society. Welcome. Hi everyone. Thank you so"},{"t":3669,"text":"much for having us tonight, Mayor and Council. Just wanted"},{"t":3673,"text":"to start off by saying a big thank you to"},{"t":3676,"text":"City staff that we work with on a regular basis"},{"t":3679,"text":"and Councillors over the years. Um, since 1968 since Victoria"},{"t":3684,"text":"Kool - Aid society first opened. It has been, I've"},{"t":3688,"text":"really been in this sector for about 12 years now."},{"t":3690,"text":"And in the last year, there's been a real synergy."},{"t":3693,"text":"Amongst city staff here in this building. And then those"},{"t":3697,"text":"that are bylaw police sanitation workers, the real alignment that"},{"t":3702,"text":"I'm feeling happening. So it's, it's, it's a helpful time."},{"t":3705,"text":"And this really represents a new chapter at Kool -"},{"t":3707,"text":"Aid. Um, I didn't make this presentation. I wouldn't normally"},{"t":3710,"text":"be so self - promoting like this, but it's been"},{"t":3713,"text":"a really incredible. It's just a dream team to be"},{"t":3717,"text":"able to make a project like this come to life."},{"t":3719,"text":"So my name is Angela Moran. I'm the director of"},{"t":3721,"text":"housing and shelters at the Victoria Kool - Aid society."},{"t":3724,"text":"And this is Evan James, our recovery housing manager. Kool"},{"t":3730,"text":"- Aid, just a little overview. We've been in operation"},{"t":3733,"text":"for 50 years, innovating to deliver housing, healthcare, and wellness"},{"t":3738,"text":"supports. That's our three sort of arms where we're really"},{"t":3740,"text":"aiming to bring connection in community. Um, and housing and"},{"t":3745,"text":"shelter, we're really excited about this slide because we really"},{"t":3749,"text":"feel like we have a full continuum within Victoria now."},{"t":3754,"text":"We have, um, three emergency shelters that range from Low"},{"t":3758,"text":"Barrier to High Barrier. We have supportive housing. We now"},{"t":3762,"text":"have substance - free recovery housing with Johnson Manor. We"},{"t":3766,"text":"have subsidized housing, so rent gear to income and 500"},{"t":3769,"text":"dollar shelter rate and affordable market rent housing all through"},{"t":3774,"text":"great partnership with the city and with B. C. Housing"},{"t":3776,"text":"that's here tonight. It's been a longstanding partnership for decades."},{"t":3779,"text":"So thank you. In total, we have about 728 housing"},{"t":3785,"text":"units, 144 shelter, five sites just for seniors. Um, one"},{"t":3789,"text":"women's shelter and 20 substance - free recovery housing units."},{"t":3795,"text":"I'm at our healthcare and wellness programs. We have our"},{"t":3798,"text":"Community Health Centre. We're just about to open our Joe"},{"t":3800,"text":"Haggard in the fall. We're getting close. We just got"},{"t":3803,"text":"occupancy today. So very, very excited about that. We have"},{"t":3806,"text":"two mobile health outreach bands, a full dental clinic. Healthy"},{"t":3813,"text":"meals and events. Just, we just calculated the meals. It"},{"t":3816,"text":"was 300, 000 meals that we cooked last year for"},{"t":3818,"text":"people in our supportive housing and shelters. Um, and a"},{"t":3822,"text":"lot of different wellness programs that we offer through our"},{"t":3825,"text":"RES and casual labour pool down at, what's that"},{"t":3831,"text":"street. Last year 55, almost 56, 000 total health care"},{"t":3839,"text":"encounters in the City of Victoria. And we really do"},{"t":3843,"text":"serve as special population. Our nurses work to an advanced"},{"t":3848,"text":"scope and are really trauma - informed. So we have"},{"t":3850,"text":"a lot more success in seeing continued care with this"},{"t":3854,"text":"population. Elevent different mobile clinic sites visited each month. Um,"},{"t":3859,"text":"2, 600 dental visits. Oh, almost 300, 000 meals. A"},{"t":3864,"text":"little bit of an overstretch there. Um, 625 people helped"},{"t":3867,"text":"with employment and housing readiness. And 2, 300 counseling sessions."},{"t":3873,"text":"Um, so moving on to the partnership, um, the partnership"},{"t":3876,"text":"between the City of Victoria. Uh, BC housing and the"},{"t":3879,"text":"Victoria Kool - Aid society. Um, this is a 20"},{"t":3882,"text":"unit site where we were able to offer a really,"},{"t":3886,"text":"um, a gap. In this system for recovery housing throughout"},{"t":3890,"text":"the province when this has been like a two year"},{"t":3895,"text":"passion project that I've been working on. And in my"},{"t":3898,"text":"research and developing this framework, it was very clear that"},{"t":3901,"text":"there is not a dedicated funding program for this type"},{"t":3904,"text":"of housing for people that are exiting treatment and needing"},{"t":3906,"text":"that long - term after care. And that's why the"},{"t":3909,"text":"relapse rate is so high. The rent structure here is"},{"t":3912,"text":"500 dollars flat rate. So we're quite excited. We're going"},{"t":3915,"text":"to be partnering. We are starting to partner with the"},{"t":3917,"text":"BC housing research department to really start to track and"},{"t":3920,"text":"metric this out to see how we can build something"},{"t":3923,"text":"to make, um, allow more of this to happen. Um,"},{"t":3926,"text":"I'm going to pass this on to Evan now so"},{"t":3929,"text":"we can speak a little bit more about the model."},{"t":3931,"text":"Great. Thank you. First of all, I just want to"},{"t":3934,"text":"express my gratitude to the city and to BC housing"},{"t":3938,"text":"and to Angela NCOULE for investing in recovery. Um, this"},{"t":3941,"text":"program, I'm so passionate about it. John Samantha could talk"},{"t":3945,"text":"about it all night, but I'm not going to, um,"},{"t":3947,"text":"because we do have a short video to show you"},{"t":3949,"text":"from our residents, but, um, yeah, this model is just,"},{"t":3953,"text":"um, it succeeded my expectations. The fact that, you know,"},{"t":3958,"text":"when people are coming out of treatment or that recovery"},{"t":3961,"text":"bubble, so to speak. And they move back out on"},{"t":3964,"text":"their own. That's such a giant leap that, that is"},{"t":3967,"text":"too big to take sometimes. And so this is the"},{"t":3969,"text":"perfect, um, model for people to be able to have"},{"t":3972,"text":"the practice of being in their own apartment with that"},{"t":3974,"text":"communal support and accountability. Um, so we have 20 guys"},{"t":3977,"text":"that we've moved in and all 20 of them are"},{"t":3980,"text":"still there from the start, which just speaks to this"},{"t":3983,"text":"model and the dignity we're providing them with their space."},{"t":3987,"text":"Um, so what happens there is the guys do, um,"},{"t":3990,"text":"whatever their recovery program looks like. So we have guys"},{"t":3992,"text":"working full time. We have guys going back to school,"},{"t":3995,"text":"exploring new careers. Um, we have a whole bunch of"},{"t":3999,"text":"in - house supports as far as, um, a smart"},{"t":4002,"text":"recovery, various different recovery supports. We have counseling available for"},{"t":4007,"text":"the guys through COULL - Aid. We have equine therapy"},{"t":4009,"text":"coming up, which we're super excited about. DBT groups. So"},{"t":4015,"text":"a whole bunch of everything. Um, but it's been such"},{"t":4018,"text":"a joy to see like all 20 guys that are"},{"t":4021,"text":"in there have, um, have experienced homelessness at some point"},{"t":4024,"text":"in their journey. And, um, they have all been through"},{"t":4026,"text":"the journey of detox and treatment and many stops and"},{"t":4030,"text":"starts. And, um, you know, seeing them come together and"},{"t":4033,"text":"have so much gratitude and pride in their living space"},{"t":4037,"text":"and where they're at in the recovery. It just blows"},{"t":4040,"text":"me away every day. Um, so, you know, we have"},{"t":4044,"text":"a whole wide variety of life experiences and ages there,"},{"t":4047,"text":"but in a couple short months of really become family"},{"t":4050,"text":"to each other, um, we have had zero relapses and"},{"t":4054,"text":"zero behavioral issues, no conflict between the residents, which is"},{"t":4058,"text":"just like, like I said, it succeeded my expectations. And"},{"t":4061,"text":"I think a big part of that is the model"},{"t":4064,"text":"and, and the setup of them having their own space."},{"t":4067,"text":"And then that communal support as well. Um, so maybe"},{"t":4070,"text":"just a couple of stories about the intake process because"},{"t":4074,"text":"we really wanted to ensure that everyone that there's a,"},{"t":4078,"text":"there's a barrier for people that have experienced homelessness to"},{"t":4081,"text":"be able to get into treatment number one. It's a"},{"t":4083,"text":"big barrier. And then that aftercare, right? They don't have"},{"t":4085,"text":"family to really land with, to support them, to be"},{"t":4088,"text":"able to get to that independent place and community. But"},{"t":4091,"text":"at the intake process, there was, it was pretty incredible"},{"t":4094,"text":"to see, um, when, when we've done our intake, they're"},{"t":4098,"text":"ready that we've done their meet and the greet and"},{"t":4099,"text":"the ready to sign paperwork, especially when you're doing a"},{"t":4101,"text":"big move - in, we tend to do like kind"},{"t":4104,"text":"of like group sessions at our central services on Pandora."},{"t":4108,"text":"And Evan was telling me that there's a couple of"},{"t":4109,"text":"the guys that were, we're sitting there doing their paperwork."},{"t":4113,"text":"And then one of them finally looked up and looked"},{"t":4114,"text":"across the table and couldn't believe it. What was his"},{"t":4117,"text":"name? Uh, Mark, yeah. And he's like, Mark. And the"},{"t":4120,"text":"last time they saw each other, they were on Pandora"},{"t":4123,"text":"and using substances together. And they didn't even recognise each"},{"t":4126,"text":"other until they got in the room and they're like,"},{"t":4127,"text":"Oh my gosh, like they couldn't believe it. Right. So"},{"t":4130,"text":"it, and then another story is, um, one of the"},{"t":4132,"text":"young guys that came into the house, he was on"},{"t":4135,"text":"Pandora. Into mirrors. Which is the youth supportive housing. Into"},{"t":4141,"text":"Tiny Town to new roads to Johnson Manor. That is"},{"t":4144,"text":"the system working, right? We have the system built well"},{"t":4147,"text":"and it's coordinated. It works. So there's coming out of"},{"t":4150,"text":"this. And it's, it's really truly immeasurable at this point,"},{"t":4154,"text":"but we are measuring. And we will report out to"},{"t":4156,"text":"you. Okay. We got to play this video. But, but"},{"t":4159,"text":"I do want to say when we, when we move"},{"t":4160,"text":"the guys into is one of the best moments because"},{"t":4162,"text":"they haven't seen the apartments yet, um, and thanks to"},{"t":4166,"text":"the generous donations and being able to furnish these places"},{"t":4170,"text":"when their reactions when they first walked into the apartment"},{"t":4173,"text":"was just like guys were crying, jumping up and down."},{"t":4177,"text":"They were just blown away. So can we play this"},{"t":4180,"text":"video for you? We really want to. Yeah. Let's, let's"},{"t":4182,"text":"do this. A lot of my addiction was hiding. You"},{"t":4186,"text":"know, hiding behind the mask of seemingly having my act"},{"t":4189,"text":"together, my last relapse. Was really scary. This one. I"},{"t":4194,"text":"was leading internally while I was on the floor by"},{"t":4196,"text":"myself there. I got on my knees and I prayed"},{"t":4199,"text":"for the first time in my life actually. It was"},{"t":4201,"text":"like an act of surrender. For me. It took my"},{"t":4204,"text":"first drink and I remember it like it was yesterday."},{"t":4207,"text":"I was 11 years old. And, uh, it took the"},{"t":4211,"text":"pain away immediately. There's a lot of pressure to get"},{"t":4214,"text":"into treatment, but, um, there's not many options after treatment."},{"t":4219,"text":"And, um, Ending up back on the street is pretty"},{"t":4222,"text":"much a guaranteed ending up back on substance. So I'm"},{"t":4225,"text":"tired of just surviving. I've been waiting 16 years to"},{"t":4229,"text":"get us upsized place when I walked in that apartment."},{"t":4232,"text":"I broke them. I didn't think I was worth hearing"},{"t":4239,"text":"something like that. It's nice to live in a place"},{"t":4241,"text":"where I'm going to be able to take my shoes"},{"t":4242,"text":"off in a long time, leaving your toothbrush in the"},{"t":4244,"text":"bathroom. Like I haven't been able to do that in"},{"t":4245,"text":"a long time. So just little things. This place gave"},{"t":4250,"text":"me a safe place. And I mean a safe place"},{"t":4252,"text":"to stay. Kept me accountable. Give me a sense of"},{"t":4256,"text":"belonging. You know, that I don't feel lonely. I don't"},{"t":4260,"text":"have that fear anymore. And when you leave there and"},{"t":4263,"text":"you go right back into your old career or your"},{"t":4266,"text":"family life, the really vulnerable time. And so the dire"},{"t":4270,"text":"need for second stage housing is real. We need 20"},{"t":4273,"text":"more because there are guys on the list at new"},{"t":4276,"text":"roads right now that have nowhere to go. And they're"},{"t":4278,"text":"about to age out of the program. Never, never turn"},{"t":4281,"text":"your head on someone or judge someone that's in addiction."},{"t":4284,"text":"If anything, sit down with the monaster, what their story"},{"t":4287,"text":"is if they're willing to enlisting carefully. This works. I"},{"t":4292,"text":"can guarantee you that this works. And I'm living proof"},{"t":4295,"text":"of it. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you."},{"t":4305,"text":"All right. Ups next is makes space for art society."},{"t":4312,"text":"Welcome. Greetings. Mayor and Council. Gosh, 10 minutes. Quite the"},{"t":4318,"text":"luxury. But I do believe I'm thrilled because, uh, these"},{"t":4323,"text":"are great stories. And I'm so grateful for the deep"},{"t":4327,"text":"listening. So thank you for that. Um, my name is"},{"t":4329,"text":"Sue Hallett and I am a co - founder of"},{"t":4332,"text":"Makespace North Park and a board member. And I'm the"},{"t":4335,"text":"chief volunteer bottle washer at the CAFE. That's a part"},{"t":4339,"text":"of that. Um, so when the spark grant was announced,"},{"t":4343,"text":"uh, make space North Park was still finding its footing."},{"t":4345,"text":"We were deep in the throe still of navigating our,"},{"t":4349,"text":"uh, all the necessary challenges that come with bringing a"},{"t":4351,"text":"brand new building and a brand new organisation to life."},{"t":4354,"text":"And our cafe had been open for about six months."},{"t":4357,"text":"And our fab lab had just, just opened. And our"},{"t":4361,"text":"woodworking shop wouldn't be open for another five months. And"},{"t":4364,"text":"at that moment though, we knew what we hoped makes"},{"t":4368,"text":"space could be. We believe we were building a new"},{"t":4370,"text":"kind of community infrastructure. CART wood shop. Uh, part classroom,"},{"t":4376,"text":"part community hub, part launch pad. Place where people could"},{"t":4379,"text":"access tools and skills and mentors, creative opportunities and pathways"},{"t":4383,"text":"into businesses and careers that are often inaccessible because of"},{"t":4386,"text":"cost because of confidence. Because of circumstance. Um, but there"},{"t":4393,"text":"was one thing we didn't know. Did young people do"},{"t":4396,"text":"young people belong in this place that we were building?"},{"t":4399,"text":"And it turns out your staff knew the answer, but"},{"t":4401,"text":"we, we, we weren't sure. And so when we received"},{"t":4404,"text":"the spark grant and it gave us the opportunity to"},{"t":4406,"text":"answer the question, um, for ourselves. And the answer, no"},{"t":4410,"text":"surprise to your staff was that it's an overwhelming yes."},{"t":4413,"text":"Over the course of 10 weeks, more than 130 young"},{"t":4415,"text":"people, um, uh, came through our doors. Dozens of organisations."},{"t":4420,"text":"We connected with, um, and we participated in workshops and"},{"t":4424,"text":"partner programs and open houses and special events. Um, we"},{"t":4428,"text":"were designed and delivered 17 different classes and 45 hours"},{"t":4432,"text":"of programming while building relationships with many of the 16"},{"t":4436,"text":"spark recipients. And for such a young organisation, we were"},{"t":4440,"text":"genuinely, genuinely surprised by the response. But what matters most"},{"t":4444,"text":"is what we really learned. And that's what I'm here"},{"t":4446,"text":"to tell you about it. We learned that a six"},{"t":4449,"text":"year old can safely and confidently use hand tools to"},{"t":4452,"text":"carve wood. We learned that teenagers who have never touched"},{"t":4456,"text":"a laser cutter can design and manufacture something. They're proud"},{"t":4459,"text":"to take home. We learned that young people are hungry"},{"t":4463,"text":"for spaces where they can experiment and they can create."},{"t":4466,"text":"They can make mistakes and they can try again. And"},{"t":4469,"text":"we learned that many of the adults who carry incredible"},{"t":4472,"text":"skills in this community and knowledge are looking for opportunities"},{"t":4476,"text":"to share them with young people. One of those people"},{"t":4479,"text":"is angel, a leather worker who spends summers fighting wildfires"},{"t":4483,"text":"for us in the interior. Dreams of building a sustainable"},{"t":4486,"text":"career as a maker. Through spark, angel taught workshops at"},{"t":4491,"text":"make space and was astonished by the demand. There was"},{"t":4494,"text":"a waiting list. What started as teaching a class became"},{"t":4498,"text":"validation that their craft. And in this case, it was"},{"t":4501,"text":"leather work. Um, and their knowledge had real value in"},{"t":4503,"text":"the community. Another is Professor Mo up at UVic where"},{"t":4507,"text":"she teaches film studies. Uh, but she has this side"},{"t":4513,"text":"hustle passion for digital music. So she came into the"},{"t":4517,"text":"FAB lab and volunteered and created a curriculum for young"},{"t":4520,"text":"people to create beats and experiment with music using donated"},{"t":4524,"text":"computers and free software. And the goal for her was"},{"t":4527,"text":"not just to make music, but it was to show"},{"t":4529,"text":"youth that creativity and technology can remain accessible outside of"},{"t":4533,"text":"school environment. So the grant also helped launch what we"},{"t":4537,"text":"believe is the first sloyed woodworking program in Canada led"},{"t":4541,"text":"by our board member Dylan, a red seal carpenter and"},{"t":4544,"text":"father of three whipper snappers. Um, the children in this"},{"t":4548,"text":"program learned patients and confidence and problem solving through a"},{"t":4552,"text":"lattered woodworking curriculum. It was established in Sweeden and now,"},{"t":4558,"text":"uh, it has been important to Victoria. I think if"},{"t":4562,"text":"we can't have an Ikea, we can hubs this Lloyd"},{"t":4565,"text":"woodworking. But the response to it has been extraordinary. And"},{"t":4569,"text":"if we had more time, um, and I know we've"},{"t":4571,"text":"got lots and I don't want more, but really there's"},{"t":4573,"text":"incredible stories that have come out of that. The classes"},{"t":4576,"text":"now have waiting lists and what began as a pilot"},{"t":4578,"text":"is now becoming a lasting program. And, um, and Dylan"},{"t":4582,"text":"is over the moon about it. Some of the most"},{"t":4584,"text":"important outcomes weren't even planned at all. One afternoon representatives"},{"t":4589,"text":"from Isamba, the African and Caribbean cultural centre walked into"},{"t":4592,"text":"our cafe because their meeting space, uh, wasn't available to"},{"t":4596,"text":"them. So they came to have a couple of coffee"},{"t":4599,"text":"at North Perk. And, um, they asked what makes space"},{"t":4602,"text":"was. So we gave them mature. And a few weeks"},{"t":4604,"text":"later a bus load of young people arrived for hands"},{"t":4608,"text":"- on activities, uh, during their youth conference. Some learned"},{"t":4611,"text":"spoon carving in the wood shop. And others participated in"},{"t":4615,"text":"Cedar weaving with LoRA, a tolloquiat artist. We connected with"},{"t":4619,"text":"through our strong relationship with the anti - collective. Many"},{"t":4622,"text":"of these young people had never been inside and make"},{"t":4624,"text":"your space or a workshop before. And not one. Has"},{"t":4628,"text":"sat quietly with a master artist and an elder. So"},{"t":4633,"text":"that moment captures what this grant accomplished. It helped us"},{"t":4636,"text":"transform a building that was full of tools, lots of"},{"t":4640,"text":"potential into a community where young people were able to"},{"t":4643,"text":"build skills, relationships in a sense of belonging. And the"},{"t":4646,"text":"most important outcome wasn't the attendance numbers in the workshops"},{"t":4650,"text":"or even being able to showcase our cool equipment. And"},{"t":4653,"text":"those numbers are pretty good. It was a connection. It"},{"t":4656,"text":"was connections with young people. Connections with parents. Connections with"},{"t":4660,"text":"partner organisations, connections with instructors and volunteers. This program literally"},{"t":4666,"text":"brought people out of the woodwork. Um, and they've stuck"},{"t":4668,"text":"around now since this program. And they're now part of"},{"t":4671,"text":"the fabric of the make space. So we're so grateful"},{"t":4673,"text":"for that. All these connections continue to create opportunities long"},{"t":4677,"text":"after the grant has ended now. And today organisations across"},{"t":4681,"text":"Victoria know that maker space North Park is also a"},{"t":4684,"text":"youth serving organisation. They know that in the future they"},{"t":4687,"text":"can come to us with collaborative ideas. Program Ideas referrals"},{"t":4691,"text":"because they understand the values this space can offer to"},{"t":4694,"text":"young people. We just had ICA come by this week"},{"t":4698,"text":"to talk about what we can do in the fall"},{"t":4699,"text":"and how we can work together. We are still learning"},{"t":4702,"text":"how to sustain this model over the long term though."},{"t":4704,"text":"And I think this is a common theme that you're"},{"t":4706,"text":"hearing. Here we can't lose our opportunity to put that"},{"t":4710,"text":"in there. But one of the challenges we're working through"},{"t":4712,"text":"is that our values are rooted in inclusion and low"},{"t":4715,"text":"barrier access. So we want young people, newcomers, artists, aspiring"},{"t":4719,"text":"entrepreneurs and people living on limited incomes to be able"},{"t":4722,"text":"to participate in the creative economy. And at the same"},{"t":4726,"text":"time, like many social enterprises and nonprofits, we rely on"},{"t":4729,"text":"memberships and earned revenue to sustain our operations. Programs like"},{"t":4733,"text":"Spark give organisations like ours the runway to test refine"},{"t":4738,"text":"strength and models and create both community impact and long"},{"t":4741,"text":"- term sustainability. But one thing we are increasingly confident"},{"t":4746,"text":"about is that the communities need places like this. Just"},{"t":4750,"text":"as cities invest in libraries and pools and parks and"},{"t":4752,"text":"recreation centres because of the public good they create. We"},{"t":4756,"text":"believe maker spaces can serve a similar purpose providing accessible"},{"t":4759,"text":"places where people learn skills, discover talents, build relationships and"},{"t":4764,"text":"create opportunities for themselves and others. In many ways, this"},{"t":4768,"text":"spark grant just didn't fund programming. It helped us discover"},{"t":4771,"text":"what makes space could become a spark grant accelerated our"},{"t":4775,"text":"learning like you cannot believe it catapulted as I think"},{"t":4778,"text":"six months ahead. Like we are, we are, we are"},{"t":4781,"text":"running, man. And it allowed us to test ideas, build"},{"t":4784,"text":"partnerships, develop programs and gather evidence that youth focused, more,"},{"t":4789,"text":"your space programs are, they work and their wanted. And"},{"t":4793,"text":"most importantly, it showed us that this kind of infrastructure"},{"t":4796,"text":"matters. Weng young people have access to tools, mentors, creative"},{"t":4800,"text":"opportunities and spaces where they belong remarkable things happen. So"},{"t":4804,"text":"please, on behalf of our staff and our many now"},{"t":4807,"text":"volunteers and our wonderful instructors and our partners and the"},{"t":4813,"text":"many young people who walked through our doors because of"},{"t":4816,"text":"this investment, we thank you. And we please accept our"},{"t":4818,"text":"gratitude and your support has helped us discover that make"},{"t":4822,"text":"space North Park is not just a place for making"},{"t":4824,"text":"things. Not just that. It's a place for the next"},{"t":4826,"text":"generation of makers, creators, tradespeoples, artists, entrepreneurs and community leaders."},{"t":4832,"text":"And it's a place that we have come to realise"},{"t":4835,"text":"is fostering belonging and its connection. And it's becoming a"},{"t":4838,"text":"resilience hub. And so, um, we're just honestly, you guys"},{"t":4843,"text":"really kicked it off for us. So thank you and"},{"t":4846,"text":"hijasium. Thank you. Thank you, Sue."},{"t":4856,"text":"Up next, I believe we have someone on the phone."},{"t":4859,"text":"Is that correct? The folks from Connecticut. Hello, there are"},{"t":4864,"text":"folks from Connecticut. Can you hear us? Yes. Can you"},{"t":4868,"text":"hear me? Absolutely. Go right ahead. Wonderful. Thank you so"},{"t":4872,"text":"much. Uh, good evening Mayor and Council. Thank you for"},{"t":4876,"text":"the opportunity for our organisation to share tonight. My name's"},{"t":4881,"text":"Jennifer Ferguson Welch and I'm the regional director with Connective"},{"t":4885,"text":"for the Vancouver and the Victoria region. Um, my sincere"},{"t":4890,"text":"apologies for not being there in person, uh, tonight I"},{"t":4893,"text":"had planned to, but there's this, uh, small sporting event"},{"t":4897,"text":"taking place in Vancouver right now that has complicated travel."},{"t":4902,"text":"Otherwise known as FEFO. It's, uh, I will try my"},{"t":4906,"text":"best to share, uh, with my PowerPoint and speaking notes."},{"t":4911,"text":"And it's my understanding that as I need the slide,"},{"t":4915,"text":"the next slide I'll just request that as I go."},{"t":4918,"text":"So I hope that is all right. Um, with that,"},{"t":4921,"text":"I will request the next slide. Go ahead. Thank you."},{"t":4928,"text":"Connective is honoured to support people on the traditional territories"},{"t":4932,"text":"of the Le Quanjin Peoples, which include the Song East"},{"t":4937,"text":"Nations. And the COSAP Sun Esquimalt Nation. We'd like to"},{"t":4943,"text":"just move to the next slide, please. Okay. So I'm"},{"t":4946,"text":"here today to tell you a little bit about Connecticut."},{"t":4950,"text":"So who are we. Connective is a Canadian nonprofit with"},{"t":4955,"text":"decades of experience. Um, our experience is in delivering person"},{"t":4960,"text":"- centred social services. Emed at creating space, um, that"},{"t":4965,"text":"is healthy and inclusive and providing inclusive and safe communities"},{"t":4969,"text":"for all. Our vision is simple. A safe, healthy and"},{"t":4974,"text":"inclusive community for all. We've earned the trust of governments,"},{"t":4978,"text":"uh, including federal municipal as well as provincial. Um, we've"},{"t":4983,"text":"gained a trust of our government partners, our other nonprofit"},{"t":4987,"text":"partners and the public. Through accountable and impactful service. Being"},{"t":4992,"text":"responsive to communities and funders is a core part of"},{"t":4996,"text":"who we are. And we continue to live all alongside"},{"t":4999,"text":"the community needs. Our mission and everything we do is"},{"t":5003,"text":"to strengthen communities by supporting people experiencing barriers so that"},{"t":5008,"text":"they can achieve greater independence. Next slide, please. Our values"},{"t":5015,"text":"are core to everything we do. And our first value"},{"t":5018,"text":"is being inclusive. We foster a culture where everyone can"},{"t":5022,"text":"feel accepted and valued. We are accountable. We focus on"},{"t":5027,"text":"meaningful outcomes, take responsibility for our actions. And honour our"},{"t":5032,"text":"commitments with integrity. Herson - centred. I'll speak more to"},{"t":5036,"text":"this later, but this is court everything we do. We"},{"t":5039,"text":"adopt our approach to the person and we are empathetic"},{"t":5043,"text":"and compassionate in all of our interactions. Collaborative. We engage"},{"t":5048,"text":"proactively and seek shared understanding through curious and open communication."},{"t":5053,"text":"And we are nothing, if not determined. We are innovative,"},{"t":5057,"text":"courageous, and resilience in the face of challenges. Next slide,"},{"t":5062,"text":"please. So why does our work matter. Um, much like"},{"t":5066,"text":"many of the other partners that spoke before me, they"},{"t":5069,"text":"will understand that our communities are facing overlapping crises of"},{"t":5074,"text":"affordability, mental health and substance use. And nonprofits are being"},{"t":5080,"text":"called on to fill critical gaps in support. A connected,"},{"t":5085,"text":"we believe that everything is connected. For example, a losing"},{"t":5088,"text":"housing can lead to challenges with mental health, substance use,"},{"t":5093,"text":"physical health issues, or job insecurity. With our depth of"},{"t":5098,"text":"the experience, connective is being called on to deliver increasingly"},{"t":5103,"text":"complex services. In more ways to more people. And in"},{"t":5108,"text":"more places than ever before. Next slide, please. So if"},{"t":5112,"text":"you can see on this slide, we're a very large"},{"t":5115,"text":"organisation. We operate in 28 communities in various regions, including"},{"t":5121,"text":"the interior, the Yukon, northern BC, Fraser Valley, the lower"},{"t":5128,"text":"mainland. And of course, Vancouver Island and now Victoria that"},{"t":5132,"text":"follows under that region. Next slide, please. Um, this is"},{"t":5137,"text":"a slide that we like to share. It's just a"},{"t":5140,"text":"little bit of highlights for our organisation that gives you"},{"t":5143,"text":"an idea of, uh, some of the strengths that we"},{"t":5147,"text":"bring as a nonprofit, one that we're very proud of"},{"t":5150,"text":"was that we were honoured to be named BC nonprofit"},{"t":5154,"text":"housing associations 2025 housing provider of the year for innovation."},{"t":5160,"text":"Um, we also received the high performance and cultural award"},{"t":5164,"text":"by the supporting lines institute. We are a certified living"},{"t":5169,"text":"wage and employer and have been since 2019. And we"},{"t":5173,"text":"were recently named a nonprofit employer of choice. Next slide,"},{"t":5179,"text":"please. So what do we do? What does connective do."},{"t":5182,"text":"Uh, we do a lot of things. We offer a"},{"t":5186,"text":"range of innovative programs and services that address complex and"},{"t":5191,"text":"systemic issues. Including housing and homelessness prevention. Complex mental health"},{"t":5197,"text":"care. We do a lot of work with supporting people"},{"t":5200,"text":"with acquired brain injuries, co - occurring disorders, problematic substance"},{"t":5205,"text":"abuse. We provide services in treatment and recovery for people,"},{"t":5210,"text":"uh, seeking recovery or supports from substance use challenges. Next"},{"t":5216,"text":"slide, please. Uh, we provide community service and outreach. That's"},{"t":5220,"text":"actually a very large volume of our programming on the"},{"t":5223,"text":"lower mainland. Uh, we also provide justice services for pre"},{"t":5228,"text":"- release and reintegration support for those involved with the"},{"t":5231,"text":"criminal justice system. And we also provide education and employment"},{"t":5236,"text":"offering specialized skill development certification training, et cetera to address"},{"t":5243,"text":"needs for those that are experiencing complex barriers. Next slide,"},{"t":5248,"text":"please. What makes connective different. Uh, for us, we focus,"},{"t":5254,"text":"um, rather than focusing on just a single issue, we"},{"t":5258,"text":"offering from a multi - service model. So that can"},{"t":5261,"text":"be anywhere from individualized supports to large - scale affordable"},{"t":5265,"text":"housing development. We combine scale innovation, cultural integration and business"},{"t":5272,"text":"discipline to deliver social impact and long - term sustainability."},{"t":5278,"text":"Remission - driven operationally sophisticated and focused on systemic change."},{"t":5285,"text":"Our growth that connective is driven by our strong partnerships"},{"t":5288,"text":"with government, indigenous communities, nonprofits, as well as the private"},{"t":5293,"text":"sector. Next slide, please. Our impact on banks, COUREILEN. So"},{"t":5300,"text":"while we may be new to Victoria, we are not"},{"t":5302,"text":"new to Vancouver Islands. We've been here for 35 plus"},{"t":5306,"text":"years. Right now we have over 100 staff. We oversee"},{"t":5311,"text":"540 housing units, and we have approximately 20 plus programs."},{"t":5317,"text":"Next slide, please. So some of the existing housing programs"},{"t":5321,"text":"we have on the island include transitional housing. We have"},{"t":5325,"text":"Westwind Transitional Housing that is a 50 unit facility funded"},{"t":5329,"text":"by B. C. Housing. We have recovery - oriented care"},{"t":5333,"text":"housing. Our Gladys Brewster home has five units. We also"},{"t":5339,"text":"offer a unique program called the Vancouver Island Therapeutic Community,"},{"t":5343,"text":"which has 24 units, and that is funded by the"},{"t":5346,"text":"Canadian Mental Health Association. Next slide, please. Um, supportive housing."},{"t":5352,"text":"We have cornerstone supportive housing, which is 51 units, also"},{"t":5356,"text":"funded by BC Housing. As well as the new Duncan"},{"t":5360,"text":"supportive housing, which is 48 units. Um, in addition to"},{"t":5364,"text":"those programs, we also offer 330 plus units of affordable"},{"t":5368,"text":"housing. Across nine different properties. And that's funded by the"},{"t":5372,"text":"rental protection fund. Next slide, please. So for Victoria, um,"},{"t":5379,"text":"as many people here already know, we just opened our"},{"t":5382,"text":"34 bed referral - based shelter. And this is, of"},{"t":5386,"text":"course, in partnership with the City of Victoria and B."},{"t":5390,"text":"C. Housing. So this program's a bit unique. Um, our"},{"t":5394,"text":"outreach team. Actually connects with people sheltering outdoors. And with"},{"t":5399,"text":"our local service providers to refer people to the shelter."},{"t":5404,"text":"Um, our approach prioritizes who are actually in a place"},{"t":5408,"text":"where they're engaging with support services and are ready to"},{"t":5412,"text":"be housed. Um, that's sort of the target demographic that"},{"t":5416,"text":"we're looking at for this particular program. Participants at Bridge"},{"t":5420,"text":"Street Pathway Shelter will have access to meals, single occupancy"},{"t":5425,"text":"washrooms and showers, laundry facilities, bedding, personal hygiene, et cetera."},{"t":5431,"text":"We have a day room for that has a computer"},{"t":5434,"text":"and wifi access, personal storage. And of course, we have"},{"t":5438,"text":"all the program space upstairs, which a few of the"},{"t":5441,"text":"councillors have seen so far. Next slide, please. So I"},{"t":5446,"text":"mentioned person - centred care before, and this is front"},{"t":5450,"text":"- end centre at Bridge Street. It really is at"},{"t":5453,"text":"the core of what we do in the heart of"},{"t":5455,"text":"everything we do. Staff take the time to understand each"},{"t":5459,"text":"resident's goals. And what we do is we like to"},{"t":5462,"text":"adapt the support to specific needs. The support that we"},{"t":5466,"text":"provide is going to be tailored to each individual. We"},{"t":5470,"text":"combine trauma and inform practices with flexible and innovative approaches."},{"t":5476,"text":"Next slide. Please. Examples of supports that program participants will"},{"t":5482,"text":"receive at Bridge Street Pathways shelter. Include case management and"},{"t":5486,"text":"connections to long - term housing, which is sort of"},{"t":5489,"text":"that next actual, that's one of the names pathways. It"},{"t":5493,"text":"is we're trying to move forward with a pathway to"},{"t":5496,"text":"more longer term housing for the folks that are coming"},{"t":5499,"text":"to us with this need. We're also going to be"},{"t":5502,"text":"working on life and employment skills training. Of course, connecting"},{"t":5506,"text":"them to community services and other partners in the area."},{"t":5510,"text":"And then we like to have a little bit of"},{"t":5512,"text":"fun as well. And we often have many different activities"},{"t":5515,"text":"that we do with the residents. They've actually already started"},{"t":5520,"text":"a karaoke. Um, situation going on, which is kind of"},{"t":5524,"text":"fun. That's just one example. Next slide, please. So in"},{"t":5530,"text":"closing, um, we are committed, well, we're committed to our"},{"t":5534,"text":"ongoing connections in Victoria. We want to commit to continuing"},{"t":5539,"text":"to support and maintain a safe healthy and inclusive community"},{"t":5543,"text":"in Victoria. Ours FAF will continue to work with partners"},{"t":5548,"text":"and the community to ensure that the shelter and the"},{"t":5551,"text":"immediate environment are safe and clean. The Breach Street pathway"},{"t":5556,"text":"shelter, um, we would all be very happy to facilitate"},{"t":5559,"text":"any tours, uh, we're open for business. And I know"},{"t":5563,"text":"some of you have taken us up on that, but"},{"t":5565,"text":"please feel free to contact us. We would be happy"},{"t":5568,"text":"to answer any questions or show you around any time."},{"t":5572,"text":"And we would really sincerely like to thank the City"},{"t":5575,"text":"of Victoria, not only for the funding, but for the"},{"t":5579,"text":"support and the partnership in developing and operating the Breach"},{"t":5583,"text":"Street Pathways shelter. And the last slide is me saying,"},{"t":5588,"text":"thank you. Um, I have put my email address in"},{"t":5591,"text":"there. It is probably the easiest way to get a"},{"t":5594,"text":"hold of me. But by all means, please reach out"},{"t":5597,"text":"if you have any questions. And again, thank you very"},{"t":5600,"text":"much for having us this evening. Thank you. Thank you"},{"t":5605,"text":"very much, Jennifer. Much appreciated. And our last presentation tonight"},{"t":5610,"text":"is actually a video presentation from Pacifica."},{"t":5623,"text":"Hi, I'm Carolina. I'm CEO of Pacifica Housing. I couldn't"},{"t":5627,"text":"be here today. So I've prepared short video for you."},{"t":5631,"text":"In 2023, the City of Victoria engaged Pacific a housing"},{"t":5635,"text":"to assist in relocating individuals camping in City Parks. There"},{"t":5639,"text":"were significant encampments in most City of Victoria Parks at"},{"t":5642,"text":"the time. This was probably one of the earliest initiatives"},{"t":5646,"text":"in an effort that evolved into the Community Safety and"},{"t":5649,"text":"Wellbeing Plan. Since then, homelessness and parks is largely been"},{"t":5653,"text":"eliminated, as most people were offered housing and supported in"},{"t":5656,"text":"the following years. The team continues to visit the parks"},{"t":5659,"text":"and engage with anyone found sheltering outdoors. And this consistency"},{"t":5664,"text":"has helped maintain a much improved situation through support and"},{"t":5668,"text":"assistance. In 2025, focus turned to the downtown core. Occasional"},{"t":5675,"text":"early morning outreach hours were added around 5 a. m."},{"t":5677,"text":"to capture those who may be missed later in the"},{"t":5680,"text":"day. We particularly were able to connect with people's sheltering"},{"t":5684,"text":"and doorways. Many of whom are able and willing to"},{"t":5687,"text":"pack up before bylaw arrives. They too are included in"},{"t":5691,"text":"our support efforts. Since 2023, Pacifica Housing has housed 70"},{"t":5696,"text":"people and assisted countless others by referring them to services"},{"t":5701,"text":"and collaborating with other agencies. Some individuals are able to"},{"t":5704,"text":"find their own way with these referrals and guidance. Supports"},{"t":5708,"text":"provided include ensuring people have live housing applications on BC"},{"t":5713,"text":"housing's registry, referring people to CAA, filling out rental applications,"},{"t":5719,"text":"leasing with landlords, providing transportation to viewings and lease signings."},{"t":5723,"text":"Applying for rent subsidies as well. Our team has also"},{"t":5726,"text":"made medical referrals to detox recovery treatment and other health"},{"t":5730,"text":"services. The team also arranges shell to referrals. Provides move"},{"t":5736,"text":"- in support and short - term housing stabilization. Overdose"},{"t":5740,"text":"prevention. And on occasion supported through situations like gender -"},{"t":5745,"text":"based violence. Most importantly though, the focus has been on"},{"t":5748,"text":"the ultimate goal of housing each person in the right"},{"t":5751,"text":"place. So far, in 2026, the team has engaged with"},{"t":5757,"text":"242 people. Collecting information and making referrals. Since January, they"},{"t":5763,"text":"have housed 19 people. 11 in independent living, Aiden supportive"},{"t":5768,"text":"housing. 12 of these individuals were homeless in the downtown"},{"t":5772,"text":"core. Tut Gonzalez Park and Ford other locations. Who is"},{"t":5777,"text":"currently on the streets of Victoria. Age groups range about"},{"t":5796,"text":"in the last few weeks, this is what we have"},{"t":5798,"text":"seen. The gender is 62 percent female and 22 percent."},{"t":5809,"text":"Uh, have self - reported as indigenous. The next steps."},{"t":5813,"text":"We are considering strategies to better understand and appropriately approach"},{"t":5817,"text":"the areas where we see a higher concentration of unhoused"},{"t":5820,"text":"individuals. We are looking to approach it in a way"},{"t":5824,"text":"that optimizes resources. And this is being explored with city"},{"t":5828,"text":"staff. The team will continue methodically and consistently working through"},{"t":5833,"text":"areas around the city to engage with individuals who do"},{"t":5836,"text":"not have a home. Refer them to resources and endeavour"},{"t":5840,"text":"to find housing, one person at a time. We are"},{"t":5843,"text":"proud to be a part of this initiative. We are"},{"t":5846,"text":"proud of the results and look forward to continuing our"},{"t":5849,"text":"contribution along with many other organisations who are making a"},{"t":5855,"text":"real difference as we face these complex challenges. Thank you"},{"t":5859,"text":"very much. Thank you very much for that. We do"},{"t":5864,"text":"have one last contribution this evening. It's not live, but"},{"t":5868,"text":"it is attached to our agenda. And that is the"},{"t":5871,"text":"restorative justice society, Victoria, who provided a very lengthy written"},{"t":5875,"text":"submission. Uh, I'm not going to read it. I had"},{"t":5878,"text":"planned on it, but it is six and a half"},{"t":5880,"text":"pages long, about 1500 words. So rather than doing that,"},{"t":5883,"text":"uh, I'll just let you know that it is attached"},{"t":5885,"text":"to the agenda tonight. And it is available to the"},{"t":5887,"text":"public. Uh, that actually concludes the number of folks who"},{"t":5893,"text":"had joined us this evening to share their stories. And,"},{"t":5897,"text":"um, I just want to make a couple of closing"},{"t":5900,"text":"comments. It seems. Almost impossible to say anything that could"},{"t":5905,"text":"capture all of the stories that were shared tonight other"},{"t":5908,"text":"than to say that they're indicative of so many more."},{"t":5911,"text":"There are so many people who are engaged in this"},{"t":5913,"text":"work building community and responding to the incredible need that"},{"t":5917,"text":"it is in the community that it's difficult to imagine"},{"t":5919,"text":"being able to provide all of their stories at any"},{"t":5922,"text":"one time. They happen daily and revolving constantly. But we"},{"t":5928,"text":"appreciate the fact that those of you who have come"},{"t":5930,"text":"tonight have been willing to share the stories of the"},{"t":5932,"text":"people that you're working with and serving and responding to."},{"t":5937,"text":"And the lives of whom you're making better. Because it's"},{"t":5941,"text":"hard. Their hard stories to tell. But in the end,"},{"t":5945,"text":"your stories are about. Doing the right thing. With the"},{"t":5948,"text":"right people at the right time and very different ways."},{"t":5954,"text":"Because everyone is very different in what they need. For"},{"t":5957,"text":"me, the things I would just, it seems always you've"},{"t":5961,"text":"talked about connection and working together in relationship. And seeing"},{"t":5968,"text":"the opportunities sometimes unexpected, but always in front of you,"},{"t":5972,"text":"whether you find them or seize them or create them."},{"t":5975,"text":"It's really all about thank you for what you've done"},{"t":5977,"text":"tonight and showed us tonight, but mostly for what you're"},{"t":5979,"text":"doing every single day. And so I think it's fair"},{"t":5983,"text":"to say that Council and the City, if they had"},{"t":5985,"text":"the chance to hear these stories, would just say thank"},{"t":5989,"text":"you to not just those of you who are here"},{"t":5991,"text":"in the room, but all of the people with whom"},{"t":5993,"text":"you're working. All the people who are like you, who"},{"t":5997,"text":"just as I said earlier this evening, that I hope"},{"t":5999,"text":"sometimes everyone takes a moment each day to think about"},{"t":6002,"text":"how remarkable is the generosity and stewardship of the nations"},{"t":6005,"text":"to give us these opportunities. What you're doing. Is you're"},{"t":6011,"text":"creating opportunities for people to change lives. And we thank"},{"t":6013,"text":"you for that. I would be remiss in particular for"},{"t":6017,"text":"tonight's stories because they have come from a particular series"},{"t":6021,"text":"of commitments of council and staff not to single out"},{"t":6025,"text":"to two city staff. We don't do that very often"},{"t":6028,"text":"because our staff works so well together and they are"},{"t":6031,"text":"indeed a group of people who work collaboratively. But CORWEb"},{"t":6035,"text":"and Peter Rantucci are the authors of this particular program."},{"t":6039,"text":"And I venture to say that they have created opportunities"},{"t":6043,"text":"for all of you to do the work that you've"},{"t":6045,"text":"talked about tonight. And a remarkably short time and an"},{"t":6049,"text":"incredibly complex environment. With a lot of heavy - handed"},{"t":6052,"text":"direction from council saying, do the right thing and do"},{"t":6054,"text":"it quickly and do it impossibly. And they've done it."},{"t":6059,"text":"So I'd like to thank Peter and Sarah. And in"},{"t":6062,"text":"addition to everyone else who shared their story tonight and"},{"t":6065,"text":"to say that I believe that you are all here"},{"t":6068,"text":"with hope and intention. And commitment and courage. And the"},{"t":6073,"text":"more to do and more to come. So thank you"},{"t":6075,"text":"for what you've done and what you will do next."},{"t":6081,"text":"With that, that concludes. The appropriate. Yes, entirely appropriate."},{"t":6091,"text":"Thank you all. That concludes our meeting this evening actually."},{"t":6094,"text":"We have no clothes meeting and no other agenda items"},{"t":6096,"text":"tonight. So formally it's required of me to ask for"},{"t":6099,"text":"a motion to return. Thank you Councillor Coleman, seconded by"},{"t":6101,"text":"Councillor Dell. All those in favor, anyone opposed. That is"},{"t":6105,"text":"unanimous. Thank you everyone."}],"words":16319,"fetchedAt":"2026-10-03T05:15:42.549Z"}