Tenants from Village on the Green rally for housing security

Tenants of a community of subsidized housing units near Cook and Johnson that is destined for demolition are worried once their home is gone, they won’t be able to afford another.

Village of the Green (VoG) tenants, many with disabilities, were told some would have the option to move into the new Caledonia development at 1211 Gladstone once it was completed before VoG is demolished to make room for its new iteration.

That’s likely not going to happen.

On Nov. 26, they received a letter from Hans Rodinger, manager of housing and business development for CRHC stating: “We understand the proposed schedule regarding the redevelopment of the property may cause some concern. The date to start the Village on the Green project originally contemplated to begin upon the completion of the Caledonia development may no longer align.”

According to Rodinger, the letter itself represents the commencement of the eviction/relocation process.

Village on the Green is a 38-unit Capital Region Housing Corporation (CRHC) complex for families and persons with disabilities (PWDs), located in Victoria's Fernwood neighbourhood. It will soon be pulled down to make way for a new Village on the Green, a $29M project into which the City of Victoria has injected $2.4M.

VoG 2.0, a $65M redevelopment will see the number of affordable homes on that site increase to 140 from 38 units. The start date of the project is targeted for next spring, with a proposed completion date of December 2027.

Tenants thought they had first crack

Tenants living there now were told they would be offered first right of refusal on units at Chard Development’s Caledonia. That property will operate under the terms of the Community Housing Fund (CHF) program in partnership with BC Housing but it isn’t ready yet. The timing simply didn’t “align.”

“We’re being told the demolition will move forward even though Caledonia isn’t ready," said Kym Hines, a VoG resident and longtime housing and anti-poverty advocate.

"Too bad for you, is what we’re being told."

Residents said they hope to schedule a meeting with CHRC staff to address their unanswered questions about where they’ll live.

According to some in the tenant group, CRHC hasn’t been very helpful in assisting people to find another place to stay. They said they’ve been told subsidies that apply to their current circumstances might not be transferred to another building within the CHRC market holdings because the options are limited.

At a Dec. 5 rally held near the social development and poverty reduction ministry offices on Pandora, Hines took to a bullhorn to express his frustration.

“People with disabilities have decided we need to organize on our own because no one is going to save us," he bellowed. "All I see is more suffering. They are not being assisted to find relocation suitable for families. There are going to be more of us out here because of the crisis that’s happening.”

Caledonia—the development project to where Hines says they were told would be a relocation possibility—will have 158 new affordable rental housing units, including 32 units at provincial assistance rates. The Victoria council approved that project in July 2023.

Chard, the Caldelonia project developer, recently submitted a successful bid to purchase property at 1045 Haro St. and at 830-846 Thurlow St. in Vancouver from the Receiver General. While the price tag for the building remains confidential, Chard offered $93M during a previous attempt to sell the property in 2023—also led by CBRE. BC Assessment valued the property at $98M.

“The human cost of becoming homeless is unknown to the general population," Terry Livingstone, spokesperson for the Housing Justice Project in Victoria told Capital Daily.

"One thing we should be doing is helping disabled people with food and rent and the PWD rates need to go up.”

PWD support allowance rates vary per household

For a single person looking for a one-bedroom, that amount is $983. For a family where a single parent lives with a disability, the rate is $1,133.

Couples in a two-parent family where both people are PWDs pay $1,853.

The average rent for a two-bedroom apartment in Victoria in 2024 is $2,160. Affordable housing in other CRHC buildings also falls well beyond the means of most at VoG who already receive a subsidy.

For those living in shelters, the PWD allowance rate for a single person with a disability is between $75 and $500 per month.

“Even with subsidies, that takes an entire PWD cheque so they are set up to fail,” said Martin Girard, a resident who was part of the rally.

“People with disabilities get subsidies and charity and they still fall behind. Then they end up back on the streets.”

‍ CRHC’s Tenant Relocation Policy refers to an “official provision of a ‘Notice to End Tenancy’ that is provided to the tenant four months prior to demolition or renovation as per the Residential Tenancy Act (BC).” Caledonia is slated to open in April–four months away.

“Basically, we’re dealing with legislated poverty,” said Girard, who spent more than four years in a supportive housing complex on Pandora. He said the city likes to trumpet how many people it helps to transition into [supportive] housing, but he said it doesn't acknowledge the turnstile that kicks them back out because they can’t afford to pay, even for a shelter or supportive housing space.

“After two years in supportive housing, people start going crazy,” he told Capital  Daily.

“It gets to their mental health. It’s too much time spent in an environment that is basically hostile with a high density of people, no privacy, surrounded by drugs, violence, crime.”

CRHC says it customizes plans for individuals

CRHC spokesperson Jamie Gripich said the social housing provider has a tenant engagement team that looks at each person to help develop an individualized Tenant Relocation Plan (TRP).

This is especially true, he said, “for those people who have additional needs and supports” that are necessary. “We're not a market corporation, we're a social corporation so we look at and respect and understand peoples’ needs,” Gripich said.

“As soon as they are able, or, you know, and willing, to call into our people, we've given them the contact info, we will put them right in touch with our people here, and we will work things out.”

Hines said he’s tried to contact Rodinger several times, to no avail.

The protesters stopped outside MLA Grace Lore’s constituency office. Lore, the minister of children and family development, announced the same day she would be stepping down from her ministerial duties due to health reasons.