Kelowna should get 300 new units of social housing in the next decade, according to members of a city committee examining homelessness.
As well, 5,000 new units of affordable housing should be created by 2019, and there should be improved detox services along with programs to promote job skills.
Those are some of the recommendations contained in the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness in Kelowna, presented Monday to city council.
“I‘m a big supporter of the Housing First approach to addressing a lot of social problems,” Coun. Robert Hobson said.
The committee, headed by volunteer Jennifer Charles, includes such local luminaries as Brad Bennett, president of the UBC board of governors, developer Adrian Block and former senator Ross Fitzpatrick.
“Awareness of the issue of homelessness in the City of Kelowna has been on the rise in recent years, and there is now a broad recognition throughout all levels of the community that it‘s unacceptable to allow the current situation to continue,” reads part of the report.
Among single adults, the three top causes of homelessness are said to be substance abuse, lack of affordable housing and mental illness. An April 2007 survey estimated there were about 280 homeless people in Kelowna, though this number is thought to be an underestimation.
Almost 6,000 city households are paying 50 per cent or more of their gross income on shelter.
It‘s expected that funding for new social housing complexes will come through partnerships between the city providing the land and the provincial and federal governments. Top of Page
