Homeless

View Royal Park is set to become one of two within the municipality in which overnight camping by unhoused people will be allowed on a restricted basis, under an amended parks bylaw. (Courtesy Town of View Royal)

View Royal amending its parks bylaw to restrict overnight camping

Restricted camping to be allowed in View Royal and Portage Inlet Linear parks

 

Photo taken with permission of a woman who had a seizure, due in part to the extreme heat in Kelowna (Jacqueline Gelineau/Capital News)

Kelowna’s vulnerable want to shelter from heat wave, but bylaw requires they move

Bylaw requires residents of homeless encampment to pack-up and leave each morning

 

Bob Galligan holds pictures of his daughter and grandchildren. File photo

Remembering Bob: Face of Comox Valley’s unhoused population dies

Bob Galligan, whose comeback from a hard life made him somewhat of an Island icon, dead at 64

 

Al Smith, executive director of the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, shows where a homeless person living behind the building plugged in electric bike, a move that blew up the battery of the bicycle and set part of the building on fire. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

Blown electric bike battery sets Chamber building on fire in North Saanich

RCMP took the person in custody, said Al Smith of Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce

Al Smith, executive director of the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, shows where a homeless person living behind the building plugged in electric bike, a move that blew up the battery of the bicycle and set part of the building on fire. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
Staff with Threshold Housing Society outside one of the society’s homes for at-risk youth in Greater Victoria. The society has partnered with NIL TU,O to better serve Indigenous youth. (Black Press Media file photo)

New partnership to enhance support in Greater Victoria for Coast Salish youth

Culturally inclusive supports coming for youth at risk of experiencing homelessness

Staff with Threshold Housing Society outside one of the society’s homes for at-risk youth in Greater Victoria. The society has partnered with NIL TU,O to better serve Indigenous youth. (Black Press Media file photo)
Tents and other structures are seen in an aerial view at a homeless encampment in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday, April 30, 2021. The City of Prince George, B.C., has apologized for the harm it caused to vulnerable people when it removed their structures from a homeless camp.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Prince George apologizes for taking down part of a homeless camp

Judge finds that Prince George ‘inflicted serious harm on vulnerable people’

Tents and other structures are seen in an aerial view at a homeless encampment in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday, April 30, 2021. The City of Prince George, B.C., has apologized for the harm it caused to vulnerable people when it removed their structures from a homeless camp.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Tents and other structures are seen in an aerial view at a homeless encampment in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday, April 30, 2021. The City of Prince George, B.C., has apologized for the harm it caused to vulnerable people when it removed their structures from a homeless camp.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Prince George apologizes for taking down part of a homeless camp

Judge finds that Prince George ‘inflicted serious harm on vulnerable people’

Tents and other structures are seen in an aerial view at a homeless encampment in Vancouver, B.C., on Friday, April 30, 2021. The City of Prince George, B.C., has apologized for the harm it caused to vulnerable people when it removed their structures from a homeless camp.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
The Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser is back again on Feb. 26 to raise funds for the Sooke Shelter Society. (Facebook - Sooke Shelter Society)

Coldest Night of the Year back to raise $20k for Sooke Shelter Society

Taking place on Feb. 26, the walk will raise funds to help buy food, blankets and clothes

The Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser is back again on Feb. 26 to raise funds for the Sooke Shelter Society. (Facebook - Sooke Shelter Society)
The floating structure moored off North Saanich’s Lillan Hoffar Park where a couple lived for several years before being removed late last year remains in place, but North Saanich is currently working with the Dead Boats Society to help remove the vessels as well as the structures around it. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

Couple removed from North Saanich boats receiving support at new home in Greater Victoria

Official says couple in ‘very ill health’ when removed from the vessels for their own safety

The floating structure moored off North Saanich’s Lillan Hoffar Park where a couple lived for several years before being removed late last year remains in place, but North Saanich is currently working with the Dead Boats Society to help remove the vessels as well as the structures around it. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
The Community Alliance for Sheltering Alternatives team of Jeremy Caradonna, Matt Dell, Rob Reid, Calen McNeil, and Krista Loughton are looking for a site to place their inaugural Conestoga Hut. (Photo courtesy Community Alliance for Sheltering Alternatives)

Cash raised for hut, now Victoria group seeks church parking space to house homeless

Region suffers lack of emergency winter shelter spaces due to staffing shortages

The Community Alliance for Sheltering Alternatives team of Jeremy Caradonna, Matt Dell, Rob Reid, Calen McNeil, and Krista Loughton are looking for a site to place their inaugural Conestoga Hut. (Photo courtesy Community Alliance for Sheltering Alternatives)
Manager of H.E.L.P. Team Boyle Street Community Services Doug Cooke, right, and outreach and support services manager Jared Tkachuk, left, check on a homeless person’s well-being in Edmonton on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson

‘Peril or promise’: Long-term solution needed to help homeless in Alberta cities

Homeless shelters are near capacity but open their doors to all when temperatures become unbearable

Manager of H.E.L.P. Team Boyle Street Community Services Doug Cooke, right, and outreach and support services manager Jared Tkachuk, left, check on a homeless person’s well-being in Edmonton on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jason Franson
Victory Church homeless shelter had the highest calls for police service above everywhere else, at 290 calls for service, in the first three months of the year. (Jesse Day Western News)

Penticton drops lawsuit against BC Housing; new shelter proposed

A new shelter will go beside Compass Court and Victory Church shelter will close spring 2022

Victory Church homeless shelter had the highest calls for police service above everywhere else, at 290 calls for service, in the first three months of the year. (Jesse Day Western News)
Our Place Society and Cool Aid Society say COVID-19 cases among Victoria’s unhoused population have dropped since their peak at the end of September. (Black Press Media file photo)

COVID-19 cases fall, vaccination rates rise in Victoria’s unhoused population

Our Place says its cases dropped from 56 to 2 over 3 weeks

Our Place Society and Cool Aid Society say COVID-19 cases among Victoria’s unhoused population have dropped since their peak at the end of September. (Black Press Media file photo)
(Black Press file)

Judge reserves decision on Prince George homeless camps

Advocates want resolution as cold weather season approaches

(Black Press file)
Kendra Klausen (left) and Lauren Blakey prepare to hand out care packages to those in need at Topaz Park. (Photo courtesy of Kendra Klausen)

Good samaritan to hand out care packages for those in need at Topaz Park

Organizer of care packages said response has been far and wide, many reaching out to help

Kendra Klausen (left) and Lauren Blakey prepare to hand out care packages to those in need at Topaz Park. (Photo courtesy of Kendra Klausen)
BC Housing minister David Eby. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito)

Eby jabs back against Penticton mayor’s ad urging BC Premier to intervene in shelter dispute

Eby writes that Penticton’s ‘serious’ social issues won’t improve under leadership of the mayor

BC Housing minister David Eby. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito)
A tenant starter kit will help newly housed people transition from a survival mindset to a secure, safe place where they can start planning ahead. (Photo courtesy of Our Place)

Tenant starter kits help support people moving into long-term homes in Victoria

For the formerly homeless, it takes more than just the new address to transition

A tenant starter kit will help newly housed people transition from a survival mindset to a secure, safe place where they can start planning ahead. (Photo courtesy of Our Place)
BC Housing ensures that by March 31, shelter will be available to all people living outside. (Black Press Media file photo)

All unhoused Victoria residents will be offered shelter by March 31, says BC Housing

BC Housing working to secure shelter locations in coming weeks

BC Housing ensures that by March 31, shelter will be available to all people living outside. (Black Press Media file photo)
The Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre has reopened with 45 shelter spots for people experiencing homelessness in Victoria. (Courtesy of Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre)

Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre shelter in Victoria reopens with spots for 45 people

Arena is an interim step until long-term housing is found

The Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre has reopened with 45 shelter spots for people experiencing homelessness in Victoria. (Courtesy of Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre)
A makeshift cold-weather camp that popped over Family Day long weekend in Parksville, located in the back parking lot of St. Anne’s church. (Mandy Moraes photo)

As snow falls on shelter-less B.C. town, woman builds her own makeshift homeless camp

‘There’s no doors open and these people are literally freezing’

A makeshift cold-weather camp that popped over Family Day long weekend in Parksville, located in the back parking lot of St. Anne’s church. (Mandy Moraes photo)