Burnaby’s first supportive housing project for homeless people could include a safe room where tenants could use drugs.
The proposed 52-unit, three-storey building slated to open in March of next year will have the capacity for a safe injection room, according to Jaye Treit, the executive director of the Progressive Housing Society, the facility’s operator.
The building is still in the early planning stages, she said, and the possible injection room is part of ongoing discussions between BC Housing, the City of Burnaby and Fraser Health.
Nearly half (43 per cent) of people found in Burnaby’s official 2017 homeless count reported being addicted to drugs or alcohol. Of the more than 1,400 people who died of a drug overdose in B.C. last year, nearly 90 per cent died alone in a home.
Future tenants of the Norland project could add to those statistics if they are forced to use alone in their rooms.
“It's extremely important to have supervision so that if people are using, it's done in a safe environment,” Treit said.
The safe injection room would be just one part in a complex system of wraparound services available to tenants, she said. The injection room would only be available to residents, she said, and not to the general public.
There will be a minimum of two staff members present at all times, including the middle of the night, according to Brenda Prosken, the regional director of supportive housing with B.C. Housing. They will not only be there to support tenants, she said, but also to ensure there are no issues with the surrounding community.
In recent months, similar proposed housing facilities have met vocal opposition from potential neighbours in Richmond, Vancouver and Maple Ridge.
“We are working very closely with our partners to make this housing address the needs for the population in which it is intended, taking the community, the staff and those tenants needs in mind,” Prosken said. “So we're going to create a successful wonderful home for some folks who haven't had one in a long time.”
A series of open house information sessions for the project are being hosted at the Bill Copeland Sports Centre this week. The first, on Tuesday, went from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., followed by Wednesday, from noon to 4 p.m. and Thursday, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.
