About Housing Continuum Services
Housing Continuum Services was influenced by Anhart Community Housing Society which was influenced by Community Builders Group which was influenced by Community Concern which was influenced by the village pharmacy in Umalila, Tanzania.
Housing Continuum Services promotes self organization in large groups of homeless persons by establishing client-centered, housing environments which combine private peer-to-peer counselling with public community health and social programs.
Project Information
- Category : Housing
- Status : Running
- Location :Vancouver, Canada
- Years of Operation :2015 – present
- Generations of Influence : 5
Housing Continuum Services
In 2017, the Oppenheimer Park, in the heart of downtown Vancouver, Canada, was occupied by 150 persons who had erected a tent city.
The chaotic causes of homelessness that lead to the self-organizing creation of the Oppenheimer ad hoc housing effort was fueled by rapidly rising housing prices and a growing income disparity in one of Canada’s most ordered cities.
As a response to the growing tent city, an emergent partnership was formed between the City of Vancouver and Anhart Community Housing Society, a generational offshoot of a self-organizing village pharmacy in Tanzania. The Quality Hotel, a 160-room empty multi-room facility in Vancouver, was leased by the partnership as a housing continuum centre for the Oppenheimer tent city residents.
Revenue for operational costs at the Quality housing continuum services came solely from provincial shelter allowances that the tenters were eligible for once they had a fixed address.
Life experiences were improved, and expenses reduced by employing tenants and community altruists to provide meals, cleaning, and maintenance services. Community-based nurses, doctors and social workers visited daily.
During a 30-month period, a total of 300 people moved into the Quality Hotel and then on to permanent housing. At the end of 30 months, the property lease expired, the building was demolished, and a high-rise condominium constructed.
In 2020, a larger tent city organized at the more spacious Strathcona Park, three kilometers from the Oppenheimer Park. More than 400 persons have taken up residence in the Strathcona Park.
The Anhart Community Housing Society proposes to utilize its nearby Dodson Rooms on Hastings as a centre of housing continuum to assist the Strathcona tenters.
The Dodson is a five storey, 70-unit single room occupancy supportive housing centre. Medical and social service case workers regularly visit the Dodson. The ground floor features a 3,500 square foot community centre with potential for a cold weather shelter connected to housing continuum rooms in the upper four floors.
Housing Continuum Services features:
- Emergency medical liaison support
- Peer to peer counselling
- Social support connection services
- Housing Flow coordination services
- Back-to-Home housing services
- Housing Bucks© virtual currency
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