Twenty new complex-care homes are being planned for Nanaimo to help deal with complex mental-health and substance use challenges.
According to BC Housing, they’ve submitted a zoning and development application to build the new homes on Boxwood Road, and would be studio-style units with communal dining and amenity areas.
Minister of Health Josie Osborne says the need for complex care units is going up fast and this is one way the province is answering the call.
“The lack of stable, dignified housing worsens the struggles faced by people living with complex health challenges, including brain injuries, mental health and substance-use issues,” she says. “As a result, people can find themselves stuck in a cycle of evictions, shelters, encampments and even emergency departments.
“The social and health supports and stable homes that complex-care housing provides can help people establish stability, build connections and break the cycle of homelessness.”
According to the province, complex-care housing provides voluntary housing and support services to people with health issues, and minister of housing Ravi Kahlon says facilities like these help people establish security in their lives.
“Everyone deserves a place to call home, somewhere they feel safe, supported and connected,” Kahlon says. “Providing people with stable housing helps build strong, healthy communities that people want to live in.
“These complex-care homes in Nanaimo will not only offer housing, but also the critical supports people need to move forward in their lives.”
Nanaimo and Area Public Safety Association vice-president Kevan Shaw says the new facilities are a step forward to help those who are in need, but more needs to be done.
“This is good news, and we also need complex care facilities,” Shaw says. “We need complex-care facilities for people living with the lasting effects of multiple overdoses, with wrap-around services on site.
“Twenty units aren’t enough, but it’s a start. We also need more spaces for those who are in a serious psychosis state and could harm themselves, and the public, and for these serious cases we do need secure care facilities.”
Shaw credits the new structure but adds the work has just started and now the province needs to think about amping up care facilities as promised to deal with those who are a threat.
“We now need a secure care facility in Nanaimo, or close to us, for these types of severly ill people,” he says.
The housing project is part of a Belonging in BC and is also part of the province’s Safer Communities Action Plan.
It’s estimated that since 2017 the province has nearly 92,000 homes that have been delivered or are underway.
