The one-time Community Housing Renewal Grant will be used to repair various long-standing community housing infrastructure
Illustration by Sabina Mendoza.
The City of Victoria has provided nearly $1 million in grant funding, split between seven different local housing organizations. The one-time Community Housing Renewal Grant is intended to help repair and replace old or outdated structural elements.
The grant was available to “non-government, non-profit owners or operators of existing non-market, multi-unit buildings” which were at least 20 years old and located in the City of Victoria.
The recipients of the grant are the Cridge Centre for the Family, Pacifica Housing Advisory, Superior Street Housing Co-operative, Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, Island Community Mental Health Association, Heathridge Housing Co-operative, and the Greater Victoria Housing Society. The majority of the listed organizations provide affordable, below-market housing for low-income persons and families.
The Grant will be used to help organizations address the needs of their housing infrastructure, with many of the projects installing environmental retrofits, and aims to keep existing affordable housing units livable, ensuring residents can continue living in their communities.
The Island Community Mental Health Association (ICMH) will use its $29 600 grant to replace the heating system of 20 subsidized housing units currently housing immigrants, BIPOC residents, and seniors.
Elijah Zimmerman, executive director of the ICMH, told the Martlet the grant will help them perform preventative maintenance, saving costs down the line and allowing them to focus resources on their mission to support adults living with mental health conditions.
“Most nonprofits that I know really care about ensuring that what we have in place can be maintained far into the future,” he said. “We’re always looking for how we can maintain stability for our residents.”
Superior Street Housing Co-operative will be receiving $187 600 to “install energy-efficient mini-split heat pumps in 18 homes and replace aging awnings and soffits,” according to Board Directors Debra Sheets and Angela Dawson.
“For a small housing co-operative like Superior Street, $187 600 is transformative,” said Sheets and Dawson in a written statement to the Martlet. “It allows us to make major improvements without placing the full financial burden on our members.”
The Superior Street Housing Co-operative is a below-market housing initiative comprising 18 townhouses, with residents being a mix of families, seniors, and working individuals. The Board is elected by members of the co-op, making it self-governed.
Victoria City Councillor Susan Kim told the Martlet that protecting existing housing supply is important both in preventing tenants from being displaced, and mitigating environmental impacts of building.
“The most environmentally friendly building is the one that already exists,” she said.
“[The Grant] would save folks from being displaced, particularly in Victoria where there is a high renter-senior population. There are seniors, a lot of whom live on fixed income … [some] have managed to stay in what is now considered affordable [units],” Kim said.
“We do not want to see them displaced in the rental market as it exists right now. So, it is also a homelessness prevention piece to have a grant like this.”
The full list of recipients, the amount of funding received, and the intended purpose can be accessed online.
