Tag Archives: Affordable Housing

Housing, Poverty

Demographics of the ‘Unsheltered’ and ‘At Risk’ on Cortes and Quadra Islands

There were at least 159 Cortes Island residents living in ‘unsheltered’ or ‘at risk’ conditions when they responded to the housing needs survey last spring. There was a smaller response on Quadra and the Outer Islands, so only 69 were identified. These are both low numbers. At one point during our interview Emma Wallace, who oversaw this project, suggested the actual number for Cortes might be 10% higher. So I guesstimate about 175 people in a population of about 1,100 are in unstable housing situations. (I do not believe there is enough data to make a serious guesstimate in Area C.)  

Wallace is employed by the Rural Development Network, which was commissioned to do this study by the Campbell River & District Coalition to End Homelessness and the Urban Indigenous Housing and Wellness Coalition. In today’s program she gives a demographic sketch of the unsheltered and at risk population.

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Rivers & Oceans

What can Cortes Island do with its abandoned boats?

Last month Cortes Currents published a story about a local initiative to use some of the abandoned boats around Cortes Island for housing. There were more than a dozen boats at that time. Dominic dos Santos said he had found a Victoria based firm that will tow them away. Some would undergo any needed repairs and be sold. The remainder will be scrapped. dos Santos said he has fixed up a number of abandoned boats himself and sold them to Cortes residents who needed housing. Since then a person identifying himself as ‘Storm’ emailed Cortes Currents that putting people who cannot find housing onto boats ‘is a disaster waiting to happen.’ 

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Housing, Poverty

‘Unsheltered’ and ‘At Risk’ Populations on Cortes and Quadra Islands

In the Spring of 2022, Campbell River & District Coalition to End Homelessness and the Urban Indigenous Housing and Wellness Coalition  commisioned a series of studies of the housing crisis in our area. One components was a survey called ‘Collecting Stories of Where We Live’ conducted by the Rural Development Network. 110 Cortes Island and 43 Area C residents participated (all but two of the latter were from Quadra Island).  

“The purpose was to provide a comprehensive picture of housing instability and homelessness in the area to help inform service providers and municipal, provincial, and federal policies, practices, and funding decisions. And then to elevate and incorporate the voices of folks who are experiencing homelessness in solutions to end homelessness,” explained Emma Wallace, Project Manager of Community Development and Homelessness Estimations at the Rural Development Network.

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Housing, Poverty

Potentially More than 1200 ‘housing unstable’ in the SRD

There may be more than 1,200 ‘housing unstable’ people in the Strathcona Regional District. 

This figure arises from a statement Emma Wallace, of the Rural Development Network, made when she released the comments from the ‘Collecting Stories of Where you Live’ data collection project.

Wallace’s organization was commissioned by the Campbell River & District Coalition to End Homelessness (CRDCEH) and the Urban Indigenous Housing and Wellness Coalition (UIHWC) to conduct the housing and service needs estimation in the Strathcona Regional District earlier this year. The ‘stories’ her organization collected were written responses to the housing needs survey.

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Housing, Poverty, Rivers & Oceans

Trying to clean up Cortes Island’s abandoned boats and provide homes for the homeless 

There are probably a dozen abandoned boats on Cortes Island right now, and Dominic dos Santos would like to have them towed away.

“A lot of them are floating. Some of them just have no names on them. People just leave them there. it’s just been 15 years of ‘not my problem.’  We have fiberglass shards on every beach now because they abandon the boats and let ’em get destroyed on the rocks . All this stuff is gonna wind up on the beach in the next five, 10 years?” he said.

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