Tag Archives: Cortes Island homelessness

Development, Housing, Poverty

Finding Home: Options and Challenges

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This article is the first in a three part podcast series called Finding Home.

The first podcast features Sandra Wood and Ian Scott discussing the options and challenges for creating affordable housing that they have encountered in pursuing the creation of four affordable rental units for seniors and 20 units for all ages on Cortes. That podcast is almost two hours long and includes a number of questions and answers from local community members. Please listen to the podcast for more in-depth explanation of the Seniors Village expansion and the Rainbow Ridge project. 

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Housing, Poverty

The Definition of Homelessness In Our Area

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Summer is here, and with it  an increase in the number of homeless people in our communities. According to Sue Moen, the Salvation Army’s representative in the Campbell River and District Coalition to End Homelessness, this problem goes back about forty years – to when the federal government stopped subsidizing affordable housing. In the wake of the COVID pandemic, many Canadians have come to the realization that issues like this are community problems and we all need to seek solutions. In this morning’s interview, we talk about the definition of homelessness. 

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Development, Housing

It Takes A Community To Raise A Village

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“It takes a community to raise a village,” it says on the Cortes Community Housing website (at cortescommunityhousing.org).  This has clearly been the case on Cortes Island with two upcoming housing initiatives undertaken by the Housing Committee of the Cortes Island Seniors Society. 

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Arts

The Merry McKentys Return Home On Tour

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According to the description on their website, the McKentys saga starts sounds on a steep snowy mountainside in the backwoods of British Columbia. Robert and Elizabeth had a small cabin, “many children of various sizes, a wood stove, a small battery-powered stereo system that sometimes worked, a mandolin, and several fiddles.” By the time they moved to Cortes, the Merry McKenty were on their way towards becoming a band.

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Development, Housing, Poverty

Addressing The Cortes Island Housing Crises

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Some vital issues undergird the impending Cortes Community Housing fund raiser, on July 14. According to David Rousseau, one of the principal organizers, “We are slowly slipping towards a community of older people who can not afford to be here. And the people who want to come here; live here;  raise families and work here are slowly being squeezed out.” He points to Hornby Island as an example of what could happen. (The population average is a decade older than on Cortes and most trades come from off island.) Cortes Island Seniors Society’s purchase of a 51 acre parcel close to downtown Mansons Landing is a significant step towards addressing the Cortes Island Housing Crises.

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