Public safety dept seeks Council support for housing solutions project
City staff are embarking on a three-year project to develop innovative approaches for addressing the city’s housing challenges and seek City Council’s support for an application to the Northern Development Initiative Trust for funding.
The goal of the project – called the Fort St. John Housing Solutions Initiative – is to determine if the Housing First model the city committed to exploring in 2024 will be both feasible and the right fit for the community.
Housing First is an established model used in other municipalities in British Columbia to improve access to housing for vulnerable members of society.
Last summer, the city convened a group of community leaders, social service organizations, and business leaders to explore root causes for homelessness in the community and options to help alleviate the situation. The Housing First model was put forward as a potential solution.
Based on the premise that people can’t improve their situations if they don’t have a stable, safe place to call home, Housing First focusses on finding housing for people that meets their needs and then provides a variety wrap-around services to support individuals to maintain that housing.
The long-term goal is to move people towards health, well-being and independent living wherever possible. It uses a variety of housing types with different levels of support to meet this goal.
Community Safety Manager, Erin Ferris presented a report and request for support from the Public Safety Department to council on March 10. The department is applying for up to $300,000 in funding from NDIT’s Northern Healthy Communities Fund Capacity Building.
The funding will allow staff to expand on the current data, develop solutions and implement the Housing First model in the community. Some data on the housing challenges in Fort St. John has already been collected through the Housing Needs Assessment and the 2023 Point-in-Time Count of homeless individuals.
“Initially we’ll be collecting data. Year 2 we’re going to be analyzing what we’ve collected, and Year 3 will be creating solutions and implementing a Housing First Model within the community,” Ferris told council.
After collecting the data, Ferris said they will “utilize that data to create a program t support people who have housing insecurity in our community.”
Exactly how to support them will emerge through the process, and in Year 3, Ferris says they will be able to determine a community organization that is willing to take the Housing First solution on.
No matching funds are required from the City for this grant, but if successful, staff time would be allocated to the project.
The FSJ Association for Community Living, FSJ Friendship Society and the Fort St. John Salvation Army have already expressed their support for the project.
Council voted unanimously to add their support to the project.