That’s where the Quadra Village Community Centre’s Housing Outreach Program comes in — the goal is to give people the tools and support to find — or retain — affordable housing in a tight market.
Paltiel said even couples with two sources of income can find it hard to find affordable housing and make ends meet. So far, the program has provided more than 1,260 one-on-one sessions to close to 490 members of the community. Greenwell said the program started after members of the community facing homelessness approached the neighbourhood association for help. It also gets referrals from social workers.
A grant from the Victoria Foundation allowed the neighbourhood association to hire the equivalent of one housing outreach co-ordinator position to help handle the workload.Finding housing is hard enough for most people, but it’s even harder for some of the people the neighbourhood association serves, who may be unemployed, on disability or elderly.