Some of Victoria's most vulnerable will have a new place to call home in the new year.
The Cool Aid Society held an open house for its new supportive and affordable housing facility in Victoria, which is aimed to be open for service in the coming months.
On Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3, the society invited residents to tour the new facility, called Crosstown, which will offer supportive housing, and affordable housing units on Burnside Road East.
Over the tour, volunteers and staff members explained the building has 100 units of affordable housing, which are under-market or subsidized by BC Housing, as well as a further 54 units of supportive housing for those in need of long-term care.
The Crosstown also offers a health centre that will be run in conjunction with Cool Aid, a daycare, a commercial kitchen, art maker spaces, communal gathering spaces and commercial spaces.
Cool Aid describes the Crosstown as a "holistic approach" to addressing the challenges facing marginalized people in the community by combining supportive and affordable housing, along with mental and physical health care, and other essential services on the site.
For those looking to get into a supportive unit, Dustin Leavitt, a manager of another Cool Aid Building, explained to tour-goers that applicants start by filling out subsidy and supplemental forms for BC Housing.
"And [those forms] go in front of a board. They look at all the different needs [the clients] have. Once their needs are prioritized and what building they would be best in, [the board] sends them to us, the managers, and we go through those. And then we decide if that person would be a good fit with the building, with the rest of the clients. We'll have a meeting with them. We'll talk with them and see exactly how they fit in," said Leavitt.
Despite having a commercial kitchen that offers one meal a day for the residents in supportive housing, each unit is also equipped with a kitchen to help residents gain independence, which is the ultimate goal of the supportive side of the building.
"If someone doesn't know – and there's a lot that don't know certain life skills, like cleaning or cooking or whatever else – this will help them and build those skills up, and then they can come here and learn how to do it," he explained to the tour.
Currently, the Crosstown Capital Campaign hopes to raise a final $1.5 million to ensure that Cool Aid can properly fund the health centre and "fully implement holistic wellness programs."
The application process for the building has started recently, and though there is no set date, it is expected to be open in early 2025.
