Olive Devaud Residence, a former seniors’ residence that has stood empty and for sale since last spring, will again serve a growing community need; this time for affordable housing.
Instead of leaving the 40-room facility vacant, building owner Sunset Homes Society has agreed to partner with Housing Hope, a program of the non-profit Powell River Education Services Society (PRESS), to open a pilot community dorm for single people.
The facility was used for seniors-assisted living for almost half a century and was returned back to Sunset Homes when Vancouver Coastal Health opened Willingdon Creek Village. The building has been up for sale for the past few months, but not a lot of interest has come from potential purchasers, according to owners.
City of Powell River councillor CaroleAnn Leishman, also a board member for Sunset Homes Society, announced the pilot at the Thursday, November 19, council meeting.
“It’s has been up in the air about what to do with it,” said Leishman. “There are quite a few people in need of housing now as we head into the winter.”
The trial project is being called the Devaud Dorm and will begin with 20 rooms available at the start of January. Leishman said the society will do some minor renovations, including installing common showers, and painting to get the building prepared for its new use.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time there trying to visualize how to do this and create rental units and it’s a fantastic building,” she said. “I’ve fallen in love with it.”
Leishman said in the longer term she hopes to take sections of the building outside of the housing pilot and renovate them into suites for rent to help keep the whole project sustainable.
Kathleen O’Neil, Housing Hope administrator, said the Devaud Dorm is aimed at anyone who is struggling with housing.
“This is affordable housing for any single person in town,” said O’Neil. She explained that the dorm will offer month-to-month accommodations for people to live in a communal arrangement.
“There’s a large percentage of people who are at risk because they’re overspending on rent each month,” she added.
The definition of affordable housing is rents or mortgages are less than 30 per cent of net income, according to the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
Rents will be highly income sensitive, said O’Neil, and she hopes to attract a blended group of tenants.
The co-ed dorm will include shared common areas, a kitchen, laundry and a courtyard garden for food production. Residents will be expected to participate in the upkeep and operations of the dorm and it will be drug- and alcohol-free.
“We will need people to contribute to living there,” said O’Neil.
O’Neil admits that it is not a lifestyle that is going to work for everybody, but it may be particularly well-suited for people who are receiving disability benefits from the government and may want to develop micro-businesses, which she said she could help facilitate.
The rooms are currently unfurnished, something she is looking to the community for help with.
“I’ve got no funding for this. I’ve been to the churches and I’m looking for donations, money and help,” said O’Neil.
She said she is hoping local churches and the community can “adopt” each of the 20 rooms to help furnish them. She is looking for basic furnishings such as beds, chairs, dishes and other household items.
O’Neil added that although the late Olive Devaud donated the land with the intention of providing homes for seniors in need, she does not think the building’s namesake would have had a problem with using it for affordable housing.
“Social justice is a large part of her legacy,” said O’Neil.
Housing Hope’s office will be moving from Oceanview Education Centre to the newly named Devaud Dorm facility this week.
