Keremeos Mayor Manfred Bauer says all levels of government are working to find a solution for a housing shortage in the Lower Similkameen that is having a negative impact on the operations at a young adult treatment facility.
In response to recent story in the Keremeos Review about how a lack of housing has impacted staffing levels at Ashnola at the Crossing, Bauer said the village has met with contractor Pacific Community Resource Society (PCRS) to talk about options.
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“We’re aware of housing shortages throughout the Similkameen. We met with different stakeholders to explore opportunities, private, public, provincial slash federal solutions regarding housing shortages. We will also meet with representatives of the ministry and we’ve already talked to the MLA about it,” he said.
The Review reported recently that only 18 of the 22 beds have been able to be opened at Ashnola at the Crossing because staffing has not been secured. Beds have not been open to ensure safety of those in treatment at the facility.
The facility opened about a year ago. As of the middle of March at least 15 young adults aged 17 to 24 were on the wait list to get into the facility.
Sarah Martin, executive director of the Lower Similkameen Community Services Society, said she’s also met with PCRS to talk about options.
“They came to meet with us and the village to talk about affordable housing in the community and the potential for future partnering. There isn’t a lot of housing options that are affordable for low to moderate income housing including working people and families,” she said.
Martin said at this point LSCSS isn’t impacted by the housing crunch as far as staff looking for housing, but the office does receive a lot of inquiries.
“We’ve definitely had people come in asking if we do family housing. And our community outreach person has been appalled by the way some landlords are taking advantage of some really vulnerable people,” she said.
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Martin said she’s more than interested in exploring options for developing more affordable housing options geared at single people or families. Currently the LSCSS operates a number of affordable housing units for seniors and is the process of building 24 units for seniors.