Questions and Answers – Kelowna Supportive Housing

1. John Howard Society of the Central and South Okanagan is the successful proponent, but who else submitted proposals?

• Societies submit proposals with the expectation they will be treated confidentially by the funding partners for the purpose of a fair evaluation.
• If unsuccessful proponents wish to inform the public they submitted a proposal, they are free to do so.

2. Why was the John Howard proposal selected?

• The proposal was the best one we received – it was a good proposal, and it addressed the requirements that were outlined in the Request for Expressions of Interest.
• The requirements included being able to demonstrate:
  • Experience with program and service delivery in the local community; 
  • Experience with the target population;
  • An understanding and experience with harm reduction strategy; and,
  • A commitment to a transparent and inclusive community consultation process and communications.
• Overall, we believe their proposal demonstrated that they were very capable of developing this supportive housing project.

3. Who is the John Howard Society of the Central and South Okanagan (JHSCSO)?

• JHSCSO is based in Kelowna and has a long history of service provision in the community dating back to 1956 – that’s 50 years of work in the local community.
• They have a strong community presence and well-established professional working relationships with governmental and social service organizations.
• JHSCSO has a long history of operating social housing units in Kelowna.
• JHSCSO is affiliated with the John Howard Society of Canada, a national, provincial and territorial society governed by people whose goal is to understand and respond to social and health related issues with a focus on criminal justice.
• JHSCSO has been a member organization of the United Way for over 15 years.

4. What kind of community programs does JHSCSO provide?

• The JHSCSO provides programs to anyone in the community regardless of involvement with the criminal justice system or not.
• Examples of our programs include:
  • Community Anger Management program;
  • Hepatitis C Prevention and Community Based Support program;
  • Intake Referral Counselling;
  • Relapse Prevention Planning program; and,
  • Restorative Justice Program.
• The programs involve partnerships with the RCMP, Interior Health, Legal Services Society, and over 20 other community and government organizations.

5. Where are these programs provided?

• Most of our programs are run out of our offices at 1433 St. Paul Street.
• People taking our programs are committed to making changes in their lives.
• As an existing tenant in the downtown area of Kelowna we are committed to make St. Paul Street a successful and safe part of the revitalization of downtown.
• We are committed to working with all of our partners and neighbours – the businesses and the residents – to make sure this happens.

6. Doesn’t the John Howard Society just deal with issues of criminal justice?

• No. In fact, many of the programs and services are preventative and many individuals have not had any involvement with the criminal justice system.
• At a national and local level, the John Howard Society provides a wide variety of services for both youth and adults, including seniors, in addition to its rehabilitative programs for people who are or have been involved with the criminal justice system.
• This includes everything from emergency shelters to long-term supportive housing delivered under a range of models, including harm reduction.
• Supportive housing is an area we are becoming more involved in, and we’re delighted to have this opportunity.
• We can draw on the expertise and support of other John Howard locals as we build this housing development.

7. Are people with criminal records going to be able to live there?

• We understand people might have concerns about this - the safety and security of everyone in the neighborhood, including our own tenants, is the highest priority.
• Between ourselves and Interior Health, we will have an extensive interview and screening process for all prospective tenants to make sure they are committed to making positive changes in their lives.
• The target population remains the same since this project was first announced - some people with mental health and alcohol and drug addiction issues may have criminal records, this is a reality regardless of which housing provider was selected for this development, or anywhere in the city where people in this target population live.
• What's important to note and what we want to make clear is that we will not jeopardize this development and the program by making an inappropriate admission.
• Someone with a violent past who would be a risk to the program and other tenants will not be accepted.

8. Is it still your intent that tenants can use drugs and alcohol?

• While we do not encourage the use of drugs or alcohol on-site, we recognize evicting tenants for drug or alcohol use does not solve the problems we are trying to address.
• Some people will not use drugs or alcohol, others may not be able to stop using them right away. The goal of individual program agreements will be to decrease and stop using drugs or alcohol.
• The harm reduction approach is aimed at reducing the risks and harmful effects related to substance use for the individual, the community, and society as a whole.
• It means we will not judge people when they relapse or continue to use, instead we will work with them toward reducing and eliminating their substance use.

9. Tenants will have to sign an occupancy agreement with John Howard and a program agreement with Interior Health. What’s the difference? What are the different roles and responsibilities of John Howard and Interior Health?

• John Howard is the property manager and landlord, while Interior Health provides the support services for the residents and 24-hour staffing.
• John Howard is responsible for things such as building maintenance, rent collection, security equipment, and landscaping. They will also monitor the tenants’ general behaviour.
• Interior Health will be providing and linking tenants to the various treatment programs and monitoring the tenants’ progress in these programs, and providing assistance with referral and relocation.
• Both groups will be involved with screening applicants. If programs are not being followed or misbehaviour occurs, both groups will be involved in making decisions regarding evictions.

10. Does JHSCSO operate any social housing in Kelowna right now?

• Not directly, at present, although we established three separate housing societies through JHS’s social housing projects (Belaire Women’s Society, Howard Fry Housing Society and Okanagan Halfway House Society).
• Through these societies we established housing partnerships with the Kelowna General Hospital, the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Social Services.
• We also ran a number of recovery homes and halfway houses in the 1970’s and 1980’s for both men and women.

11. What will the building look like?

• As outlined before, we envision a four-storey residential apartment complex with 30 studio housing units.
• The specific look and design of the building has not been determined yet as we are just in the process of mobilizing our development and design team.
• The public consultation process to be held this fall will be crucial in contributing to the design of the building.
• We want to make sure the housing development fits well with the community and that any concerns are addressed.

12. When will the public meetings be held?

• We are very open to discussing the design and development of the building with our neighbours and members of the wider community.
• In fact we are hoping to meet with members of the Chamber of Commerce, the Downtown Kelowna Association, and the Homelessness Committee, to name a few, as soon as possible this summer.
• We will be organizing other opportunities for neighbours and interested members of the public to ask questions of the development partners and to provide input.
• We are organizing our development and design team of professionals to undertake the building design process.
• When completed, the building and site concept plans will be shared publicly and people can provide feedback and comments on the proposal – the partners can then incorporate the feedback into revised plans.
• We expect these concept plans will be ready later in the fall.