LivingRoom Drop-In Activity Center

(now known as the Powell Street Getaway)

In this, we also recognized that the seriously mentally ill were particularly unable to access housing, even when poverty was not a factor.  Paper thin walls in local rooming houses were often a factor, and the eviction rate of the mentally ill resulted in the mentally ill being at highest risk of homelessness in the area. They were also a group who utilized our shelter on a higher percentage basis than any other user profile. Frequently abused, and without many supports, Lookout became determined to create services specifically for the mentally ill in the Downtown Eastside area, the new name of Skid Row.

To prevent the evictions and to provide opportunity for the mentally ill to access psychiatric services, Lookout and two other services, Barry McArthur of St. James Community Services, and Ralph Buckley of Strathcona Mental Health spearheaded the creation of a drop in/activity center for the seriously mentally ill. In 1993 we celebrated the opening of the LivingRoom Drop In Centre to provide safe hang-out space for people to use, as well as get involved in activities or treatment.  The service was an immediate hit, with approximately 125 people using the facilities daily.

In October 2016 the LivingRoom was renamed the Powell Street Getaway, which now serves at a Vancouver Coastal Health funded Mental Health and Substance Use community resource center. The Getaway offers a safe consumption site, peer-lead programs, meals, activities and supports for anyone who may need them. The expansion of services is designed to create the space as a ‘hub’ where many services are offered, with particular emphasis on supporting health referrals and outcomes.  We actively refer people in need to the Connections Clinic, operated by Vancouver Coastal Health, which is across the street.

Also in 1993, after successfully arguing that people with disabilities can live independently if the appropriate community supports are in place, Lookout celebrated the opening of the Jeffrey Ross Residence, a 37 suite apartment block (not care housing) that specifically targeted the disabled. Most of the residents moved from the tenancy program providing a mini continuum of housing within Lookout, better enabling us to match the needs of the people with our most suitable housing.

Tenant selection was through volunteers from a number of neighborhood agencies, based on our criteria of housing local people who had few, if any housing options. As a result, we were able to move people with repeated housing crises into our longer-stay housing, while people needing housing with supports could be waitlisted for the permanent housing. The Jeffrey Ross naming honors a beloved manager of Lookout – Jeffrey loved the people, the work and was dedicated to creating permanent housing. We vowed to keep up the battle to create more permanent housing options. The Ross immediately had a huge waitlist, with minimal turnover, and our shelter continued to be in high demand, with some people being turned away without housing, to sleep in the streets as there were no other sheltering options for them.

We were successful in gaining an allocation of housing units, and in April of 1996 we moved people in to the 67 suites of our new Jim Green Residence, the first social housing project in B.C. to particularly serve people who have a chronic history of homelessness. This apartment building also included one unit specifically designed as an emergency backup unit to the shelters in the area, particularly for the women’s shelters. This also included individuals in varying family configurations: Immigrant and refugee families, disabled homeless, as well as men and/or women fleeing violence, sometimes accompanied by children have been housed in this unique and extremely useful apartment.

Lack of shelter continued to grow to crisis proportions and Lookout was determined to assist. During the late summer of 1995 a young, seriously ill man came into our shelter acutely ill from exposure. He died of pneumonia within 6 hours.  This was the final straw in Lookout’s quest for another shelter, despite knowing that shelter beds were not the solution – the beds were critically needed as understood as band aids for first aid attendants. We actively initiated work towards a new shelter, co-located with secondary housing.  In 1996 Lookout was able to open the first cold weather shelter in the lower mainland: thanks to the Real Estate Foundation of BC.  This winter shelter opened each year while we worked collaboratively with other service providers to create a new shelter service in Vancouver, this time outside of the Downtown Eastside.

Mount Pleasant/False Creek

In 2002 we were happy to open the Yukon Housing Centre, which provided 36 shelter beds, expandable to 56 (35 in 2005) by adding 20 beds during inclement weather. These shelter beds were matched by 37 transitional studio apartments. Lengths of stay in the studios are limited to 2–3 years, giving people with repeated housing crises a longer time to gain stability. The staff work with the residents to bridge into permanent housing that is affordable, and appropriate to meet their service needs.  This development was the first shelter and housing with a flexible mandate to be established outside of the Downtown Eastside. It was immediately full and turning away people and our waitlists continued to soar.

Located in the Mount Pleasant/False Creek area, First Place is a 12-storey high-rise with 129 units of permanent housing that opened in 2012. It is part of an innovative partnership between the City of Vancouver (provided the land), Province of BC (provided the funding) and Lookout who manages the building and provides assistance to the residents.  Built to LEED Gold standards to reduce environmental impact, residents and staff follow “green” practices and use environmentally friendly products to maintain the standard.

During the development of this new housing, we saw an influx of shelter-less people coming from outside Vancouver. Many came due to lack of flexible, supportive shelter and housing elsewhere. Others still chose to live outdoors rather than leave the community they called home. Our Outreach Team met many of these individuals, ranging from New Westminster, Burnaby, Richmond and the North Shore.  Recognizing their connections to their own communities, Lookout campaigned in these communities to establish local resources for the homeless. Later known as the regional Cold Wet Weather Strategy (and now the Extreme Weather Strategy), the collaborative approach was successful in that both New Westminster and the North Shore asked Lookout to establish services locally.

Downtown Vancouver

Another type of partnership exists with the owner of the Pender Residence where our Outreach staff are able to support shelter guests in a residential setting while they seek more appropriate long term housing options. Our Outreach team can also be called upon for crisis intervention and preventative problem solving o help resolve tenant issues and maintain a stable living environment.

Beginning in 2007, the Province of BC purchased a number of Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels in order to preserve the affordable housing stock for low income people at a time of rapidly increasing property values. Lookout was selected to manage and provide support services for Walton Residence (48 rooms) and the Russell in New Westminster.  We also manage Tamura House (105 units) while maintaining support services for 35 units, under a prior partnership agreement.  Both the Walton and Russell have undergone extensive renovations; those at the Tamura are scheduled to begin in 2014.

Merger with Keys: Housing and Health Solutions

In 2014, Lookout merged with Keys: Housing and Health Solutions, a smaller agency that offered similar yet complimentary services in Surrey.   The merger not only expanded Lookout geographically, it introduced a variety of programs that included health, youth and sober living – all that remain in operation with Lookout.  The Surrey Health Solutions encompasses a free medical clinic, non-profit dental clinic, an onsite six-unit low-cost housing facility, women specific programming, a high-protein supplemental food bank, a community garden and a support lounge for individuals living with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis or other blood-borne diseases.  The Surrey Housing Solutions building offers a 24-hour drop in center and a year-round 40-bed emergency shelter as well as a meal program, a number of outreach teams and a 10-bed recovery residence for men.   We also are partners with Centered Lifestyle Services, the Surrey School District and CKNW Orphans Fund in a counseling program for community-based mental health program for youth living in the Surrey Central area.

Most recently Lookout has expanded or enhanced services in the communities we serve. Some of our more recent initiatives include:

2016

• Agreement with the Mission Community Training Garden which provides fresh produce for Lookouts numerous meal programs. Excess produce which we are not able to use is donated to a number of community partner organizations and local food banks.
• LivingRoom was renamed the Powell Street Getaway. This resource center now offers a broader range of programs, many peer-lead, which serve needs for people with mental health and/or substance use challenges.

2017

• Opening two new emergency shelters in Surrey – Guildford, which allows couples to stay together, and Parkway. Parkway was originally intended as an extreme weather response (EWR) shelter during the especially cold and long winter, but due to a large and sustained need we were able to negotiate with our key partners and keep the space open as a new permanent shelter.
• Opening of Crawford Manor in Surrey. The Crawford program serves as a young adult stabilization and transitional housing program. It is a short-term program which identifies key issues, especially for youth with substance use issues, and creates plans with clinical supports and outcomes to help move people on to the next steps they need in housing and care planning.
• Completion of renovations at our Tamura House. As part of BC Housing’s SRO Revitalization Initiative, the Tamura underwent extensive renovations for over two years. Now reopened, the Tamura serves as essential housing for people in need, with vastly improved appearance, safety, and comfort for people in the heart of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
• Merger with Mood Disorders of British Columbia (MDABC). We are pleased to announce that on June 28, 2017 Lookout Housing & Health Society (Lookout Society) and Mood Disorders Association of British Columbia (MDABC) finalized approvals to merge the two societies. As part of this amalgamation, MDABC will retain its name and brand as a collection of mental health programs to the Lookout Society.