Details of a new Squamish facility downtown that will offer the essentials of a healthy life are currently being worked out by the powers that be in the district. Representatives from the District of Squamish, Squamish Helping Hands Society and the Squamish Food Bank recently announced they are working together with BC Housing to create a four-storey facility near the current Squamish Helping Hands Society centre at Third Avenue and Main Street.
“Squamish has always been a community that comes together to support those in need and those who are most vulnerable. We are thankful and humbled by the passion, collaboration and cooperation we have experienced at Squamish Helping Hands to create this opportunity to better serve the people and families of Squamish side-by-side with other social agency partners,” said Maureen Mackell, executive director of Squamish Helping Hands, in a news release.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us and much more planning to do to make this a reality, but I am confident that we will succeed in providing a broad array of services under one roof.”
The facility will offer transitional and low-barrier housing, as well as affordable housing units and include a commercial-grade kitchen and a Community Food Hub that will encompass food bank and food rescue services “in a grocery-store style setting with family dining area,” the release states.
A drop-in centre will provide support services and programs and allow access to clothing and showers. It is planned that an on-site doctor and clinicians will tend to clients’ health-related needs.
Some type of social enterprise such as a café or laundromat will allow for low-barrier employment.
“It is remarkable the transformation you see once you actually give people the stability and the dignity of a roof over their head and a warm place,” Mayor Patricia Heintzman told The Squamish Chief, adding the district wholeheartedly supports the “long overdue” project.
“You look at what Helping Hands has done with the little that they have. They have been providing service for about 10 years to our at-risk community… There is no dignity in having someone sleep on a mat in an old fire hall... One of their mandates has been to make sure people, no matter who they are, are treated with dignity.”
The land will have to come before a future council to go through a rezoning, giving the public a chance to weigh in on the plan, Heintzman said.
On Saturday, Squamish Helping Hands hosted Crave, its annual fundraiser to support this project and others it currently offers, at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park. Around 240 people attended, raising $45,000, according to the society.
