Making Room: A Transitional Tiny Home Community

We acknowledge and respect the lək̓ʷəŋən peoples on whose traditional territory the University of Victoria stands, and the Songhees, Esquimalt and W̱SÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day.

Colonialism has had detrimental effects on all life but has most significantly impacted those with racialized identities by using oppression, genocide, and displacement. Territorial acknowledgements are meant to recognize the ways that these oppressive systems have harmed Indigenous People and assist in reconciliation and repair of the relationships between Indigenous People and the land.

Western education has deep roots in colonialism, imperialism, and white supremacy and in particular, the academic discipline of Geography has a very clear history of complicity in these oppressive systems since the 15th century. As Geography students, we have a duty to not only acknowledge the ways that this discipline has harmed Indigenous People historically but how it continues to do so today through current institutional policies and practices.

It is important that both institutions and individuals go beyond territory acknowledgements and work jointly with local Indigenous groups to broaden societal worldviews. In doing so, we accept the true history of how Canada came into existence and take on an active role in genuine reconciliation.

This Esri story map is a Community-based Participatory Research (CBPR) project through UNESCO K4C Salish Sea Hub & the University of Victoria's (UVic) Geography Department. It was created in partnership with the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (GVCEH), Island Health, and UVic instructors Ken Josephson and Dr. Crystal Tremblay. This story map is simultaneously a place of awareness and a call to action regarding houselessness and the importance of site-supportive transitional housing. We aim to have this map be a center point for resources, information, and stories. While our story is situated in Victoria, British Columbia, we hope the success of the Making Room: A Transitional Tiny Home Community will inspire other similar projects and help break the cycle of houselessness. 

If there are any questions regarding GVCEH, please contact Michelle Vanchu-Orosco.

“Our job is not to deny the story, but to defy the ending — to rise strong, recognize our story, and rumble with the truth until we get to a place where we think, “Yes”. This is what happened. And I will choose how the story ends.” - Brené Brown

We use the term houselessness in this story map as the term "homeless implies that those currently lacking a proper residence have never known nor experienced a place of love and belonging, which is not an accurate judgement to accept". We use the term houseless as "an effort to adequately embrace a growing population of individuals who are not currently being fairly treated". These definitions and learnings are from  "Cycle the word homeless out of your vocabulary" by Suhani Dalal (2019). 

A lot of organizations doing amazing work still use the term homeless as that is the normalized term. But it is our job as a collective society to switch our vocabulary to more inclusive language that doe not promote inaccuracies and stigmas.

To learn about the range of terms and understandings of houselessness through language  click here to be taken to the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness definitions. 

• People choose to be homeless: There are many reasons someone ends up unhoused, it is not usually a choice
• It is because they are lazy: It is often more difficult and exhausting to get basic needs met when you are unhoused than not
• They are all addicts: Many people are not addicts until after they end up unhoused, and some never become one
• If they found a job they would have a house: A lot of unhoused people are employed. Those who are not, are likely having trouble getting one
• There are tons of supports for them, it is just excuses: Depending on the type of support needed, many are inadequate for the demand
• Moving them into my neighbourhood will lower property values: NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard) has a detrimental impact on everyone in a community, it is time to let it go

Caledonia Tiny Home Village Timeline: The NPNA and other communities work hard to advocate for this project to be implemented. They were met with obstacles and bylaws that impact the houseless community.

"Transitional housing refers to a supportive – yet temporary – type of accommodation that is meant to bridge the gap from homelessness to permanent housing by offering structure, supervision, support (for addictions and mental health, for instance), life skills, and in some cases, education and training" ( Homeless Hub, 2021 ).

Did you know? The social return on investment (SROI) for transitional housing is between 1:4 and 1:5, which means for every dollar invested into housing initiatives, four to five dollars in social and economic value is generated.

There are varying levels of assistance needed to help individuals transition from being unhoused to finding a permanent home, ranging from high levels of support, such as that found in the Caledonia tiny home community, to independent and no longer requiring provincial assistance. In cities like Victoria, transitional and supportive housing is made even more necessary by low vacancy rates and ballooning rental rates throughout the housing market.

Below is The Victoria Declaration: A Statement on Government in Housing & Support Services created by the  Home in the City Project . Bringing together people facing diverse issues related to housing to contribute to this declaration.

Below are things you can start to do right now to support the push for housing for all.

Language portrays your worldview. It's important that we are aware of what term we say when speaking about people with the lived experience of being houseless.

Another step is to talk with people you know about your perspectives on houselessness. For example:

• What are your thoughts on the housing crisis in Victoria?
• How often do you interact with people who are houseless? Would you even know if you do?
• What systems and cycles are in place that keeps people without secure shelter?

Get talking! There will be less stigmatization again the houseless community if we talk about the causes and impacts.

Get to know your community/communities. This can be your local spiritual/religious group you partake in, community centre, your local neighbourhood association and/or the people you do a shared activity with. Sticking together with community is needed to come up with solutions that include all.

If you have the means you can volunteer and/or fund organizations doing work to support houseless people and everyone in our community. Such as the  Rethink Urban  and the  Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness  (GVCEH).

•  Community Plan to End Homelessness in the Capital Region 2019-2024 
•  Information for Community Partners Supporting Underserved Populations during COVID-19 
•  Environmental public health guidance for encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic 
•  Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness Society (ACEH)