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Cash raised for hut, now Victoria group seeks church parking space to house homeless

Region suffers lack of emergency winter shelter spaces due to staffing shortages

With cash at the ready, the volunteer group Community Alliance for Sheltering Alternatives (CASA) needs a site to build its prototype Conestoga Hut for a Victoria resident experiencing homelessness.

The group is on the hunt for a location, specifically asking all churches in Greater Victoria if they would host a hut in a parking lot.

“Winter is here, and we feel that the community needs to step up to help shelter people living without a roof in our region,” a CASA statement reads.

RELATED: Grassroots collective starts with $4,000 goal for 1 hut for 1 unhoused Victoria resident

The vision is to inspire more huts. They’re used across the U.S. and locally on Salt Spring Island. The Wagon Wheel Housing Society built one as a pilot project to safely isolate individuals during the pandemic.

CASA sees the initiative as a supplement to the region’s extreme weather response, amid a lack of emergency winter shelter spaces due to staffing shortages.

Anyone interested can email casagreatervictoria@gmail.com

READ ALSO: Victoria opens warming centres for the night, as shelters reach a short-staffed capacity

For a current list of temporary, permanent and extreme weather response shelters in B.C., call or text 211.


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Christine van Reeuwyk

About the Author: Christine van Reeuwyk

I'm dedicated to serving the community of Oak Bay as a senior journalist with the Greater Victoria news team.
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