Thread by @kwardvancouver

Thank you Kathy Shimizu (of @WePress_YVR) for introducing that idea about a new definition of social housing! appropriately doing so in the context of this #ChinatownYVR session at council. i can explain #vanpoli
(i was hoping to be there today, but i'm still really sick.) 1/..

at present "social housing" can include a rental range from $375/mth (the "shelter rate" portion of bc social assistance) to 30% of income at the HiLs rate - for one person, that's an annual income of $38,500. @BC_Housing @selinarobinson bchousing.org/housing-assist…

which would mean rent for a studio would max out at $962/mth. world of difference between $375 and $962. i understand that HILs represents the low end of average incomes - but how is that measured? $962/mth doesn't feel like "social housing"

and $375? wow what a deal right? no. why do you think so little social housing at that rate was built all that time? $375/mth bears no relation to the market and hasn't for a very long time. "Demolition by neglect" is a familiar strategy to deal with an aging structure....

$375/mth is indictative of the attentiveness that successive bc liberal gov'ts dedicated to the housing needs of low-income people. the minister of housing and mining indeed he is a rich coal man.

Anyhow. The city already has another way to measure what "low-income" means. How about the city go with the city's already existing definition how about that vancouver.ca/parks-recreati…

if that were the case, rent for a studio, for a single person using this formula - the maximum possible rent in social housing - is $633/mth. and this council has passed motions and made statements calling for the shelter rate to be raised to at least $600. ? @andreareimer

right now, the housing problem is so serious at the lowest income levels that new social housing must be weighted towards people who have no housing, who are unsafe, the "most vulnerable." but we must acknowledge that there's a range of poverty

and if you're making minimum wage, by definition you can't get on social assistance and qualify for social housing. you have to lose your job, or get sick, or have your life fall apart. become homeless. you're making less than 25K/yr, you are not rich, not The Gentry

now that sort of social mix is what makes sense to me, plus it is a powerful way to advocate for raising that shelter rate. i live in a %100 @375 situation and it is not cool; let's check with professionals @BuiltJustice

https://twitter.com/BuiltJustice/status/1014383483651854336

This would achieve several aims. It would help to normalize social housing. Put it everywhere. You can't build vienna in a day. But you can't create a situation where people feel so trapped in supportive housing that they become dependent, isolated, and feel warehoused.

+ it's important that social housing be sustainable. so this is an idea, thx Kathy for raising it, for a new definition of social housing that meets social realities. hopefully answers yr questions @AdrianeCarr @andreareimer it's all about keepin promises @MelissaDeGenova

that's the idea - kathy felt bad that she didn't explain it well, but she gave me a chance to talk about it. let me know if it makes sense, @Khelsilem @BuiltJustice i appreciate yr thoughts about it.
once more with feeling unroll thread @threadreaderapp (oops)