The Challenge

The idea for our innovation originated with a developer who was interested in and wanted to assist people with physical disabilities. What he needed was a non-profit organization willing to take some of the risk and join with him.

The critical factor that drove our organization to partner with this developer was our concern to create new environments to further community living for the population we served. The idea was simple, cost effective and original--never before attempted in Canada, and as far as we knew anywhere in the world. We believed it had the potential to revolutionalize how social housing was delivered.

The Innovation

Our innovation was for the developer and the non-profit society to approach the municipality for a twenty-five percent increase in buildable density on a development property. In return for the municipal approval, the developer promised to deliver ten wheelchair accessible suites to the non-profit for forty thousand dollars each. This allowed the municipality to increase the availability of low cost wheelchair accessible accommodation--a need identified by their social planning department.

Obtaining the ten suites felt as if we had just won the lottery, considering the difficulty of locating an appropriate suite in the lower mainland and the subsequent renovation costs to make it wheelchair accessible. The development known as City Club on the Park includes commercial space, loft homes, townhouse and an apartment tower situated in Burnaby, one of the larger municipalities surrounding Vancouver. Our suites were built in the tower from the second to the eleventh floors. This allowed for maximum integration with neighbours but with our numbers being a small portion of the project’s 172 total units it lessened the chance of our residents becoming stigmatized. The close proximity of the suites would increase our ability to share some supports and therefore reduce care costs.

The Outcome

What gives us the greatest sense of having created something "which has made a difference" is the sheer delight on the faces of those who have moved in. For example, a mother of two who suffered a spinal cord and brain injury from a dive into a swimming pool can now have her children visit her in the privacy of her own home. A young man who is deaf, blind and in a wheelchair, fulfilled his dream when he moved into City Club shortly after he turned nineteen. A thirty-three year old man with cerebral palsy, expressed it this way (by moving his eyes and spelling these words) "I am very excited to live on my own, and feel that I am living a full and productive life.".

The impact on our staff, board members and volunteers has been tremendously positive giving us all a renewed sense of purpose.

Since 1978, when we were incorporated with a mandate from government to prove people who had been labelled "mentally retarded" could live full and productive lives in the community, we have been on the leading edge of reform. In 1996, British Columbia saw the closure of the last institution specifically set up to house this population. We are the first (and so far the only) jurisdiction in North America to achieve this goal of community living. The project has renewed everyone’s belief that they are a part of an organization making a difference on behalf of its constituents; an organization continuing to shift the paradigms together with those we serve.

Since we first proposed this project many municipalities in B.C. have changed their regulations in order to facilitate such partnership proposals. The Honourable David Dingwall, Minister responsible for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) stated in a news release March 7, 1994:

It is estimated that the Canadian taxpayers will save well in excess of five million dollars in contrast to the old schemes where government paid down the mortgage to 2% over the economic life of the building. Much credit must go to CMHC through its Canadian Centre for Public-Private Partnerships which played a major role in facilitating this creative partnership producing this unique housing option.

Sustaining the Project

Continued financial support from the provincial government for the daily living needs of the people who live in their new homes is the biggest concern for our agency. Therefore, we are working hard to bring people to their greatest independence and demonstrating this model can reduce both shelter and care costs. For some people, relying on a mechanical aid to summon assistance at night represents a risk factor they are willing to live with. In conjunction with government officials and health care professionals, we have made every effort to make these living arrangements safe. We do not believe there is any significant barrier that would challenge our ability to sustain City Club. As for sustaining the concept of acquiring social housing in this manner, our tower stands as a beacon of success. It has the potential to meet the shelter requirements of a diverse population.

Replicating the Project

Developing the partnership between the private developer, non-profit and municipality will be the most significant barrier an organization will encounter in trying to copy this innovation. There may be a reluctance on the part of the developer to mix market and non-market housing. Municipalities will want assurances the social housing they help create will remain for the designated purpose. Key success factors, in our efforts to implement this innovation, were the willingness by our board to take a risk and to find other solutions when encountering, for example, legislative constraints.

In April 1995, the developer spoke at the provincial meeting of municipalities about the innovation. We promoted the idea to the entire membership of the B.C. Association for Community Living at their Annual General Meeting in Prince George and fellow members of the Community Social Services Employers' Association.