Welcome steps on homelessness

The most dramatic is the bid for three of the Traveller's Inn properties up for sale to settle the company's debts. Victoria, the Capital Regional District, the province and the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness are partnering in the bids for the three motels. One is on Gorge Road and the other two are on Field Street and Queens Avenue, just north of downtown. Together they contain 133 units.

The opportunity is tremendous. The motels are well-suited for conversion to affordable and supported housing, with much of the infrastructure already in place. Many of the Traveller's Inn properties have already been filling this role to some extent; in part, the effort would preserve affordable housing that could otherwise be lost.

And the purchase -- because of the economic downturn -- would be a relative bargain. The price the city is offering hasn't been revealed. But the property at 120 Gorge Rd., for example, was listed originally at $4.3 million. The motel has 69 units; the plan is to convert them into 34 larger apartments to address the critical need for affordable family housing. (Income assistance provides a maximum of $700 a month for a family of four for shelter.)

The cost -- before renovations -- would be well under $120,000 per suite.

The receivers, of course, might not accept the offers or others might outbid the city and its partners.

And plans are still being worked on for the next steps. The broad vision would see one or more non-profit agencies charged with running the properties. The rental income would be used to pay off a mortgage arranged by B.C. Housing. Federal money would be sought for renovation.

That leaves open the possibility of a range of housing opportunities, from the family units planned for the Gorge to smaller, even more affordable rooms in other properties. With adequate funding, the agency could also provide support services to help people deal with the issues that have kept them from being able to access market housing.

The other announcement was smaller, but will also make a significant difference. Our Place began opening its doors at 7 a.m. this week, two hours earlier than normal. The city will cover most of the cost, with help from a provincial contribution.

It doesn't sound like a big change. But opening the drop-in centre earlier means people emerging from shelters or outdoor sleeping spots will have somewhere warm and dry to go. That's important for them.

And it will also reduce the number of people congregating outside Our Place or in other spots downtown -- a great relief for the centre's neighbours.

There is sometimes a sense that the problem of homelessness is intractable, too large, complex or costly to address.

It's not. As these measures and other recent progress show, success will come from consistent, steady and creative efforts. Failure to act is far more costly in terms of health care, policing, emergency services, disorder and suffering.

Full credit to all involved in these two initiatives.