Victoria - 1075 Meares Street

BC Housing and Beacon Community Services are pleased to announce the opening of 1075 Meares Street in Victoria on October 24, 2023. The new six-storey building has 48 self-contained, furnished studio homes each with their own kitchenette and washroom. This development will provide 48 new permanent supportive homes for young adults, ages 19 to 27. It is part of an integrated health and housing initiative that will help meet the needs of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Victoria.

Supportive Housing to Young Adults

The 2023 Greater Victoria Point-in-Time Homeless Count and Housing Needs Survey found that 1 in 2 respondents first experienced homelessness as youth (under 25). 1 in 3 were in government care as a child or youth, and 17% became homeless within a week of leaving care.

Supportive housing is a self-contained studio home with various supports provided on-site, to help residents achieve and maintain stability in housing, enhance access to other community-based supports and services, and foster resilience against homelessness.

Operator: Beacon Community Services

Beacon Community Services, a local charity with a long history of operating non-profit housing and delivering social and community services, will manage the supportive housing for young adults at 1075 Meares Street.

Beacon delivers a vast array of services and programs in the Greater Victoria and Gulf Islands areas, including in the fields of child, youth, and family services; counselling services; subsidized housing, homelessness prevention and shelter services; volunteer services; and employment services, training and supports. Beacon’s extensive service portfolio and strong community connections enables it to provide a wide range of ‘wrap around’ supports to the people it serves.

In partnership with BC Housing, the organization operates three subsidized independent living apartment complexes for seniors and people with disabilities as well as several programs to help prevent homelessness and provide outreach to marginalized people. Since 2009, Beacon has played a leadership role in operating the seasonal Out of the Rain shelter for homeless youth and, in January 2022, Beacon assumed operation of a supportive transitional shelter that provides safe shelter and life skills development and other supports for young adults in downtown Victoria.

More information on Beacon Community Services can be found at https://beaconcs.ca/

Who To Call

To support neighbours and the Victoria community we have added a Who to Call infosheet. This sheet provides a quick list of important contact details and in which situations they could be used.