When Elaine Lin moved to the Easter Seals House’s second floor in March, she knew her stay would be temporary.
While residents were informed in January that they would need to find other accommodations, Lin said her placement as part of her recovery in the 21-unit transitional housing project on the second floor of 3981 Oak St. came with the promise of support while she looked for another home and launched her first business.
Now, four months later, the 23-year-old said she is afraid she’ll be homeless by next month.
“It’s a lot of instability. I have no idea where I’m going,” Lin said. “It’s very hard to see my life past July 31.”
Easter Seals House provides low-cost accommodation for families coming to Vancouver for medical treatment and respite for parents and families needing a place to stay.
In 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and with B.C. Housing’s support, its second floor was leased to Coast Mental Health, a non-profit that helps people with mental health challenges find housing, employment and education.
Coast Mental Health used the space to provide residents with temporary transitional housing and access to supportive care for a range of mental and physical disabilities.
Since then, the agencies have renewed their lease year-over-year — until now.
On July 31, Lin and the other residents will have to find other accommodations when the project’s lease ends.
Coast Mental Health deferred to B.C. Housing for comment.
Sarah Goldvine, a spokesperson for B.C. Housing, said internally, the agency considers the units transitional housing with support services.
“It was always meant to be temporary,” she said.
When CBC News asked why the lease was ending, Goldvine did not provide an answer.
Moving out
In January, Coast Mental Health sent tenants a letter about its lease ending.
In the letter, a spokesperson for B.C. Housing said staff would help residents find new housing and offered services like joining residents at housing interviews, helping them pack and arranging movers.
“From the minute that I moved in here, I was aware that I needed to move out,” Lin said. “But B.C. Housing also promised us all housing before July 31 of equal or similar value.”
According to Goldvine, all the building’s residents have been offered several alternative housing options. She said six have already moved.
But some residents say the alternatives offered don’t meet their needs.
Stephen Banni, 60, has lived in Easter Seals for two years. He said he was offered one option that he could not afford on disability and space in a single-room occupancy building in the Downtown Eastside.
“They haven’t provided me any housing or any dates for moving into housing that is acceptable or in good faith,” he said.
Now, he said he’s not sure where he’ll live next month.
Lin said she was offered a space in a housing project in the Downtown Eastside that specializes in supporting substance users. But Lin said it’s not a suitable option, given her struggles with mental health.
“My environment is everything to me,” she said. “Without a stable environment, my mental health will not be well.”
She was also offered space in a housing project in Richmond, far from her work—a budding vegan ice cream business she’s started out of a commissary on Powell Street in Vancouver.
‘I feel trapped’
In another letter to residents dated July 19, B.C. Housing and Coast Mental Health said all residents must move out of Easter Seals House by the end of the month. It said B.C. Housing would offer each resident $375 in compensation for moving.
“Our team focuses so many resources on doing our best to match people with the housing that will best meet their needs,” Goldvine said. “The reality of it is there’s not enough housing in British Columbia.”
Banni said besides these letters, Coast Mountain Health and B.C. Housing have not provided residents much information.
“We don’t understand why this is happening, and the lack of communication and the refusal to work and co-operate with us has caused nothing but mental and emotional stress and pain,” he said.
Lin said she keeps looking for suitable housing options, but she’s not optimistic.
“I feel very trapped right now, and a huge trigger for me is when I feel trapped and powerless,” Lin said.