The official word is out!

The Vancouver City Press Release was made on  Wednesday, November 17, 2021
and here it is!!

A map showing the location of the first Safe Stay Community for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness

The City of Vancouver’s first supportive Safe Stay Community for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness will be located at 11400 N.E. 51st Circle on city-owned right of way along an undeveloped cul-de-sac in the North Image neighborhood. View map (PDF).

This is the first of several supportive sites the city plans to establish as part of its Homelessness Response Plan. Previously referred to as supportive campsites, the city’s Safe Stay Communities will use modular pallet shelters instead of tents, which will offer residents safer and more stabilizing shelter as they work to resolve their homelessness.

The Safe Stay Community at 11400 N.E. 51st Circle will provide 20 modular shelters housing up to 40 people. The site will be fenced and staffed 24/7 by the onsite nonprofit operator, Outsiders Inn. It will include trash receptacles and sanitation services, portable toilets and handwashing stations, meeting and office space, and access to supportive services provided by local agencies.

Part of the area near the city’s first supportive site is currently occupied by multiple homeless encampments. These encampments will be removed when the new Safe Stay Community is set up in adherence with the city’s camping ordinance, which prohibits camping within 1,000 feet of the supportive sites. The city anticipates work to clear and set up the first Safe Stay Community will begin in early December.

 

Public comment period now open

The city will mail letters to property owners, residents and businesses within 1,200 feet of the first Safe Stay Community site informing them of the decision and inviting them to provide feedback during a public comment period that ends Dec. 1. Comments are being accepted online, via email and by telephone. Learn more at www.cityofvancouver.us/safestaycomment.

The city will also host two virtual community information sessions during the comment period to share information about the first Safe Stay Community site and how it will be operated with nearby residents and businesses and respond to their questions.

Details about the information sessions will be included in the letters mailed to residents and property owners. Video recordings of each session will also be posted publicly on the Homelessness Response Plan webpage on Be Heard Vancouver (www.beheardvancouver.org/homelessness-response) and the City’s YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/CityofVancouverUS).

 

 

We know this new safe stay location, we are calling the Outpost Community, is going to bring about some big changes.

We are going to work collaboratively and intentionally with some AWESOME humans who are working hard to find safer interim solutions as they figure out the larger goals of something better and more stable in their lives. We are humbled to be able to do this work alongside them in the Outpost Community.

We have empathy for their situation because we have lived through some similar tough times ourselves. We have also learned some things along the way, and now we get to help bring some guidance and hope to the persons in this space. We know this is a big deal to be working together in their process of becoming part of the new Outpost Community and reaching goals of housing and stability.

We are grateful the city of Vancouver and the MANY supportive people in this community who are helping us to do this work with professionalism, dignity and grace.  THANK YOU!

~ Outsiders Inn Team