Mental Health and Addictions Minister Sheila Malcolmson has announced the project in the Vancouver Island community alongside Mayor Leonard Krog, and she says in a release that the aim is to provide services in existing supportive housing.
The complex-care housing approach was launched earlier this year, with services also announced in other areas including Abbotsford, Kamloops, Bella Coola, Langley, Powell River, Surrey, Vancouver and Victoria. The Mental Health and Addictions Ministry says complex-care spaces in Nanaimo would be ramped up gradually, for up to 30 people, by 2025.
It says people dealing with trauma and brain injury would be among those who benefit from the initiative because they are often at risk of becoming homeless. Krog says complex-care housing is needed in the city, where street disorder can seem overwhelming sometimes.Island Health will deliver the services in partnership with BC Housing and local service providers.