• A 10-year advocacy and fundraising effort by the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation has resulted in new housing for the Chinatown and Downtown Eastside Communities.
• The 10-storey building will be completed in 2024 and will house more than 230 individuals and families.
• The project will include a large, integrated health centre, operated by Vancouver Coastal Health. The centre will be open to the entire Downtown Eastside community.

“We wanted housing that could be a model for others to look at,” says Carol Lee, Chair of the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation.

It’s been a decade-long advocacy and fundraising effort to get shovels in the ground at 58 West Hastings Street in Vancouver. The housing project celebrated its ground-breaking in July 2021.

When construction is completed in 2024, the 10-storey building, will safely house more than 230 individuals and families, focusing on the most vulnerable.

Bringing together the Downtown Eastside and Chinatown communities

“The philosophy is ‘what’s good for Chinatown is good for the Downtown Eastside and what’s good for the Downtown Eastside is good for Chinatown,’” says Carol.

“This was the very first project where the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation decided to promote and raise money not just for Chinatown, but also for their neighbours.”

The project will include a large, integrated health centre, operated by Vancouver Coastal Health. The center will be open to the entire Downtown Eastside community.

Through the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation’s Community Partners Program, organizations including YMCA, Dressed for Success and Vancouver Public Library will also be available to residents.

“The idea is that this housing is providing more than just survival,” says Carol. “Your quality of life is better because of the people who care about you when you’re living here.”

Innovation and perseverance

“I think historically, it has been a bit of challenge to get businesses into the Downtown Eastside,” says Carol.

“If you don’t know your way around the neighborhood, how do you go about helping? With our Community Partners Program, if a large company wanted to help, we want to help them access the community. That’s the innovation part.”

In 2017, Carol’s business partner became quadriplegic. Also, Carol’s father, who was a major funder and visionary, was diagnosed with a brain tumour. He died in 2020.

“Some things happen that can be predicted, but some are out of your control. You need faith that you are persevering along the right path,” she says.

The power of community and collaboration

“It is amazing how many wonderful people came along to help. I think that’s what community’s all about. All of us moving together to solve some of these complex issues that affect us all.”

The ground-breaking was an emotional day for Carol and her colleagues at the Vancouver Chinatown Foundation.

“You could not imagine how moving it was for us to have Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland attend,” says Carol.

“It’s almost like all the struggles and challenges over the last 10 years were forgotten. It really validated the importance of this project for Vancouver.”

She also believes there’s been a shift in the thinking around social housing.

“I think there was a time when social housing was seen as the government’s responsibility, but now we realize it’s an issue all of us will need to contribute to. And we couldn’t have done it without CMHC. It felt like a partnership from the beginning and they took a real entrepreneurial approach to helping make it happen.”

KEY FACTS

• 58 West Hastings received funding through the National Housing Co-Investment Fund, a National Housing Strategy initiative.
• The 58 West Hastings development is part of Vancouver Chinatown Foundation’s revitalization strategy. The strategy aims to find a balance between preserving tradition and enabling a sustainable future for Vancouver’s Chinatown.

SEE ALSO

• Investing in Affordable Housing in Vancouver | CMHC (cmhc-schl.gc.ca)