Province announces new sobering centre, supportive housing units for Prince George

The province is bringing much-needed housing to people who are living with homelessness, as well as mental health and addiction issues in Prince George, B.C.

On Monday, B.C.'s Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions announced that a new sobering and assessment centre with eight to 10 beds is being created downtown at the former National Hotel. 

A 27-unit supportive housing project jointly operated by the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Prince George-based social services organization Active Support Against Property will be housed in the same building. 

A few blocks away, 50 supportive housing units are almost ready as the first phase of a three-stage housing project meant to provide wraparound services for residents. 

Prince George recorded about 120 people living with homelessness last year, with roughly half self-identifying as Indigenous, according to Prince George-based non-profit Community Partners Addressing Homelessness.

The municipality also recorded the second most drug toxicity deaths in the B.C. Interior, after Kamloops, this year, according to the B.C. Coroners Service. 

Sobering centre to open this fall

The sobering centre, expected to open this fall, is a response to a recommendation made by a seven-person jury who considered the case of Jamie Shanoss, a Gitwangak band member who died in Prince George in November 2016 from acute alcohol poisoning aggravated by cocaine use.

Shanoss, 51, was intoxicated and sleeping on a sidewalk when a police officer arrested him and took him to a cell to sober up. Shanoss passed away less than two hours later.

The beds at the sobering centre will be divided into separate sections for men and women. The centre also provides washrooms, shower and storage facilities, and other health and social services for tenants.

"This is not going to be a party place — this is a medically supervised place for someone to sleep safely when they're acutely intoxicated," said B.C. Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Sheila Malcolmson, who visited the site of the future sobering centre on Monday.

Culturally appropriate services

The nearby supportive housing project was officially opened Monday. By the end of June, 50 people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness will be able to move into self-contained, fully furnished studio apartments.

They'll be provided with two meals a day and staff will be on site 24 hours a day to provide services, including an overdose prevention room with supervised safe consumption. Tenants who want to consume drugs in their apartments can use an intercom to alert staff and ask for a wellness check.  

"When people have stable housing and access to supports when and where they need them, it benefits the entire community," Housing Minister David Eby said in a news release on Monday.

The province says the supportive housing project is part of its 10-year, $7 billion housing plan. It says it has built more than 340 affordable homes in Prince George since 2017.

'Support without judgment' 

Malcolmson says the sobering centre is part of the province's plan to significantly improve mental health and substance use services for people, with a goal to open 195 new substance use beds across the province.

"When people with mental health and substance use challenges reach out for help, we want them to be met with care and dignity," she said. "During these challenging moments, it is really important to offer them support without judgment, in an atmosphere that will help them recover."

The province says it is also working with partners to bring complex care housing to northern B.C., which would support people struggling with mental health and addiction issues who have been caught in a cycle of poverty and criminal charges.

"These effects are hard on the people living the life, but they also spill over and affect businesses and other community members," Malcolmson said. "Their complex and unmet needs have led to a cycle of homelessness, eviction, emergency rooms, sometimes jail."

• 'He needed help': 61 Canadians have died in police custody since 2010 after being detained for public intoxication or similar offences

Prince George Mayor Lyn Hall says the new sobering centre and complex care housing will help, in a city that's a hub for mental health and addiction services for people across the entire northern region.

"This is a complex issue and we continue to work diligently on it," he said.

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