SURREY – New Democrat MLA Rachna Singh says first-of-its-kind complex-care housing will provide enhanced support for vulnerable people in Surrey beyond the current housing model.

“The opening of these new spaces is a uniquely empowering opportunity for folks to get the care they need with the dignity and compassion they deserve,” said MLA Rachna Singh for Surrey-Green Timbers. “I am glad that the province has partnered with RainCity to get people in our community the support they need to thrive in their own homes.”

Complex-care housing is a ground-breaking approach to address the needs of people who have overlapping mental-health challenges, substance-use issues, trauma and acquired brain injuries and who are often left to experience homelessness.

Surrey will be the location of one of the first four housing sites to use this model in B.C. In the coming months, 39 units of complex care housing will open at Foxglove. The site will be operated by Raincity Housing and Support Society.

The other three sites will be located in Abbotsford and Vancouver. In total, the four sites will serve approximately 100 people who need enhanced support beyond what is provided in existing supportive housing.

In addition to the resources already provided in supportive housing, the enhanced services available in complex-care housing will include physical, mental-health and substance-use care and social, emotional and community supports, which could include Indigenous cultural supports and food security support.

Complex-care housing is one part of the provincial homelessness strategy. The Government of B.C. worked with housing and health-system partners, Indigenous partners, people with lived experience and municipal governments to develop a complex-care housing framework and selection criteria for these sites.

Learn more: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2022MMHA0005-000083