A local non-profit will be building its ninth low-cost home with funding from a local club.
The Rotary Club of Courtenay has given WeCan Shelter a $25,000 donation for the project. The money will be used to build a new home for a resident experiencing homelessness.
WeCan Shelter says for $25,000 they can build a 20 foot by eight foot home for a resident that has a shower, toilet, sink, mini fridge and built-in bed in a shipping container.
WeCan Shelter Society chairperson Charlene Davis says they’re hoping to begin building this shelter soon, but adds it will depend on a variety of conditions.
“While we’re extremely grateful for this donation we are a little ways out. We can’t predict exactly when construction on No. 9 will start because we have to do things like pour pads to get the units situated down at Maple Pool [Campground],” she said. “So, it’s dependent on weather and volunteers.”
Davis says the society is now working with a new focus on people who are “homeless but not hopeless.” She says this is because the non-profit is not equipped to help with all homelessness.
“People who stand a chance of being rehabilitated,” Davis explained. “We are volunteers, not social workers. What we can do is get a crew together and build a house for somebody.”
“While I would like to be able to take every homeless case there is, we just do not have the ability to deal with people whose mental health or addiction issues are far beyond anything we can help with or contribute to.”
Davis says they have six shipping container homes open, with the seventh and eighth expected to be opened within the next two months.
Rotary Club president Anita Wotschel says they are very pleased to help out with the scenario after recovering from pandemic fundraising issues.
More information about WeCan Shelter Society can be found here.
READ MORE: WeCan Shelter finishes sixth shipping container home at Maple Pool Campground
