Nations deal with housing pressures as demand rises

Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council nations have many things in common. One is facing up to the challenges from outmoded housing policies and procedures. Another is the continuing demand both for new housing in the community by off-reserve members and the need for renovations and repairs to the existing housing stock. Over the past year, NmTC has assisted with several projects to help our nations get their housing issues on track. Here are examples from Tsleil-Waututh and Snuneymuxw.

Rents payments allow construction starts

Dale Komanchuk, director of administration and public works at Tsleil-Waututh Nation, has seen a dramatic increase in rent-paying tenants over the last 18 months, a situation that has freed up money and attracted funding for much needed housing units.

“In 2008, TWN was only collecting about 15 per cent of the rent from the social housing tenants, but now 87 per cent have been paying regularly,” Komanchuk said. “And with the recent passage of a Seniors Housing Policy (providing a 50 cent rent subsidy for seniors), TWN will be collecting 100 per cent of the rent each month.”

Renovations were completed on 16 social homes that Komanchuk said has improved tenant satisfaction dramatically. Their energy bills will also go down thanks to the installation of high efficiency furnaces and appliances. TWN received approximately $290,000 from CMHC to renovate the homes. It has applied to CMHC for additional funds to renovate the remaining social homes in 2010.

Four other social homes were prepared for sale to tenants last year, with $100,000 in INAC funding. The program will get the homes up to market condition, and will transfer the maintenance obligations from the Nation to the tenants. TWN hopes to receive funds to renovate four more homes for this purpose in 2010.

Individuals are now starting to build their own homes since TWN put policies and procedures in place for its housing committee to review and approve individual mortgages. One was built in 2009 and applications have come in for more of these houses in 2010.

Meanwhile, construction is underway on an eight-unit townhouse, a duplex and two single-family social homes. Plans have been submitted to CMHC for a nine-unit townhouse and two duplexes in 2010. The multiple-family dwellings will remain rental units during the lifetime of the buildings.

“The townhouse units will address pent-up demand from younger TWN members and 'empty nesters', Komanchuk said. “Moving to higher density housing also preserves scarce building lots, and maximizes the impact of INAC subsidies.”

TWN also has maintenance agreements for its non-subsidized home. Under this agreement, the homeowner pays a modest monthly fee in exchange for the nation covering the insurance, maintenance and general upkeep of the home. For seniors, the full cost of this agreement is paid by TWN.

‘It seems like we’re never going to catch up’

Last year about this time, Jackie Good began what she thought was a two-week job as housing coordinator at Snuneymuxw First Nation. Today, her department has grown to three people working flat out to meet the demands of a mini housing boom.

Evidence of a Snuneymuxw housing boom is everywhere on the #1 Reserve near downtown Nanaimo. New homes are occupied and more are being built, a situation that Good said is “maxing out” infrastructure such as sewer, water and roads. Out on the three SFN reserves in Cedar, south of Nanaimo, more homes are being built with 32 more planned by the end of next year.

“We were 15 years without any housing being built and this is turning out to be our biggest year ever,” said Good as she describes the 25 units that are in the pipeline as well as the renovations that will be taking place on another 65 homes.

“The new housing has made massive changes in the nation… It is very visible,” said Good.

SFN members heard that and other housing news at a well-attended community meeting in late January.

Among the information passed out was a copy of the SFN housing policy; a document that Good said was key to the progress that has been made at Snuneymuxw.

“Getting our housing policies in place was a huge thing,” she said. “Housing programs need continuity and having housing policies made a big difference.

“It has been a huge transition this past year. A lot of the success had to do with chief and council being willing to give up the power of the decision-making in housing. When Viola (the late Chief Wyse) came in, everyone got on same page. They understood that housing can’t be micro-managed by council and that they work for nation as whole rather than individuals.”

Communications a key element

Jackie Good thinks that trust and communications are vital as she and the seven band members who sit on SFN’s housing committee face up to the many day-to-day challenges.

Good, originally from Gold River, said being a newcomer to Snuneymuxw probably helped. “Nobody knew me so they didn’t think I was taking anyone’s side. The community started trusting me. That is a big part of housing… having trust.

“Communication is also huge,” she said. “You have to be a reasonable person and be able to listen. And you must be sincere so that everyone will accept you.

“That’s where policy comes in, treating everyone the same and not singling out anyone.”

Arrears top the list

Arrears… maintenance… capital projects… CMHC… renovations…

There is no end to the work in SFN’s housing department. But the ‘A’ word – arrears – tops the list of housing challenges for many nations.

“It took a long time working with community members,” said Good. But eventually the number of hardcore non-payers of rent was reduced to just five.

“One of the big things is the mentality that when someone is on social assistance, they didn’t have to pay rent. It took a lot of explaining and education, but it worked.”

Another challenge was with CMHC, which finally “recognized we were actually collecting arrears. We were living up to our end of bargain. You have to make sure you tell CMHC that you are collecting arrears, otherwise they’ll assume that you’re not in compliance.”

NmTC nations roll up their sleeves on housing

Since NmTC sponsored a Housing Governance workshop last year, our nations have been making major advances in setting out policies and procedures that work for them. And there has even been a building boom at Tsleil-Waututh that has been attributed to better housing practices. Here is a report on what is happening in some of our communities.

Excitement builds at Tsleil-Waututh

Heidi Martin, housing coordinator at Tsleil-Waututh (Burrard) Nation started out by thanking Klahowya “for the opportunity to share the excitement that is building here.”

Four of the five seats on the housing committee are filled by band members who live in the community. They are Cheyenne Hood, Tracey Payne, James George and Bonnie Angel. One seat is currently vacant.

“The committee has been meeting regularly for about a year and work really well together,” Martin said. The committee is chaired by council member Jen Thomas. “Travis George and I sit in on the meetings as housing staff,” she said. Travis is the housing officer and responsible for public works while Heidi was hired in July 2008. She is also a band member and has worked for TWN since 2003.

“Being the housing coordinator is very exciting and challenging,” she said. “I'm able to see first hand how our housing situation is improving every day. I'm extremely proud and honoured to be a part of this work.”

Martin said that when an NmTC-funded consultant first came to work with the committee, “our housing had almost no process or structure to it. There's been a huge learning curve for all of us.”

Cheyenne Hood, who is the vice-chair on the committee, said that she agreed that most had no idea how complex on-reserve housing really is and that “each step we take, however small, contributes to the building blocks of a firm foundation to build a successful housing program on. Each document for governance, each new tenancy agreement signed, gets us closer to our goal.”

“I think one of our biggest accomplishments is the fact that we have something of a structure now,” Martin said. We have policies and procedures in place. There's a clearly defined line of authority, delegated to the committee by chief and council to implement and enforce housing policies.”

Another benefit, she said, is that there is less confusion in the housing office about how and when things get done as well as whom to go to with requests.

“A by-product of better process is that for the first time in 17 years, Tsleil-Waututh Nation is eligible for new social housing,” she said “We're building 12 units this year.”

That includes an eight-unit townhouse with four one-bedroom and four two-bedroom units, a duplex with two three-bedroom units and two single family houses; one four-bedroom and a five-bedroom.

“Some of our challenges mainly have to do with the growing pains associated with any change,” Martin said. “Practicing patience, the committee can see how things can improve even more, but that everything takes time. It's hard not to rush when we know that if we take the time to set things up properly, the pay-off will be huge for our Nation and the generations to come.”

Snaw-naw-AS committee seeks new beginnings

Snaw-naw-as housing committee formed sometime ago to address the needs and issues arising from its membership and the current housing status.

A Snaw-naw-as report to the community said: “From that era to this new age we've seen significant changes, and housing increases along with more families moving back to the reserve. Our housing committee sees the need for more policies to better assist in the fair delivery of services to the membership, currently as seen in the past this committee operates in an ad-hoc state in which the meetings arise out of necessity.

“Breaking out of such a cycle, the housing committee and its members seek the need for change and a more improved way of handling band housing affairs. After the Housing Governance workshop held in Snuneymuxw in 2008, hosted by Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council, the Snaw-naw-as administration and housing committee sought the need for more governing structures in order for a more sound delivery and outcomes related to housing matters.

The housing committee is currently working with a consultant, with funding from NmTC, to develop a housing policy, the committee's terms of reference and accompanying policies.

Through more structure and understanding of why the need for such policies are being implemented, the committee feels stronger in the sense that it will work more cohesively and will be stronger in maintaining its current housing affairs while gaining a better understanding of First Nations housing as a whole.

The housing committee is restructuring itself and enabling more community involvement by adding three or four new members to its committee.

Snuneymuxw committee getting to work

Snuneymuxw First Nation set up a housing committee last year and is looking for a new member with preference given to an off-reserve band member.

The committee is based on the idea that in order to operate a sound housing program, a housing governance structure has to be in place. The committee will also develop agreements and policies and generally oversee housing operations.

When at full strength, the committee is made up of seven appointed voting community members as well as Snuneymuxw’s housing coordinator and the councillor who holds the housing portfolio.

Another big job for the committee is developing a five-year capital housing plan.

The committee gets its authority directly from the chief and council which also defines its responsibilities, make-up and method of operating. Those are defined in a written terms of reference.

Stz’uminus housing board re-established

Stz’uminus chief and council has thrown its full support behind the formation of a new housing board to tackle the wide range of shelter issues facing our community.

The new board was formed following a day-long workshop on Sept. 17 hosted by the housing section of Stz’uminus’ public works and capital projects department. A requirement for sitting on the new board was that members attended the introductory meeting.

Naut’sa mawt Tribal Council funded the workshop’s facilitator, Glenn Lawson. NmTC has supported similar projects at Snaw-naw-as, Tsleil-Waututh, Snuneymuxw and other member nations.

The information session focused on details about the formation of the board. There was also a presentation on on-reserve housing including various capital housing programs, housing operations and housing governance.

The new housing board was seen as the first and most important step in getting housing back on track in the community. A former housing board was disbanded two years ago.