Dozens of Kelowna residents preparing to move from homeless shelters into their own homes

Kelowna’s newest supportive housing project will welcome residents to start moving in during the week of March 23.

The 50-room facility is called Samuel Place and is on McIntosh Road in Rutland. Since it’s right across the street from a housing complex called McIntosh Place, the John Howard Society, which will run the home, chose another name. Samuel was the name of John Howard’s best friend, Dawn Himer, executive director of the society, told iNFOnews.ca.

The first 40 new residents will come from Fuller Place, which was opened in December as an emergency shelter for people living in other shelters who qualified to move into Samuel Place.

That includes Mariah and Swan, a young couple that have been living in segregated shelter spaces for about a year. This will be their first time actually being able to live together.

“This is a real, real special event for them – they are really excited to have their own place,” Himer said. “His mom taught him to be a gentleman and show respect and, I’m telling you, he is a gentleman.”

Dawn Himer, Executive Director of the John Howard Society in one of the couples’ rooms. | Photographer: Rob Munro

Samuel Place actually has room for 53 residents in its 50 rooms since three are for couples. Another six are for people with disabilities.

Each room is like a hotel room, with no separate bedrooms. The couples’ rooms are larger, with the bed set off to the side but no door to be able to close.

A meeting will be held next week for neighbours as a first step towards creating a community advisory committee.

The lack of truly affordable housing in Kelowna means people can’t afford to move out of supportive housing complexes when they’re able to, leaving a bottleneck in shelters and on the streets. This is Samuel Place in Rutland that opened in March 2020. Rob Munro

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