Penticton councillor calls for another supportive housing audit

A Penticton city councillor wants another audit of the city’s supportive housing sites.

Coun. Shannon Stewart proposed an independent audit to review five supportive housing programs in Penticton to compare to another completed four years earlier.

That one was completed in 2022 and while it found residents of three supportive housing sites benefited from having permanent housing, the city lacked affordable options for those residents to move into afterward, while less than half the residents surveyed saw improvements to health, addiction issues and employment access.

Stewart’s motion calls for an evaluation of “program delivery and overall operational effectiveness” and an examination on impacts in surrounding neighbourhoods, along with potential areas of improvement.

It’s similar to efforts made by Kamloops mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson, who has long called for a similar review and was inspired by the previous audit done in Penticton. His calls, however, had long been stifled by city council until last November.

When Kamloops city council voted in favour a similar motion Hamer-Jackson put forward, it was changed to review BC Housing sites across the province, rather than simply focus on Kamloops.

Penticton city council will debate Coun. Stewart’s motion, April 21, but it will be up to the province to decide on whether to commission the review.