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Our housing program offers various, affordable housing for individuals and families. These programs are designed for persons with disabilities and families with limited income.
Meerstille and Newbridge Apartments are two buildings, that combined, offer 37 units to single adults who are able to live independently with support from a life-skills worker. Assistance is offered for daily living activities which include banking, shopping, appointments, & recreation. Referral for this program comes from VIHA.
The Satellite Housing Program provides rent subsidies for tenants who are able to live independently in the community with minimal support. A life skills worker is available for assistance with mental health concerns and tenant/landlord issues. This housing in only allocated to people with a mental illness who are participating in the psycho-social rehabilitation program and recieving support from the life skills worker. Once a client stops using the services in the program, they will no longer be eligible to remain in the housing provided. Referral for this program comes from VIHA.
Edith Gunning Court is a 33 unit mixed income family housing complex, primarily serving low-income families and individuals with special needs. Applications are accepted from individuals who meet the financial and family composition criteria.
Darwin Apartments is a 45 unit building that houses seniors and some individuals with special needs. These suites are available to adults 55+. The majority of apartments are bachelor suites. This building has a no smoking/ no pet policy.
McCauley Lodge is a residential care facility that provides long term care for 21 adults with severe mental illness. In addition, we provide outreach services and support to 19 adults who live in rental units in the city. McCauley Lodge is an integral part of the community and it has also become a place that people return to for support and a chat. This ensures that those who move on to our outreach program have a place that still provides a warm welcome and a caring community when needed.
Each year sees many changes; clients who are aging may move to facilities that can offer them more intensive care as they age, others move on from the bridging program to more independent living arrangements, and some return to the lodge for some extra short term support. We have a wonderful, long term and dedicated staff group who support the clients through the different phases of their lives, and create not just a home for the people we serve, but a place where we help them to think about what they would like to achieve, big or small, and help them achieve that. McCauley Lodge would not be the same without these great staff; their support and commitment make it a great place to live for our clients and a great place for all of us to work.
We are continuing with our “kick the nic” program which is a regular group meeting that encourages residents to stop smoking. We have been very encouraged by the regular attendance(average of 6-8 per week) and the number of clients who are taking steps to improve their health by finding alternatives to smoking. Residents of McCauley Lodge also take part in activities that help them be physically active by going to the recreation centre pool or gym or to take the opportunity to enjoy the regularly scheduled activities such as soccer and softball at the Crystal Pool field. Social events occur throughout the year with the Friends of Music who have a weekly concert at the EMP and also the Christmas get-together. McCauley also has a rather extensive recycling and pop bottle collection program which puts much needed recreation money back into the Lodge.
Our goal at McCauley is to give them the clients the best service we can. We recently performed satisfaction surveys that will help us meet client needs as specifically as we can. The results showed that we are doing well at providing a safe and welcoming environment with room to improve in goal planning with residents. Regular client and staff meetings are held to take the pulse of the Lodge and know how best to continue to provide client-centered care. As part of ensuring that we provide the best possible services to our clients, we have begun the process of considering what options we may have to improve the physical environment of the Lodge which needs improvement in a variety of areas. CMHA is exploring the options of both renovating or rebuilding McCauley Lodge and are considering ways of improving the interior decoration. Part of this process has also been to ensure we stay on budget, so we have undertaken the painful process of staff restructuring to ensure fiscal stability. Although this is never easy, we believe we can look ahead with anticipation to ensuring the future and sustainability of this excellent service.
G reenridge Place is home to ten young adults and Eagle Rock is home to six adults, both female and male who have been diagnosed with chronic mental illness of one form or another. Most residents choose to live here in part because of our heavy emphasis on rehabilitation and skill building. They also tend to like the spaciousness of the facilities and grounds, the location, the private bedrooms, the newness of the buildings and the bright cheery and homelike atmosphere.
Greenridge and Eagle Rock's multidisciplinary teams, while practicing the "psychosocial rehabilitation" model of care, strive for excellence and carry out a continuous program of quality improvement. We endeavour to uphold each resident's right to privacy, dignity, self determination and are committed to helping them achieve their highest level of functioning and quality of life.
Individuals can expect to formulate a client driven care plan to help direct them towards attaining their short and long term goals. Staff will try to ensure required resources are there to help. Professional nursing care is provided in cooperation with each resident's physician and psychiatrist. Recreational, social, and vocational activities, as well as all other programs are planned towards recovery and are formulated through resident input.
Referrals are made in conjunction with your case-manager and psychiatrist.
CMHA currently has a waitlist for all our housing programs. If you are in need of housing urgently, there are housing providers in Victoria who allocate vacancies on the degree of need. These businesses are listed on our resources page.
Be sure to tell your potential housing provider if you have any special needs and the details of your current living situation.
Contact:
General Housing Information: For more information and/or an application to one of our housing programs, please contact Imogen Burr at 250-389-1211 ext 236.
McCauley Lodge: 1037 Lyall Street, contact Grant Enns, tel 250-385-6122
Greenridge Place: Contact Rhiannon Porcellato, tel 250-727-3227
You can also download our housing application by clicking here. Please print, and fill it out to hand in person or mail to
Capital Mental Health Association
c/o Imogen Burr
125 Skinner Street
Victoria BC, V9A 6X4
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