Anonymous $29.5-Million Gift Aids Vancouver Project for Homeless
July 2, 2012 | Read Time: 1 minute
A wealthy Vancouver couple has donated $29.5-million to help relaunch an effort to provide housing assistance for the city’s homeless, the Canadian daily The Globe and Mail reports.
The gift, announced by Vancouver officials on Friday, will provide operational funding for Taylor Manor, a 56-unit residential complex. The facility, built by the city in 1915 to house low-income seniors, has been shuttered since 2000.
The city is covering most of the $14-million cost of renovating the structure. Pending approval of a rezoning application, construction is set to begin next year, with occupants arriving in late 2014 or early 2015.
Kerry Jang, a member of the City Council, said the couple, who wish to remain anonymous, approached him in 2010 about supporting a municipal drive to end street homelessness by 2015. “Everyone thinks you can solve homelessness by building a building. They understood you have to do more to create a ‘home’— and they kept using that word,” Mr. Jang said.
