A Rutland woman is blaming a rash of crimes in her neighbourhood on the recent opening of Heath House, a supportive housing project for people who are at risk of becoming homeless.
Lorelei Strand said that on Sunday night a video surveillance camera captured someone scoping out vehicles on her street before breaking into her neighboursa国际传媒檚 car to steal some hunting gear. She lives adjacent to Heath House on Highway 97.
After successfully breaking in, the same suspect tried to break into her vehicle using a crowbar.
sa国际传媒淗e did quite a bit of damage on my car, but he never got in,sa国际传媒� said Strand.
sa国际传媒淭his is just a symptom of what happens when you move wet housing into a residential neighbourhood. Wesa国际传媒檙e dealing with things like this 24/7.sa国际传媒�
READ MORE: Kelownasa国际传媒檚 newest supportive housing project opens
READ MORE: CMHA Kelowna takes steps to clean up Heath House
Since the 40-unit building opened in January she has noticed a drastic increase in crime and drug use in the area.
sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e dealing with things like petty crime, drug dealing, open drug use, prostitution as well as thefts and attempted break and entries,sa国际传媒� said Strand.
sa国际传媒淭his is rampant in our area and we never had to deal with it before. This has destroyed our neighbourhood.sa国际传媒�
Strand said she and her neighbour both reported the most recent crimes to the RCMP and provided the police with the video. However, the RCMP told her that without being able to identify the suspect theresa国际传媒檚 not much they can do.
She said itsa国际传媒檚 not the first time that she has had to deal with unwanted people in her neighbourhood.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e had rocks thrown at me, Isa国际传媒檝e had people come in to shoot up in my back yard and my front yard. Isa国际传媒檝e had to confront these people and they are quite violent and aggressive,sa国际传媒� said Strand. sa国际传媒淭hese people run our neighbourhood.sa国际传媒�
The Kelowna branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA), which operates the 40-unit building, said it takes these types of concerns from residents very seriously and has already taken several steps to try and mitigate their concerns.
sa国际传媒淲hen we hear about things like this video, we take a look at it. Our staff at Heath House know what our residents look like and know what their guests look like, so we know pretty quickly whether or not the individual that is caught in these images are associated with Heath House,sa国际传媒� said Jessica Samuels, communications manager for the Kelowna branch of CMHA.
sa国际传媒淲e are also in regular contact with the RCMP and we encourage residents, if they see something that is illegal, to call RCMP.sa国际传媒�
She said the organization took steps in July to improve the area, including adding security, cleaning-up trash and revamping the intensive tenantsa国际传媒檚 agreement. There is also a community advisory committee for residents and businesses to bring forward concerns and complaints.
sa国际传媒淲e were able to secure some extra neighbourhood security that patrols the neighbourhood overnight from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.,sa国际传媒� said Samuels.
Under the new tenantsa国际传媒檚 agreement, all tenants of Heath House and any other Kelowna CMHA housing project are to sign a detailed tenantsa国际传媒檚 agreement that outlines expected behaviour, the rules of the house and the good neighbour policy.
Samuels confirmed that under the new rules residents are still allowed to use drugs on the premise.
sa国际传媒淎bstinence is not part of their tenant program agreement,sa国际传媒� said Samuels.
If residents fail to comply with the rest of the rules, other arrangements will be made for that individual. As of July CMHA said 10 residents have been sa国际传媒渆victedsa国际传媒� from the home since it opened.
A survey from March 2018 indicated there are more than 280 homeless people in Kelowna.
READ MORE: Rutland community rallies against McCurdy house
With files from Caitlin Clow
