Celebrating a 16-year Partnership

By Kristy Hayter, Senior Manager, Communications, Covenant House Vancouver LandlordBC and Covenant House Vancouver Our team coached them on how to call a landlord, what to ask, and For more than 16 years, Covenant House Vancouver has been honoured to have the strong support of LandlordBC. Throughout the years, and in a variety of ways, LandlordBC has raised more than $100,000 for young people experiencing homelessness. On top of this direct financial support, the association has supported rental housing initiatives that are vital to the health of housing in our community — especially for vulnerable populations. “Covenant House Vancouver is beyond grateful for the support from LandlordBC and their kind-hearted team,” said Tracy Brown, director of development for Covenant House Vancouver. “Thank you, LandlordBC, for being a philanthropic leader in our community and for your dedication to helping vulnerable youth in our community.”

PROVIDING A SAFE SPACE

As you can imagine, it can be difficult for young people who have experienced homelessness to find housing in the Lower Mainland. Our housing support workers help youth find, and hold on to, safe and affordable housing in our community. A young couple was living in an SRO in Vancouver’s downtown east side and they wanted out. They wanted to get away from the drugs, violence, and chaos. They wanted to improve their lives and felt that doing so would be difficult without finding a safer place to live. Our housing team talked with them about their budget and their employment goals. This helped to determine how much they could afford to pay in rent and narrowed the search to ideal locations near transit. how to set up viewing times. We escorted them to half a dozen viewings. During the drives, the young couple talked openly about their hopes and dreams. He had been out of work for the past few weeks due to a slow period. She was working temporary labour jobs, but wanted to find something permanent.

They admitted they were nervous that landlords might judge them because, at the time, they were receiving income assistance. We encouraged them to be honest and emphasized that being on income assistance was nothing to be ashamed of.

The hard work paid off, and with the help of a wonderful landlord, we helped them find a place — a lovely one-bedroom apartment on the ground floor of a house. The landlord was kind and welcoming. She even offered snacks and drinks while we filled out the tenancy agreement. It was a positive experience for everyone, and that couple

now has a safe, healthy place to start building their new life.

16 YEARS OF INCREDIBLE SUPPORT

LandlordBC’s CEO, David Hutniak, and his team have spent countless hours every year off the side of their desks coordinating a fun day on the golf course, their Annual Golf Tournament & Charity Fundraiser, to raise vital funds for Covenant House Vancouver.

But when the COVID-19 pandemic began, it became clear this key event would have to be put on hold. Not missing a beat, the LandlordBC team began brainstorming how they could still raise money for an organization that is dear to their hearts. They connected with us and learned about our upcoming Sleep Out: Home Edition — our first-ever virtual Sleep Out, which allowed people to safely be “together” in solidarity with homeless youth while remaining physically apart in order to raise funds and awareness for youth experiencing homelessness.

LandlordBC was already familiar with our Sleep Out Vancouver initiative. Previously, David had participated in our Sleep Out: Executive Edition where business leaders spend a night out in the back alley behind one of our locations to raise awareness and critical funds for vulnerable young people. So, the LandlordBC team eagerly agreed to sign up for Sleep Out: Home Edition, and to give up their beds for one night to raise funds. They almost doubled their initial fundraising goal thanks to the many individuals and organizations that generously supported them. Their amazing Sleep Out team raised more than $8,270!

Participating in the Covenant House Sleep Out: Home Edition was also a positive experience for the LandlordBC team. “Taking part in the Sleep Out Home Edition was a wonderful experience. I was thrilled with the support that our team received, and was so happy that we were able to raise over $8000 for such a great cause,” said Erin Breier, events and communications coordinator at LandlordBC.