Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas (left) and Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon.

(GABRIELLE ADAMS / iNFOnews.ca)

To help reduce the number of people sleeping rough in Kelowna, the province is going to build 120 “tiny homes” on city-owned land this winter.

Details of where these will be built will be announced within the next couple of weeks, Kelowna Mayor Tom Dyas said at news conference today, Oct. 12. The homes should be in place within the next few months.

The latest data from the city says there are about 265 people sleeping rough in the city, many of those in a city-supervised tent camp along the Okanagan Rail Trail in downtown Kelowna.

“We know these 120 units are just the beginning,” Dyas said.

READ MORE: It's unclear how Kelowna will tackle housing homeless people this winter

The units are about 60 square feet each with a bed and dresser. Washrooms and eating areas will be separate.

“It’s a dedicated unit to sleep in safety,” Minister of Housing Ravi Kahlon said.

The units and funding for supports is in place for three years and they can be moved in the future, he said.

Once built, the homes will be operated by non-profit groups who will provide support services 24/7, along with daily meals, access to skills training and help navigating the housing system.

A selection process is being put in place to determine who will be most suited for this type of housing.

Initially the units will be on two different sites but the city and province are looking at expanding to a third location, Dyas said.

The initiative is called Homeless Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing or HEARTH.

The tiny homes model has been tried in Duncan and has been successful, Kahlon said. It has also been tried in Victoria but he didn't comment on whether that has worked well. The concept originated in Seattle, he said.

This is just one of the efforts to deal with homelessness, Kahon said.

Another 3,900 supportive housing units are planned for the province along with 240 more complex care homes and a new rental supplement program is on the way.

When asked if he expected community push back to the locations in Kelowna, Dyas said he hoped not, but there have been concerns raised by residents about other supportive housing projects coming to Kelowna.

“We hear a lot of concerns in our community about the cold weather coming,” the mayor said. “There may be some concerns with respect to the development but there are concerns right now on what is happening with the encampment."

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