Environment in modular, supportive housing brings instability and uncertainty, says researcher

published on January 11, 2023 by Neil Corbett in Maple Ridge News

Questions are being raised about how effective temporary modular housing and supportive housing has been in helping people living on the streets.

There are two supportive housing complexes in Maple Ridge, and a temporary modular housing facility on Royal Crescent that is slated to be replaced by a more permanent building on 224th Street.

Researcher Danya Fast of UBC co-wrote a commentary that appears in the December issue of the International Journal of Drug Policy, that addresses a decade of providing these housing options. The focus of her work is with people under 30, and she has consulted street people from Maple Ridge. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at UBC, an associate member of the Department of Anthropology, and a research scientist at the B.C. Centre on Substance Use.

The commentary describes how housing that should provide stability can reinforce transience and uncertainty…