Saturday December 21, 2019 ~ LANGFORD
~ West Shore Voice News
An emergency support centre for tenants of the Danbrook One building was operating today December 21 at a nearby retail office space at 780 Goldstream Avenue in downtown Langford.
Emergency Social Services (ESS) Director Anne Trick said about half of the current tenants had been assisted with information and support for temporary relocation (including hotel arrangements being paid for by the City of Langford) since yesterday. That’s about 100 people, she estimated, adding that some tenants are actually out of town or out of country at this time.
On hand for security outside the emergency support centre was representation from West Shore RCMP and Langford Fire Rescue. A few members of the media were present.
Tenants were guided to get things from their suites to cover seven days in a hotel. The City of Langford is paying for the hotel. A GoFundMe page had already reached its $20,000 goal in under 24 hours, to help with food and basic essentials. As of 3:15 pm the tally on the GoFundMe page was $27,170. Donors included Alpine Group, Keycorp Developments, MyBelmont Crossing at Belmont, Southpoint Partners Ltd, Seacliffe Holdings Ltd, Centre Mountain Development Group, Shamrocks Lacrosse, Verity Construction, Limona Construction, Turner Lane Development Corp, Dan Matthews, and others.
Called the ‘Command Response Centre’ in City of Langford information materials, the 780 Goldstream location offers a team of ESS support workers and refreshments, backed up by various city staff on computers to help with all the details. A representative of Langford Fire Rescue and also the West Shore RCMP were on hand.
The centre was open Friday night til 9 pm, today is open 7 am to 9 pm, and will again be open Sunday December 22 from 7 am to 6 pm. There is parking in the retail mall where the centre is located.
“Volunteers are happy to be here,” said Trick. “We are happy to help the community — especially at this time of year, and it’s also a ESS good training opportunity,” she told West Shore Voice News.
“Volunteers are neighbours, friends and relatives who come out to help in emergencies,” the ESS director explained. “We are happy to help the residents of Langford.”
There are 86 units rented in the 90-unit building. Tenants were notified on December 18 of this possible eventuality, and then on Friday evening (from 6:15 to 7 pm) were told about the Occupancy Permit being revoked. In a letter they were asked to relocate immediately into temporary hotel accommodation.
Tenants are allowed to go back in and collect things that they need, before heading to temporary accommodation. All the hotels who have been contacted to help have been happy to do so, says the ESS rep.
There are several notices about the current situation, posted on the front lobby doors at 2766 Claude Road. On-site security is being provided by Palladin Security. The building is owned by Centurion Property Associates Inc.
===== Previous Articles:
- December 18 – Danbrook One renters taking up relocation options
- December 19 – Danbrook One owner is shocked by engineering deficiency allegations
- December 20 – City of Langford revokes Danbrook One occupancy permit
- December 21 – GoFundMe page set up for tenant support