Living on the 1100 block of Yates Street

Dear neighbours,

My name is Karna Jani. I live at 1188 Yates Street, next door to the Juniper supportive-housing building at 1176 Yates. I’m writing because the experience of living beside it deserves to be understood by people who don’t see what happens here day to day.

Since the Juniper opened in November 2023, neighbours have reported repeated confrontations, unwanted entry onto our property, waste in our parking areas and damage along the boundary. I have written about incidents involving me and about incidents reported by other residents. These concerns affect ordinary things: using an entrance, taking out the garbage, or spending time outside our homes.

One evening in April 2026, I went downstairs after a neighbour reported two people sheltering in our covered parking area. They were near building access points, using a butane torch to dry a jacket. They were cooperative and left when asked. My complaint was about the situation: a residential access route had become somewhere to shelter and use an open flame. People needing help and neighbours needing safe access were left to work it out themselves.

We have asked PHS, which operates the Juniper, and BC Housing for practical changes and written answers. There have been responses and some improvements. PHS offered daylight patrols and some cleanup. BC Housing described a security review and later sent a formal response. A neighbour reported improvement after an earlier intervention. Yet later complaints returned to the same questions about safety, staffing and follow-through.

The Community Advisory Committee is central to this story. BC Housing repeatedly told the community that a committee would help neighbours, the operator and public agencies address concerns together. It was never formed. In July 2025, BC Housing acknowledged that failure; its later explanation referred to limited interest and a move away from committees. In September 2026, it proposed a facilitated dialogue. Neighbours asked how that would lead to lasting communication and action.

Some people have made a meaningful effort to help. Councillor Marg Gardiner and MLA Grace Lore both visited. Grace came with the police chief. I appreciate their willingness to see the situation here and listen. Other officials and agencies have also replied; the pages that follow explain what they said as well as what remains unresolved.

My March complaints were addressed directly to PHS’s Ramsay Moffat and Avery Taylor. I have not received a substantive written reply from either to those complaints. That matters because the request was concrete: someone with the authority to act, an explanation of what would change, and follow-through when problems returned.

I want neighbours to be able to understand these events without reading years of correspondence. This site tells the connected stories, including the help offered and the questions still open. The people living at the Juniper deserve dignity and support. Everyone on this block deserves a safe place to live and institutions that respond when things go wrong.

The first story