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British Columbia is in the grips of a housing affordability crisis decades in the making. The Province has an ambitious plan to tackle the crisis through the largest investment in housing affordability in B.C.’s history. Tasked with building tens of thousands of homes in hundreds of communities is BC Housing, the agency responsible for developing, managing, and administering a wide range of subsidized housing and homelessness services across the province. BC Housing doesn’t do this alone, they work with hundreds of partners. In this podcast, you’ll hear from those tackling the crisis head on.
A home. It's something we all need.
But for too many, having a safe place
to make a home is out of reach.
The challenges can seem insurmountable.
And yet, each and every day,
people are coming together
to provide safe, quality and affordable
housing for those in need.
Welcome to Let's Talk Housing.
I'm your host, Mita Naidu.
Join us as we listen to
and learn from people in British
Columbia who are creating strong,
inclusive communities
where everyone can thrive.
Hello and welcome to Let's Talk Housing.
I'm your host, Mita Naidu.
Joining me today is Paula Wylie,
Executive Director at Connexus Community
Resource Center,
and Kris Nielsen, Family Services
and Housing Program Manager,
also at Connexus.
Today, we'll be discussing
a new housing project for seniors in
Fort St. James, a small town
in northern central British Columbia.
Before we get underway,
I'd like to acknowledge
that I am recording on the unceded
and unsurrendered
land of the Halkomelem
speaking people. For transparency,
this episode is being recorded
in April 2025 and reflects
the issues and priorities of that time.
Paula and Kris, welcome to Let's Talk
Housing.
Tell us a bit about yourself. Hi.
First of all, I'll just acknowledge
I'm talking to you from the unceded,
traditional territory of
Nak'azdli Whut'en here
in greater Fort St. James area.
And I've been with Connexus since 2018.
Taking on the housing piece of management
in the fall of 2023.
So quite new to it all.
And a huge learning curve for housing.
Big demand,
as you know, all over the province
and certainly within rural communities,
such as where I am in Fort St. James,
it's a big thing.
And, Paula, tell us a bit about yourself.
Thank you for having us here today.
My name is Paula Wylie.
I'm from the Nee Tahi Buhn First Nation.
But live, work and play and grew up on Saik'uz
First Nation traditional territory.
I am the Executive Director
at Connexus Community Resources,
and I've been in this position since
January 2024, but I've been at the agency
in various capacities
since September of 2006.
Wow. That's great.
Thank you both for joining us.
So, Kris, I'd like to start with you.
Can you tell us a bit
about the Neghuni Ghunli-un
housing project and what makes it unique?
It's a project that I understand...
Paula knows a bit more about the history
than I do.
The discussions started over
five years ago
around the need
for more seniors housing so that
those
that live here or those that have family
here, have a choice of aging in place.
So as a result of lots of conversation
with the Indigenous communities around
Fort St. James, Fort St. James Municipality,
regional district representatives
and the province.
As I understand it,
there was a solution that was arrived
at for a independent living facility.
Then things got started with a land
blessing, which was kind of cool.
Before everything got started
or before any shovels hit the ground,
there was the land blessing
and then shovels dug into the ground
and a bunch of other heavy equipment
and the building started to be erected.
So it's exciting to have a new facility
in Fort St. James.
It's a little
bit techie in the sense that
there's no keys to the building
for residents, it's all a fob system.
It's under lock and key,
so to speak
24/7.
So people have a sense of security
that live there.
They use their fob
to get into the facility,
and they use their fob
to open their own apartment.
If there's visitors are coming,
there's a panel
that you punch in a resident’s
suite number
or apartment number, rather. And
their phone rings
because it's tied to their phone,
and then they can let someone in
by pressing a code on their phone.
So that's kind of neat to see that.
That's amazing.
These are these are characteristics
that are really important for seniors.
I want to just jump back
a little bit and talk about the name.
Tell me about the name.
How is that name chosen?
The name as I understand
it was a consultation.
And Paula, please jump in any time.
Consultation with Nak'azdli elders
and their language
group, in terms of deciding
what might be most appropriate
for a seniors facility,
it's kind of neat.
It took me two months to learn
how to pronounce the whole name.
And it is Neghuni Ghunli-un.
And it means knowledge
keepers, loosely translated.
And Paula could share a bit more around
some of the history on
how long it took to create the name,
what kind of discussion went on.
So I'll defer to Paula
for some more history on that.
Yeah.
So Connexus strives to work
towards reconciliation
and all of the work that we do.
So through this project,
we were consulting with
local First Nations communities
to try to make it...
To work with
and integrate First Nations communities
and members and language.
We have a bunch of things
that went into this project,
a lot of work that went into the project.
And as Kris said,
it means knowledge keepers.
And just to back up
even more what this is, a second
build of seniors housing
that Connexus has done.
So we learned from the first one
and during that name
branding that we were trying to come up
with in Vanderhoof, part of it
came with Knowledge
Keepers came from that as well,
but also consultation
with the Nak'azdli elders group.
And we wanted to
put something that meant...
was meaningful to the community.
And so we took something that was
translated into the Carrier language.
And that's very difficult to do
because it is
it's hard to directly translate
from English to Carrier.
So we had local
elders come up with that translation,
and then we worked with the communities
to come up with syllabics as well
for the signs within the building.
So the name
and then also within the building as well.
At what point in the consultation,
I'm curious, did you bring in the elders?
Was that right at the beginning?
So this project, actually, Kris
and I jumped on
not from the beginning.
We continued.
So the individuals
that we're working with to develop
the name are no longer here, but
they met with the elders to consult
and try to learn about the process
on how to come up with a name
and how to translate it and come in
consultation.
So this took actually quite a few months
to be able to...
weekly meetings to get together
and try to figure out a name
that would be suitable for the community.
The idea of community decision making,
at the
onset of these developments
is so important and
so profound, actually.
Why was Fort St. James selected
as the location for this development?
Like I said, we've had
another project that was similar to this.
So we already had relationships
with the project managers, architects
and we applied for seed funding,
all of these things
that we did in one community
and we started it in another.
And so as the build in Vanderhoof happens,
we started consulting
with the district of Fort St. James,
like Kris said, and First Nations communities
and BC Housing and so many other partners,
to be able to know that there was a need
in a small community.
And I want to highlight that.
That it’s not often selected
to come to small communities.
And it's really hard to find a rental
or any housing in Fort St. James
and the area,
and also affordable housing,
because a lot of seniors that need housing
might be at a lower income and not be able
to afford general market rent.
So we worked with BC Housing
to be able to develop something
that would be accessible and affordable
in a small community
so elders and seniors could age in place.
Absolutely.
And I think that's the beauty
of this particular project, and why
we wanted to have you on
the podcast is because of that
really localized identity.
This project really specifically meets the
needs of the seniors in that community.
And that's incredibly
unique and special.
What does it mean, Paula,
for seniors in your area
to have safe
and culturally connected housing
that allows them to age in place?
Yes.
It means so much.
So Fort St. James and Kris
can probably talk more to this
because she lives in Fort St. James.
But there's so many outlying
First Nations communities
around Fort St. James.
So Fort St. James is really a
hub and Nak'azdli is a hub
for people to come into the community
for so many things.
So it's really important
to be able to have something that's right
in the community, to be able to downsize
if they need to or move back.
Kris has some wonderful stories
that we'll share later about others
that have moved into this new housing facility.
Yeah. Kris, jump in
and tell us some of these stories.
We'd love to hear them.
One of the women
that has moved back, she was
employed within the school
district for many, many years
and retired and moved away for 20 years
and chose to move back from the Lower
Mainland
last year, with a relative.
And so they're both here again.
And she is quite excited
about reconnecting
with friends and family that
she maybe hasn't
talked to for a number of years.
She's really enjoying the facility itself.
One of the
little things I didn't even think of
is during the winter
and we do get winter...
Because the hallways are quite wide,
this is one of the pieces
that she brought up,
is that she and other tenants are using
the hallway,
were using the hallways in the winter
time as walking trails.
There's four stories in the building,
so to speak, in a sense.
So there are three options for hallways
to be able to go up and down
through the elevator
and walk the hallways. So,
I thought that was kind of interesting.
Very resourceful in subzero weather.
Yeah. Yes. Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah.
Because we are in a not so friendly area
of the province
for some winter conditions.
Not always, but... So that was kind of fun.
Another person that chose to stay here,
her and her late husband,
when he was still alive,
they would summer here
after they retired.
They worked here for many, many years
and then go south for the winter.
And once her husband passed away,
she decided no,
because she has family here,
she would like to stay here.
So she is thrilled to have
secured an apartment in the facility.
And that's kind of nice too,
because her relatives, her children,
her adult children and grandchildren
can come and visit.
She can come and go.
And that was another thing
that was nice for people is feeling that
they can leave their apartment
and know that it's secure
because it's inside of a complex
and it's locked.
And if you go away
for a couple of weeks, that's okay.
Every one of the apartments has a balcony.
And the apartment complex itself was built
so that apartments
are east and west facing.
So you're either
getting the sunrise or the sunset and,
of course, the west
facing apartments are popular
because you get a view of Stuart
Lake here in Fort St. James.
The eastern facing apartments
are also a favourite for some residents
because they get to look out on trees
and some wilderness.
And if they're fortunate,
they will see a large,
black, four legged friend
or such.
So, we have had to put up warnings
on the doors. In the spring,
I anticipate we'll have to do this again
and certainly did in the fall, because
the building is so close
to a treed area or a forest area.
There are bears that travel through Fort
St. James on a regular basis.
And so I anticipate,
just as I did in the fall,
I will do that in the spring here
and have to put,
make sure you're watching before
you walk out of the building just in case,
because there is a route for the bears
between our building and the house
next to us.
Just it's a smaller area,
but, yeah, they will go where they will go.
Another lady
shared that she was excited
to have a place of her own.
She'd been living here for quite some time
with her adult
son, and so was very excited to be able
to move in to Neghuni,
have an apartment for herself
start to socialize
with seniors of similar age.
And there is quite a group of seniors
now that all get together in the amenities
room, whether it's to build a puzzle,
whether it's to just have coffee,
whether it's to have a potluck.
Actually, this Friday,
I was just up at the facility this morning
and saw
a sign up.
They're inviting all the
residents to come and have a barbecue and
like any kind of potluck,
you know, who's going to bring the cheese?
Who is going to bring the buns? Who's
going to bring the fruit?
That kind of thing.
So it's kind of fun that we see
that all the time that people
are going to feel comfortable
with their new neighbours
and making it
a neighbourhood within the building.
They’re community building.
They are definitely doing that.
So there’s another person I'm thinking of...
is it's really hard
to recruit professionals to the community.
And so we have recruited two professionals
that were not from Fort St. James,
and they've invited or moved their family
along with them, and they were able
to move into the seniors housing unit,
in Fort St. James and Neghuni.
And I think that's really important
to note that you can also support
others in order for retention
for professionals.
Right?
So it's
great to have that option
for that
housing to keep families together.
Yeah. Yeah.
That's beautiful.
It's attracting people.
The idea of the bears
is actually really fun
because they have not been transplanted.
They have a route, as you were saying.
They are also aging in place.
What does aging in place mean,
Paula, for Indigenous communities?
Yeah.
So already it's really important
to stay part of a community.
And if you can stay part of a community,
maybe that's really close.
And I want to say that we live in
a place
where the communities are about 45 minutes
apart, let's say.
And so to stay within this area, to be
able to gather with friends and family,
like Kris is talking about the community
that's within Neghuni Ghunli-un...
That's also, so that they can still
participate in Easter,
or Christmas dinners
or different types of gatherings
that they would not be able to do
if they had to move out of the community.
So it's great to be able to still
take part
in traditional activities
that are happening on the weekends
and then just go back
and sit in to into the nice, beautiful,
brand new build at Neghuni Ghunli-un.
That's beautiful.
Tell us about the collaboration it took
to kind of build this amazing project.
There were many partners.
Tell me more about that.
So many partners.
So from week to week,
Kris and I would meet with
construction companies and architects,
project managers that are all...
these are people all over the province.
And then also Kris is in Fort St.
James, I’m in Vanderhoof, like,
we all worked together on this
and BC Housing...
There were so many partners to be able
to get together from week to week to talk
about the progress and the build and the
excitement of it coming together.
But then also, there was some barriers
and things that happened
that would set it back.
And then we all get together
and talk and see...
problem solve, troubleshoot,
do like different things together
and work as a team to be able to build.
It was such a great learning opportunity
to be part of that process.
We now know a few more acronyms
when it comes to construction.
I'm sure you can pull off the next project.
We really had to ask a lot of questions about
what does that mean?
I mean, tell me about the artwork.
I heard there's great artwork there.
The artwork is coming.
I've just had an opportunity to contact
artists within the greater area
that Connexus serves.
So Fort St. James, Vanderhoof, Fraser Lake.
I have artists from those three
communities, I have an artist from Saik'uz .
I have some interesting pieces in that
they're not traditional art,
but they are traditional,
pieces of Nak'azdli.
And so I'm excited
to put those into a shadow box, because
they will tell a story around
the use and
I also have a piece of bone
that would be used for tanning hide,
I think.
Or is it skinning hide?
I might be getting this wrong,
but I thought
that was a neat piece to add
because it's not something you would think
necessarily of as an art piece,
because it is a utility for hides.
So I thought that would be
an interesting part
to have as an artistic story. I have an artist...
or a couple of artists from Prince
George, one of which is Indigenous.
Artists from Vanderhoof,
artists from Fraser
Lake and Fort St. James itself.
So yeah, I'm looking forward to hanging
hopefully in the next month and then
having a little bit of a celebration
with artists and the tenants themselves.
So the tenants get to meet
maybe some of the artists,
if they're available to come to Fort
St. James, and the artists
get to meet each other.
I thought that would be kind of fun
for both the tenants and the artists
themselves to see where their art is being hung in the building.
And it's very, a mix of
photographers and
traditional kind of painting
in different mediums
and Indigenous artwork.
So I think the pieces will speak to people
in different ways.
Just as the personalities
of the tenants are varied,
so it will be the art.
And as people enter the building,
you want them to see
local art or local artists,
they want to feel
welcome and safe and comfortable.
And when you see something
that is from your area or you know
the artist, it means something different
or it means so much
when you see that piece of art in there.
And that's what we wanted to create
is a comfortable space for everybody
that they could all relate to.
Yeah.
I mean, I think the idea of art,
aging in place, seniors,
I mean, it's all just such a beautiful
collaboration of ideas.
How can this project serve
as a model for others in the future?
Like what
are you thinking for the future, Paula?
For the area.
There's so many opportunities
for the future.
We've already, because of the two builds
that we have done, we've been contacted
multiple times, from across the province,
even, because we have some
experience with building affordable
housing.
Right?
So along with that
can come programing as well.
And all of it is
just so that seniors
are able to age in place in their homes.
So we do have the experience
and we do have the knowledge,
to be able to build
within the smaller communities.
That's very, very important.
I would love to know a little bit more
about the future of Indigenous led housing
projects and partnerships with government,
unfold that for me.
Yeah.
So partnerships is really important.
It can go
right from just a consultation.
So there's been times that
other communities have reached out to us
just for the knowledge or questions
like you've been through this process.
Can you help us through this process?
It doesn't have to be Connexus
building it.
It can be connexus helping
connect them with the training
or the project managers or architects
or enabling the communities to be able
to build within their own,
because it's very important
to build within your own communities
rather than...
so there's lots of times
where we reached out to from hours away.
And as much as I would love
to help build that, it really is important
to use the resources that you have
and build within your own community.
So if we could help in that way
in any way,
then that would be fantastic for Connexus to do.
I think you've modeled
really the future of these collaborations.
It's really amazing.
And I'm so moved by how
this has shaped up for seniors.
I have a senior aging at home in my home.
And I think about these projects
and their impact in community,
and it's just... Yeah, it's wonderful.
I think one of the things that we can talk
about is in small communities
is the challenges around
what isn't in the community as well.
We don't have rapid transit
or any transit.
We don't have a bus system.
We don't have Uber.
We don't have all sorts of things.
So that's very important
when you're looking at
where you're situating a building is...
Is it accessible to
a pharmacy, to a hospital, to
the banking institutions
or the grocery stores in your community?
And certainly Ford St.
James isn't a huge community.
So I could argue that, yes,
it's fairly accessible.
It's on a hill that affords it
a great view.
So that is a little bit of a challenge,
but it is in the community.
And I think that's very important
when we're talking about rural communities
where you situate any kind of seniors
housing complex to ensure
that there is ease of access
to infrastructure and services that
that senior either needs right now, or
you could anticipate the senior will needs
in the near future.
So I just wanted to add in there,
there was just a little bit of a funny
tidbit, what you were talking about
like having your own family,
that you want to age in place.
I've already picked out units for
my family members that are aging as well.
Letting them know we have
all of these wonderful units
that are available at Neghuni,
but also we have a huge other
array of housing
within the communities that we serve.
But it's just great to know
that we have that option.
And then as you build,
there's such a process with it.
So Kris and I
came on the end of the project to help
it come to completion.
And then now wrapping up
and moving people in and trying to make it
comfortable, a place for everyone to live.
But it just takes so many partners
and so many people to make that happen.
Because, as Kris said, it took over
five years of planning to start this,
to apply for seed funding, to work
with the communities, with the district,
with First Nations communities,
with BC Housing, with all partners.
It takes so much
to make it come to move in ready.
And it's wonderful.
Yeah, absolutely.
It's a complex project
to get to this beautiful place
and a complex journey.
Is Neghuni available for extended family
living, in that sense? Like you were
mentioning, you've got units.
They're all one bedroom units.
So unfortunately,
any type of family opportunity
isn't there.
We do have something unique
that is going on, though, and that is
we have an agreement with
Primary Care Society,
and we're extending that agreement a bit
so that if we have health professionals
coming in and again, in a rural setting,
you have some challenges around
securing and recruiting
and retaining all health professionals.
So two of our units right now
are used for nursing staff
that may be rotating in for certain
contract hours and then rotating out.
So that's been helpful.
And it benefits our hospital.
It benefits our community.
And so that's very helpful.
And one of the nurses that has come in
that way is now actually going to move
to Fort St. James in May.
And she will be renting one of the apartments.
Not the ones that are attached
to the primary care but
taking on
a rental of an apartment to herself.
So I'm excited to see her
come and live in Fort St. James.
That's actually a really unique feature
that I wasn't aware of.
The ability.
Yeah. Very unique. It is a unique feature.
And I think as well, maybe what we haven't
covered yet is who is this for?
It is for seniors 55 plus, but it's also
for individuals with disabilities.
So I think Kris can speak more to this.
We do have some units that are accessible,
and then we also have
some units that
can be converted to be accessible.
So maybe I'll let Kris talk a little bit
about that.
Yeah.
Our ground floor
if you will, which faces our parking lot.
So it faces west.
Three of those units were designed for
those that are dependent on a wheelchair
or some other type of
mobility assistance.
And the other three units
on that floor are adaptable.
So they could be converted if needed to
be wheelchair accessible as well.
And I did misspeak a bit, Paula,
when you were talking
about the family piece, because
we're situated next to the hospital
where there a need for a family to
be close to a relative
that might be in the hospital.
That was also part
of the planning in this facility,
so that one of those ground floor
units could be used for short
term stay, for a family,
for temporary stay.
While the relative
or possibly the person that is having
to go back and forth to the hospital
could stay in a unit for a temporary
amount of time while their
health needs are being addressed.
So that's another unique piece.
And keeping that type
of uniqueness to that ground floor,
where they can come and go
with much more ease than if they were on
the upper floors where they're having
to go through the elevator system.
And this way it's much more accessible.
Yeah.
And we have so many surrounding
communities that need a place to stay
within Fort St. James.
So it really allows for them to
visit or to stay close to their family members
that might be in the hospital, because
this is built right beside the hospital.
Yeah.
That's beautiful.
And I think this project is just so unique
because it's fulfilled all these
different gaps that you guys have assessed
and witnessed in community.
And this one project
really does address almost everything.
You know, and yeah, it's beautiful.
Is there anything else
that you wanted to add about the project?
I have had a resident recently say, Kris,
I think we need garden
beds for vegetables and things like that.
So, I have made a couple applications
for grants,
and we'll see what happens, because
I would love to be able to accommodate,
even if it's just a small greenhouse,
because, again, that lends to activity.
It's socializing,
growing your own vegetables,
which also could relate
to another type of potluck
for a barbecue and fresh salad.
So yeah,
trying to create more opportunities where
possible for the tenants to build their
tenant community further.
And we certainly do have
a diverse number of people that live there
that have different ethnic backgrounds.
We have families members
that have moved across the country
to Fort St. James
because their grandchildren
or children live here in Fort St. James.
And so they've relocated from Ontario
or Vancouver or Prince George or Edmonton.
So that's kind of interesting
too, to see the diversity.
And we have Indigenous elders
that are there from
more than one of the local band
communities in the Fort St. James area.
So that's kind of nice.
Nak'azdli Whut'en,
Binche,
Tl'azt'en,
Tache Lake and K'uzche,
are the
Indigenous communities
that are adjacent to Fort St. James itself.
Nak'azdli is literally the middle
of a street.
In terms of
the geographic boundary,
if you will, that you would see in maps
between the communities.
So you just cross the street
and you're in one community or the other,
which is kind of neat.
And as we've talked about
Nak'azdli was a very big piece,
stakeholder in the community
in terms of
the building
and the naming and respecting
that we're on unceded traditional
territory of Nak'azdli as well.
Yeah.
Going from the land
blessing like Kris said,
in consulting
with Nak'azdli and then the name,
trying to come up the name with a carrier
name,
that's very meaningful.
And then as we had an open house
to invite everyone to come together
and get to know one another and just
celebrate the grand opening of Neghuni,
we even invited local knowledge
keepers and
prayers or drumming
any of those types of things.
It's incorporating the First Nations
culture within
it has been a big part of this project.
And as you mentioned too, the signage
being in the three language pieces.
And that's all the signage for the building.
So there's nothing
that isn't recognized
culturally with all three languages.
And I think just to add in there
that Connexus
does whatever we can
whenever we see there's a community need.
I'm thankful
that you noticed that there...
with this one project,
there's so many gaps that it helped
come together.
There's even programing
that we have
within Neghuni that seniors and elders
can access to help live independently.
Yeah, we certainly have seen evidence
of that already.
One of the residents was quite excited
that we have the new position
that allows that
she could seek some resources that
she needed and was successful in that.
And finding out about assistance
is there provincially
and right,
but can access it as locally as possible.
So I think that's a big piece as well.
And that seniors
connector person is in Fort St. James once a week
and they're either at Neghuni or
they're at our seniors recreation center.
So they're connecting
with a variety of people, and it's nice
for seniors
to know that we have those pieces
present in the community.
The seniors and elders in Fort St. James
are really lucky to have this project.
And they deserve it.
And thank you to the both of you
for putting your time
and your attention to this journey
of building this amazing project.
Keep in touch with us and let us know
what's in the future for your community.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
To learn more about BC Housing,
including how to apply for subsidized
housing in British Columbia, visit
www.bchousing.org.
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