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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.
This kind of support can reduce isolation, improve mental health and build stronger and more resilient communities. It's about shifting that focus from housing as a transaction to housing as a foundation for wellness, dignity and opportunity. 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 today's episode of Let's Talk Housing. I'm your host, Mita Naidu. I'd like to respectfully acknowledge that I'm joining you from the ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations, where this episode was filmed. I'm very excited for today's conversation with BC Housing's own Amber Bell and Shaleen Naidu. Their key roles in tenant engagement and support will guide our exploration of BC Housing's work
with tenants of all ages. Today, we hope to highlight a variety of tenant-focused and community programs that help to build stronger communities, not just homes. For transparency, this episode is being recorded in November 2025 and reflects the issues and priorities of that time. Shaleen and Amber, welcome to Let's Talk Housing. Thank you for joining us today. Thank you so much for having us. We're excited to be here.
To start, can each of you tell us what it means to you personally to work in tenant engagement and support at BC Housing? What brought you to this kind of work? Amber, do you want to start? Sure. Yeah. Thanks so much, Mita for having us here. I'm really excited for this conversation. For me, tenant engagement work means creating a safe and welcoming space where we can bring tenants, BC Housing staff, as well as all community partners together.
and we can connect and build that sense of belonging. And for me, it's really about bringing in humor, having some like excitement, fun, creativity, and we can do this mindset. And for me, I make sure that I show up with this authenticity and empathy and just like a whole lot of fun. I like to bring a lot of excitement and fun to all the different programs and events that we do.
And leading this way really helps me create a meaningful and creative solutions with, like I said before, with tenants and as well as my colleagues. And in this role, it really reflects my passion for building community where I try and create opportunities for tenants to build relationships, share their strengths, and take on a bunch of different leadership roles that can inspire.
others to get involved as well, not just tenants, but myself too. I become very inspired by the different ideas that tenants have. And it's kind of interesting, my journey to get to tenet engagement has really come full circle over the years, where I've had the privilege of working with a bunch of different demographics and communities from teaching adaptive swimming lessons and supporting women and children experiencing violence, then coordinating programs for high risk youth.
Each one of those experiences has really helped me build those meaningful relationships and taught me the importance of meeting people where they're at. And now I'm working here at BC Housing and I'm still connected to those same tenants that I worked with in other roles. So it's kind of cool I show up to some of the buildings and like, hey, I already know you, like, how's it going? So having that has really been rewarding and
Those earlier experiences have really shaped the work that I do today and continue to guide the work that I will do. I think that's a brilliant introduction. So thank you so much for that. Something that's really cool that stood out, you know, I sometimes pick up on these keywords that our guests kind of share. And last episode, our guests shared the word love and connecting the word love and housing is something that you don't often hear. And you've brought up words like fun.
and humor and inspiration. And those are also words that we don't often hear in connection to housing. So thank you. I'm looking forward to digging into that a bit more. Shaleen, what about you? What's your journey like? What brought you to tenant engagement? Yeah, actually, much like Amber, I've worked in with various different demographics. So my educational background's in social services from SFU. I've had 10 plus years in specialized training with
trauma-informed care, which has really shaped my approach to creating safe, inclusive spaces for tenants and staff. Currently, I serve as a manager of tenant engagement, but prior to this, I've been a tenant support worker with BC Housing as well as tenant engagement worker. So I have the privilege and honor of working with our tenants in various different capacities. And it's just been so rewarding being able to feed off of their experiences and their stories.
Sometimes I think that we often look at staff to give us these experiences or teach us things, but just echoing a lot of what Amber had said, it's really the tenants that have played such a substantial role in my continuity of this work. So as I mentioned, currently I work as a manager of tenant engagement, where I focus on building strong relationships and supporting tenants through a team of community developers. So through people, plants and homes, through a tenant engagement worker team, as well as the community developer.
As a manager, my work is about creating a space where staff and tenants feel inspired, supported, and seen, especially as they navigate the deeply meaningful yet often challenging realities of programming.
touch on that. So BC Housing's Tenant Programs and Resources page highlights that beyond physical housing, there are programs for community education, wellness, and lots of other stuff. So why is this broader engagement so important? What difference does it make for tenants? Shaleen? For me, I think that broader engagement is essential because it really shifts the dynamic from service delivery to genuine participation.
So when tenants are actively involved in shaping their housing experience, whether through feedback, co-creative programs, which our team gives tenants a lot of opportunity to do, or decision-making, they feel more empowered, respected, and connected. It's not just about hearing their voices, it's about acting on what they share. And I think that's a really key point is their stories, their struggles, their input about what they would like to see.
This kind of engagement builds trust, it strengthens communities, bonds, and helps create more stable, resilient tenancies. Ultimately, it leads to better outcomes for everyone, whether it's tenants, staff, or even the broader housing system. So what kind of outcomes are you seeing? that's a good one. think that's a really good one for Amber, think, to touch on. because she's on the front line seeing it just in live action. Absolutely.
Amber, do you want to share some of those outcomes that Shalene's referencing? Yeah. So I would say in my experience, the biggest shift that I've seen from just being a tenant engagement worker coming in and starting when there was no tenant engagement worker and to where I am now, I've seen a huge increase in tenant led initiatives or activities and just how much more engaged people are now.
For example, there is a few sites where I'd come, I don't know anyone's names, they don't know my name. When I first started having some programs, there was maybe one or two people who would come. And then I started having meet and greets and getting to know a few more tenants. And now, for example, there's one site that has on our normal programming days, which is like a monthly schedule that I put up, there's at this one site, 10 to 18.
tenants who now come to these events. And then for our larger events, there's about like almost the whole building. And for me, that's like very successful to get a whole building out. So just getting people out of their units is a huge stepping stone, as well as just getting more people out to events and, and then being like, Hey Amber, like I'm really interested in.
doing this activity or giving me some sort of input and having even just a conversation saying hi is a big step. Amber, I love the idea of tenants coming and engaging with agency and on their own and out of curiosity. What are some examples of activities or programs that you guys have initiated that really strengthens tenant engagement? Yeah, that's a great question, Mita. On the island, we run a
wide range of programs and events across our directly managed sites, all shaped by what tenants actually want and need. And one of the most empowering, or at least what I think is the most empowering tools that BC Housing offers is something called a Tenant Activity Grant, also known as a TAG. And these are grants that are open to all tenants and designed to help folks lead their own community and build activities or events. And it really comes down to this idea of
creating something for tenants by tenants. The same idea as doing something for community by community. So we really encourage that. And that's something that a lot of tenants, at least on the island I've seen, really start to understand that, I can take on this leadership role and implement these ideas that I have. And all they need is
one idea to get this started and then the rest is something that we can help with the funding, like removing those barriers, the funding, the space, the support, so then they can bring this vision to life with as few barriers as possible. So what are some of those examples that have been successful? Yeah, one of those examples is
So we had a earthquake preparedness workshop at one of the sites with the city of Victoria. And this was a really cool opportunity because this was something that we had never done before. So it brought up new tenants and new ideas. And so Tenet came up with this idea of creating this grab and go emergency kit for their neighbors. So she came up to me and is like, how do I do this?
I helped her submit the grant and then with the support of other tenants and myself, she created 47 different Grab and Emergency, Grab and Go kits and then handed them out to all of the different units. And it was really cool because on the day of, it was Pro-D Day and all the kids got to be involved and help hand them out. So yeah, that was a really great example of something that was tenant led.
And so how are you promoting these grants? Like how do people find out about them? Yeah, that's a great question. So I do this through like just building relationships and make sure that I'm at each site and people know my name through like meet and greets. I do a lot of posturing, door to door posturing, a lot of different phone calls and then a lot of different just...
putting it up on the bulletin board. also have monthly calendars that go out to different sites. And it's a lot of promotion and marketing and again, building those relationships. Right. And I think that that's the trust, right? The trust piece that comes in there. And you've really clearly established that with the people you engage with. Shaleen, what about you here on the Lower Mainland? How can people find out about TAG? Yeah, just in addition to what Amber's already doing, the tenant engagement workers here on the mainland.
are also doing something similar. addition to those pieces, however, we recognize that tenants aren't aware of how to access the TAG grants and it's such a beneficial community building piece. So here on the mainland, we will be doing TAG information sessions. So the community developer, the tenant engagement worker, as well as the tenant support worker at a few of our sites will be promoting what a TAG looks like, what events.
would be eligible under the TAG grant. How do you apply for it and what's the process really looking like? And we really want to encourage the use of those TAGs to build community for these one-time events. I love that. That's amazing.
Both of you, when you look at sites that have had really strong tenant engagement programming, what are some of the positive changes that you've observed in the community or in tenants about how they feel about their home or their neighborhood? Yeah, I've seen some really powerful shifts at sites. Like I said before, where tenant engagement has really grown and just seeing the increase of participation and tenants
taking on those leadership roles and voicing what it is that they want. And they're the ones who are really shaping the program itself. There's one tenant who, you know, was agoraphobic and had a really hard time coming out of their unit at all. And now they're come to almost every event. And I've had other tenants be like, you know what? I haven't seen this person come out of their unit in...
a year and participate in something and now they're actually taking on those tenant activity grants. And just another really good shift is connecting through youth and kids. Really, by connecting with youth and kids, you then connect to their family and then that connects you to the community.
And kids are always really eager to help. They want to be there. So a lot of the times I'll have programs and they're like, how can I help? What can I do? So I have them like lining up, waiting for jobs to do. And that for me is like a really meaningful way to get the kids and youth engaged. Absolutely. Because families are all of all different generations and neighborhoods are made up of people of all different generations. How are you, how are you specifically reaching out to kids? Like that's a really cool.
angle? Do you go into schools or are you just basically centered in the building? Yeah, so there's quite a few different family sites that we have on the island. And so I just go right into the sites themselves. And speaking of kids, I do have a great little story I experienced when I was doing kids programming. I was running a kids program that was I initially organized with crafts and outdoor games and activities.
And then something really unexpected happened and all the kids showed up wanting to talk about K-pop demon hunters. Let me tell you, if you don't know what K-pop demon hunters are, it's like this viral K-pop movie that honestly all of the kids, if you bring it up, they know about it and adults, their family. And just with their enthusiasm, it sparked this new idea that maybe if I did something that was
catered to K-pop demon hunters, then it would be something they'd be really interested in. So that whole session we talked about them. And then the next time I came, organized a K-pop demon hunter themed music bingo and karaoke session. And it was a huge... That's super fun. How fun. Yeah. So this is where you're bringing in the fun that you mentioned in the beginning. This is where you bring in the humor, the lightness, the engagement in something
bigger than bricks and mortar, right? Totally. That's amazing. Shaleen, what about you? Do you have any similar stories? Amber does such incredible work and she's got tenants engaged. And it's this key word I think that keeps popping up is fun. So I had gone down to the island to just support Amber with programming and she had music bingo going on and she's up there with a microphone singing and dancing. And then I was sitting in the back of the room.
and you see tenants and their shoulders are kind of moving like this. And then within a few minutes, they're starting to get up and it's just, it's so contagious. And I think that that's one of the key highlights of the programming that we do. It's fun, it's contagious, it's creative, and we're really creating the space for tenants to get involved and create these stories that are just creating a ripple effect. I love that. I think so often we need to reframe what
housing looks like or feels like right now because it's a tough economic time. There's a lot happening in the world. But when we can focus on the kind of work you guys are doing that is engaging and fun and light and community focused, it really does change the idea of what housing is. Shaleen, how do you think this type of work, engaging tenants beyond this brick and mortar kind of model?
How does it align with BC Housing's broader mission of supporting communities? Yeah, that's so great. And it's such an important question because I feel as though as a housing provider, we often fall in this piece of just brick and mortar, but there's so much more beyond that that we're doing. So tenant engagement goes far beyond simply offering a place to live. It's about creating environments where people can thrive. When we engage tenants meaningfully, we're acknowledging that housing is just one part
of a person's overall and overall well-being. Through programs, partnerships, and open dialogue, which is key, we help foster connection, belonging, and empowerment. This kind of support can reduce isolation, improve mental health, and build stronger and more resilient communities. It's about shifting that focus from housing as a transaction to housing as a foundation for wellness, dignity, and opportunity. And we're finding creative ways to do that.
in all spheres, whether it's something that isn't so light like emergency preparedness where we're providing an education component and creating plans for safety, or it's a community kitchen where folks are sharing core memories of recipes that we're bringing up. These bits and pieces help create this holistic approach to well-being that extends so much further than just the brick and mortar.
community kitchens. Like I come from a culture in which food is a very big part of community building. Either one of you, do you have any stories about the success of community kitchens? Yeah, Shailene's done lots of community kitchens before, but I also do them over on Vancouver Island and there's two different community kitchens that we do and it's great because it's a lot, like I said before, the community kitchens are tenant-led so
Tenants are picking the roles, tenants are picking the recipes that they want. And it really brings in different cultures or different interests and foods. And some tenants may not be interested, but then they try it. They're like, this is actually really good. So at one of our community kitchens, we started with doing a chili that a tenant had made. And then by the end of it, the idea was to expand and make more.
So then we could go and hand it out door to door to every unit. And then that way all tenants were somewhat engaged by eating the food and then that created awareness to bring them into the program potentially in the future. But I know Shaleen has some great stories. Yeah. When we originally began Community Kitchens, it was really just a way for tenants to have a meal, you know, because food security is a big thing. And that's what it initially started at. And then
there was conversation that stemmed having these meals together and tenants were able to talk about, well, I don't cook home cooked meals because I don't know how to purchase groceries or I don't know how to budget. I wouldn't know what ingredients to get. wouldn't know. I don't know about food storage. I don't know about, you know, creating these meal plans. So what stemmed from just food, a simple food security piece went into staff actually sitting down with tenants and
going online with a laptop, having them all around us and looking at recipes that could be fun but affordable. And then we started to look at different types of recipes that would stem from that recipe and how we could diversify the recipe. And then we would actually look at how much it would cost. We would budget together, go on the website, do a little bit of a mock order, and then I would go and purchase these items. So we would talk about how many servings you get out of that grocery order.
If you couldn't purchase certain items in the recipe, what could you have used to make it more cost effective for yourself? And then from that, it went to food storage and how you really just get the most bang for your buck. Then it went into proper cooking methods and procedures to cleaning. And then I think the biggest payoff of this all was the conversations that were happening when we sat down and shared a meal together. There were folks that had said they haven't had
a home-cooked meal since they were in high school. And then they started talking about how certain meals reminded them of certain memories. And then that would spark conversation about what their parents would cook for them, parents that may no longer be around, or that stemmed into conversations about the values that they were brought up with. And it created this really, really beautiful space where
It was no longer about just feeding the tenants. It was about creating a space where they were able to bring out these memories, bring out these values and share that with one another. And just a few fun stories that came out of that, there were tenants. I'll never forget this one situation we were making potato leek soup, something very simple. And she's like, I hate leeks. Like, have you tried leeks? And she's like, no, but I know I'll hate them.
And through conversation, she had a little bit and then ever since then, she puts leaks into everything. So we just love stories like that where we're able to create these opportunities. And you sometimes forget that you're an employee of housing because you get so entrenched with their stories and it becomes a fun space to create memories for them. But food is housing, right? It is. I mean, it's feeding the soul, it's feeding community and they're deeply connected. And it's just, it's so great.
It's so, I think people really don't know that housing organizations like BC Housing, I mean, especially housing organizations like BC Housing, how deeply the support goes into building that community. And you're literally feeding them. Yeah, that's very cool. I mean, these traditions are so old too, right? They come from so many different types of...
backgrounds and communities already, the idea of feeding people to support them, housing people to support them.
What are some new ideas that you guys have going? Some new program models or new collaborations or new technology? What do you have going on, Amber? Yeah, I feel like Shailene can speak to the bigger picture things because there is a lot going on in terms of models and projects that Shailene can speak to. I will talk about something that then Shailene will build on too. There's something right now called the Building Resilient Neighborhoods.
And one of the newer projects that I'm implementing with one of our focus sites is this tenant engaged project where we create some sort of resource board with the tenants and the overarching goal is to have some sort of resource map that all tenants can be a part of in some way.
And right now that's really in the shaping phase. So talking to tenants and figuring out what is it that you want to see, what resources that are in this area that you would like to have, what sort of like mental health resources or physical health resources, senior resources. And then the idea is that we all together
go and collect those resources. So there's some sort of accountability as a group where we go out within that geographical location and grab the resources, whether they're pamphlet or brochures or some sort of connection and bring them back into collecting some sort of resource board and kind of having that in their site. So then
They're relying on outside resources and can feel more resilient as a community. There's so many different conversations that I'll have with tenants where they just need a, you know, like a bounce board. need someone. I like to show up with like having something, working with that tenant, whether it's sitting there for 30 minutes and letting them talk out that frustration or
somehow creating a solution with them that is a roundabout way to get there. And that's really how I would practice empathy. love the idea of the tennis themselves shaping what resources and the resource map that they need. That makes so much sense. Often, we try to impose what we think people need. And this is such a great, empowering idea. Do keep us posted on that.
Shaleen, did you want to add anything to something new and emerging? Yeah, I think one of the newer pieces we're really focusing on is collaboration, both within BC Housing as well as external partners. There's a growing focus on literacy, emergency preparedness, creating this independence and helping tenants navigate systems with confidence. So even within our community development team, there's a more holistic, aligned approach to community building that we're...
currently working on. I felt like there was a really strong need for literacy-based programming at our site. So one site in particular, which I've always been attached to, whether as a tenant support worker or a tenant engagement worker, was Greenbrook out in Surrey. And literacy had always been, and I also grew up in the area, so I was a little aware of these pieces. So I connected with Surrey Library and at the time they were coming up with a mobile library.
So in which case they would bring a van on site and have books that tenants would want and they get to take out their books, just really just low barrier, no frills, all that kind of stuff. And there was one particular tenant who reached out to me and he was in absolute tears because he said, because of various health conditions that his son has, he cannot access a traditional library. And because the library was coming on site,
his son was able to access books and be read to and it created these memories for the family that we cultivated just from a single idea. So I thought that was really impactful. And every time I see him now, he'll come up and try to give me a hug or, you know, it's, yeah, it's really an impactful story. We're working on putting up calendars, consolidated calendars with our 10 and basically every event that is going to happen in terms of programming, whether it's
people, plants and homes, tenant engagement workers or our external partners will have a consolidated calendar and will also have tenant engagement workers contact information. So every directly managed site at BC Housing has an assigned tenant engagement worker. So that's sort of their portfolio and tenants can go to them and just say, hey, I want to get involved or I want to host this event. What are the next steps? And they'll be happy to help out.
We're also working to strengthen our presence with youth and recognizing that when young people feel engaged and valued, they're more likely to invest in their neighborhoods and that energy inspires other and builds really a more stronger and resilient community as Amber had just mentioned. mean, again, I love the idea of a multi-generational approach to engagement. These aren't just kind of people we picture.
needing support, but it's the entire community, it's the entire family, it's the entire neighborhood. Amrin Shaleen, thank you so much for sharing your time and your insights and your stories with us today. It's very clear your work is helping to bring about more than just housing. You're supporting connection and opportunity and resilience and community for tenants.
So for our listeners, if you are a tenant in a BC Housing directly managed site or are interested in how tenant engagement works, head to bchousing.org, Tenant Programs and Resources, to explore what's available. Thanks again, both. I really enjoyed learning more about what you do and we look forward to continuing the conversation. Thank you so much. Thank you for your time.
To learn more about BC Housing, including how to apply for subsidized housing in British Columbia, visit www.bchousing.org. You can also find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X. If you enjoyed this episode, give us a rating. This will help others find Let's Talk Housing and join the conversation. You can subscribe to Let's Talk Housing on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.