|
 The Abbott Mansion In 1999, Central City Foundation reopened the Abbott Mansion (“the Abbott” to locals) after undertaking major renovations to
make the hotel safe and comfortable for its more than 100 residents. Board member Doug Leung at the time summed up the
Foundation’s purpose as this: “We want people to feel good about themselves and instil a sense of pride,” he said, adding that
no residents were displaced during the renovations, which included the installation of a steel gate leading to the rooms,
around-the-clock security, and a high priority on building maintenance. The Abbott remains home to many long-term
residents. It continues to be a model for other SROs in the neighbourhood: the management works to keep the building free
of the drug dealing, violence and harassment that so often exist in downtown eastside hotels. Central City Foundation keeps
the rents at or below the shelter allowance provided by social assistance and thus affordable for those with very low incomes
– with the help of our commercial tenants on the ground floor.
Since 2006 we’ve rented office space to NAOMI, the North American Opiate
Medication Initiative. NAOMI is researching whether heroin can be used therapeutically
to treat chronic heroin addictions in people who have not responded to other treatment methods. The researchers
had had trouble finding office space due to concerns about drug users coming to the space. Central City Foundation looked
beyond these concerns to see the social impact of this organization: the study was attempting to address a central problem in
the downtown eastside in an innovative way—just as the Central City Mission housed some of the earliest efforts to treat
alcoholism. At the same time, the rent paid by NAOMI would help keep tenants’ rent affordable.
|
