Stand with MEEGAN (Beacon Hill)

What are we doing?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating to communities throughout the Greater Victoria Region. Due to the economic impacts of the pandemic, the unhoused community has been severely affected, as it has exacerbated Victoria’s ongoing housing crisis. An increased proportion of individuals have found themselves unhoused with minimal government and community support. Those who were unhoused before the pandemic, continue to struggle to have their voices and basic needs met.

In recent months Beacon Hill Park (MEEGAN) has served as one of many sites of encampments of those in our community who are currently unhoused. Despite clearance from the City of Victoria those living at MEEGAN have continuously been harassed and policed by both Victoria PD and the City of Victoria Bylaw Officers. Despite good evidence in favour of the harm reduction capacity of encampments, those sheltering at MEEGAN have been given an eviction notice.

The city of Victoria has severed the unhoused communities throughout Greater Victoria an eviction notice that requires them to vacate park premises on March 31st. However, throughout the month, encampments in Victoria Parks will be raided and seized by police and Bylaw for those who have not found or received housing. In the attempts to offset the eviction and address the housing crisis, the City of Victoria has offered the unhoused communities temporary and limited housing solutions. Such solutions include, offering 40-50 individuals sleeping arrangements in the Save on Foods Memorial Centre, housing 30-40 individuals in containers and offering an increase in funding for subsidized individuals. In 2020, The Homeless Point in Time (PiT) count, found that in the greater Victoria Region, there are approximately 1,523 unhoused community members. With this, and the current temporary housing solutions that the City of Victoria has proposed, it falls short in offering a suitable and permanent resolution for the housing crisis in Victoria.

As city officials allocate tax payer dollars to enhancing Victoria's infrastructures (i.e. bike lanes and park expansions), they continue to neglect to provide permanent solutions for the housing crisis. As community members, we believe in community unity and support, we have created this fund as a way to bridge the gap for members of our community that continue to be left behind by the City of Victoria’s response to the housing crisis. One year into the COVID-19 pandemic Vancouver Island is weathering this storm, but we do not all have the same resources to keep us safe. We hope to be able to provide our community members the level of safety and resources they so rightfully deserve.


Why Should You Give?

All community members have the right to have their basic human needs meet and feel supported by their own community. In the last year, the City of Victoria has forcibly displaced an informal community encampment in the name of housing when they do not have adequate housing to offer. As we have seen from the treatment of those sheltering on Pandora Street, North Park, Centennial Square and smaller neighbourhood parks. When individuals are forced to relocate without warning or adequate support, they experience severe emotional and psychological distress. In supporting the unhoused communities through charitable donations, you will help create a sense of belonging within community members who have continued to be displaced, discarded and have been made to feel as if they are a burden to the community. As we have seen over the course of this year, the City of Victoria’s approach to dealing with the repercussions of the housing crisis has been unsuccessful. As we lobby for increased and better support we must make sure we are not losing members of our community as bureaucracy plays out. We are stronger together as a community and have the power to step up and take an active role in creating the future we want.


What Will Funds Be Used For?

In times of uncertainty for the unhoused community, we want to offer a social and economic safety net. As organizers, we understand a certain level of trust is required to extend that support. With this, we want to be transparent with donors of where the funds will be distributed. All funds raised will go directly towards supporting those sheltering at MEEGAN and neighbouring encampments. Funds will be distributed by the community for the community. These funds will help provide community members with basic necessities and resources.

In the plight for striving for community change through inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility, it would be naive to think the resolution will be swift. Community support needs to be meaningful and on going. With this, we encourage the community to support and engage with all community members today, tomorrow and years to come. Whether that’s through donations or simply offering a smile. Let us not lose sight of the meaning of commUNITY.


Who Is Organizing This Fundraiser?


Charity Williams (She/Her)



Charity ​is a Jamaican/Chinese/Canadian activist, community leader, and Olympian. Situated on the unceded Coast Salish Territory of the Lekwungen and WSÁNEĆ nations, Charity is the youth engagement coordinator for the BC Black History Awareness Society; she is opening up safe and empowering spaces where BIPOC can feel seen and heard, as well as, facilitating decolonizing and anti-Black/Indigenous racism workshops.


Caroline Crossley (She/Her)



Caroline is from settler and Métis heritage who has lived her whole life in Victoria, B.C. which lies on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ nations. She has been competing full-time on the National Women’s 7s Rugby team for the past 6 years and is pursuing her education in Justice Studies. 


Pamphinette Buisa (She/Her)



Pamphinette Buisa is born in the Algonquin Anishinaabe territory, also known as Ottawa ON, and lived most of her life in Gatineau, QC. She has been living on Lekwungen Territories, also known as Victoria BC, to pursue her Olympic dreams and is a member of the National Senior Women's Rugby 7s team. Buisa is passionate about amplifying the voices of those in marginalized communities. Through organizing, rallies, and events, Buisa strives to evoke intersectional approaches to her work to create intentional and deeply rooted relationships.


Ciel Arbour-Boehme (She/They)



Ciel is a settler living on Swengwhung land, now Songhees nation land. Ciel is a visual and performance artist, outreach worker and educator that focuses on anti-racism, decolonization, de-escalation and harm reduction as foundational to all of her work. Ciel values helping people towards goals and meaningful community relationships. Ciel has lived on Coast Salish territory the majority of their life and believes that stolen land should be returned. Ciel has a university degree in political sciences and visual arts.


Emily Percival-Paterson (aka Percy) (She/They)



Percy is a settler who grew up on T'Sou-ke territory and returned to Vancouver Island amongst the COVID-19 pandemic. She has a BSc in Biology with a minor in Applied Ethics from the University of Victoria and a MSc in International Public Health with a specialization in Sexual and Reproductive Health from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. She is currently the Project Manager for a harm reduction campaign aimed at reducing the risk of overdose among the construction and trades communities on Vancouver Island.


Caleb Asfaw (He/Him)



Caleb is of Ethiopian heritage, born and raised in Victoria on the unceded lands of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ nations. He is pursuing his degree in Computer Science at UVic as well as having a hand in activism through the lens of technology and curation of varying mediums of art. Caleb works as a DJ and focuses on fashion and trivial knowledge in his free time.


Vanessa Simon (She/Her)


Vanessa is a Haitian-Canadian who has been a visitor on the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ territories since 2016. She has a Bachelor of Science in psychology; she works as a youth support worker, holds a position on the lululemon Pacer’s diversity and inclusion board (Vancouver Island representative) and volunteers as a community leader and advocate. With both lived, work and education experience in mental health, she is passionate about creating healing and growth on the individual and community level.


Message from the Organizers

As organizers we would like to emphasize that with the ongoing human rights concerns of the displacement of the unhoused communities, it cannot overshadow the ongoing legacy of displacement of the Indigenous people of this island and across Turtle Island by the colonial settler state. The Greater Victoria area is the unceded territory of the Esquimalt, Songhees, Tsawout, Pauquachin, Tseycum, Tsartlip, Malahat, T’Sou-ke, Beecher Bay, and Pacheedaht First Nations.