BIRCH - Bowen Island Resilient Community Housing

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BIRCH - Bowen Island Resilient Community Housing

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BIRCH - Bowen Island Resilient Community Housing is a non profit organization based on Bowen Island B

11/09/2026

Have you seen the progress at Hemlock Hill Village?

It's exciting to see the building's foundation taking shape!

Hemlock Hill Village will provide 25 new affordable homes for individuals, families and seniors on Bowen Island.

Interested in updates? Sign up for our newsletter at https://birchousing.org

10/27/2026

Amanda, the Outreach and Housing Coordinator from Lookout Housing & Health Society is here on Bowen today (at the Bowen Island Library from 10-1) and will be back again next month at the Bowen Island Library:
Tuesday, November 24
10am-1pm for drop-in appointments

You can also reach out to Amanda directly to book an appointment at [email protected] or 604-319-0389. Appointments can be held over the phone, online or in person at various locations.

Obtain: Help navigating available rental and housing supports Assistance with rental subsidies and housing programs Support with accessing income assistance and other benefits

More info at https://bowenlibrary.ca/series/get-help

10/05/2026

Want to know what’s happening at BIRCH?

Get the latest on Hemlock Hill Village, our housing work on Bowen, and what’s coming next.

Sign up for the BIRCH newsletter at birchousing.org

And stay tuned—there’s an exciting Lot 1 update coming this fall!

09/25/2026

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the BIRCH booth at BowFest.

We appreciated the opportunity to connect with so many community members, answer questions, hear your perspectives, and receive thoughtful feedback about our work.

Many of the conversations centred on Hemlock Hill Village, a project of the Lookout Housing & Health Society, where BIRCH is a community partner.

To make those conversations easy to revisit and share, we've gathered the most frequently asked questions and answers in one place on our Ask BIRCH page.

https://birchousing.org/ask-birch/

Below is the first set of questions and answers about Hemlock Hill Village that were asked at BowFest.

Q1: Are there balconies or outdoor spaces at Hemlock Hill?
Q2: Are all the units at Hemlock Hill rentals?
Q3: What is the rental mix at Hemlock Hill?
Q4: How much parking will be available?
Q5: Was the land for Hemlock Hill given to BIRCH?

[Image: AI generated, Text: human]

09/22/2026

Thank you to Lookout Housing & Health Society for joining us at Bowfest to answer questions on Hemlock Hill Village!

08/29/2026

BIRCH is at Bowfest! We have information on Hemlock Hill and Lot 1. Have questions? Ask BIRCH.

08/26/2026

Come see us at Bowfest!

BIRCH and Lookout Housing will be at Bowfest from 10:30 – 3:30.

Lookout Housing will be there to share info and answer your questions about the Hemlock Hill project.

BIRCH will be sharing the latest concepts for Lot 1, we’d love to know what you think.

And as always – come say hi and Ask BIRCH.

We look forward to seeing you!

[Image: AI generated, Text: human]

08/19/2026

We received 6 thoughtful questions from a community member for Ask BIRCH:

See the Q + A's in our comments below and on our Ask BIRCH page on our website. https://birchousing.org/ask-birch/

1. Do we know what Lookout considers a "resident of Bowen?" Any specific criteria for that?
2. Do we have any idea what the income requirements might look like?
3. What steps were taken to ensure that the greatest amount of people possible had access to the residence survey and why do you think the final number of respondents was so low.
4. Are you aware of any policies or laws that would have applied to a project like yours that specifically require the consultation of people with disabilities that were in effect during this current housing project? If you do, then would you say that BIRCH did a good job at following those guidelines?
5. The number of units seems to fluctuate between 24 and 25 in all of the copy related to this project, even on your own website. Could we get some clarification on that number?
6. Do we have specific numbers yet on how many units of each size there will be?

Thank you for the Q's.

[Image: AI generated, Text: human]

08/18/2026

We are excited to see a growing number of conversations and questions about BIRCH (Bowen Island Resilient Community Housing), our projects, and our work in the community.

We know that housing is an important topic on Bowen, and we want to make sure our community has easy access to clear information about what we do, how decisions are made and where our projects stand.

So we’re starting Ask BIRCH.

We will address questions we’re hearing from the community and provide responses from the BIRCH Board, staff, project team, and/or our partners. We’ll share the answers on our page and add them to a new FAQ section on our website so they’re easy to find and reference.

Have a question about BIRCH? We welcome it. You can leave it in the comments on our page post or send it to us directly at [email protected].

We've started our website FAQ page with some recent questions from the community - https://birchousing.org/ask-birch/

[Image: AI generated, Text: human]

08/08/2026

[Post edit: Image: AI, Text: human]

Did You Know?

As part of the BIRCH Housing Survey, community members were asked:

"Question 21: In terms of addressing different community housing needs, which group(s) should be prioritized for affordable housing?"

A total of 155 community members responded.

The results shown in the graphic reflect the weighted average ratings, with higher weighted ratings indicating higher priority.

1. Families with low income
2. People experiencing or at risk of homelessness
3. Seniors
4. Individuals with low income
5. People with disabilities
6. Essential workers
7. Families with moderate income
8. Individuals with moderate income
9. Seasonal workers

These results will help inform BIRCH's ongoing work to understand community housing needs and support future housing planning on Bowen Island.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate. Your voice helps shape our community.

Want to continue the conversation? Visit us at BowFest to learn more about our current projects, ask questions, and share your ideas. We look forward to connecting with you!

Address

Bowen Island, BC

Website

http://birchousing.org/

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