Kelvin has found his happy place in McBride, BC after six terrible years of living homeless in Victoria and Toronto. That finally came to an end in 2022 when an informal group of local “Robinhooders,” the Friends of Stadacona Park, paid for his transportation from Victoria to McBride, about 210 km southeast of Prince George. His mental health had taken a major turn for the worse after a stay in one of Victoria’s rougher supportive housing facilities, so Kelvin had asked in his application to the BC Housing registry to be placed anywhere in the province where there was a spot. That turned out to be tiny McBride, population 588. “It’s so fucking wonderful here,” he said this week. “I’ve got my dog, I love going for walks, and I can ride anywhere on my electric bike. But there’s lots of people and service agencies in Victoria I’d still give a hug to if I could.” Kelvin managed (with much effort) to get his 88-year-old mother moved last year from Sidney to a BC Housing facility in Valemount, about an hour’s drive away from him, after renovations and escalating rents left her at high risk of homelessness.