Plans to put in a youth home in a quiet neighbourhood of Maple Ridge are bothering the couple who will end up living beside it.
And what bothers Roderick and Liliya Rhodes most is a lack of clarity about what Alouette Home Start Society has in mind.
“There is no single statement that you can trust them,” Liliya said from her house on 239th Street, just south of Dewdney Trunk Road.
The couple was told in August that Alouette Home Start, along with the Ministry of Child and Family Development and B.C. Housing, were collaborating to create a residential youth home for children in the ministry’s care.
The home would be operated by the Alouette Home Start Society.
That was explained in an August letter from Alouette interim executive-director Heather Chevrier.
“It is part of our mission to work in positive partnership with the community in providing a safe, healthy and nurturing environment for youth who have been removed from their custodial homes,” Chevrier wrote.
“I would like to stress to you the importance we at AHSS place on being a good neighbour and asset to the community.”
Chevrier invited the couple to call her with any concerns.
The home, on 239th Street, was supposed to open last month, but hasn’t yet.
The home has been licensed by Fraser Health and would always have a staff member present when youths are living there, Chevrier said.
Staff have all been trained and screened with criminal record checks.
Chevrier didn’t return phone calls.