Homeless seniors find privacy, community at Dartmouth pallet shelter village | Spare News
Homeless seniors find privacy, community at Dartmouth pallet shelter village | Spare News
https://www.pentictonherald.ca/spare_news/article_50563af5-c93d-56e8-846d-6ccb7e48958c.html
Publish Date: 2026-06-16 07:19:00
Source Domain: www.pentictonherald.ca
When David Lague talks about life at Ron Cooper Village, the word he returns to most often is peaceful.
“The living area here is quiet and peaceful,” said Lague, who has lived at the Dartmouth shelter village for about a year. “Everybody’s just relaxed and at peace.”
For the 68-year-old resident, that sense of calm comes from having a space of his own – a small shelter unit equipped with a bed, storage space, heating, air conditioning, and enough room for a television and small fridge.
“I can sit on my bed with my back against the wall. I’ve got two windows, one in front of me and one behind me,” he told the Post. “I can open them up when it’s nice out, and I can sit and have fresh air, watch TV, and if anybody wants me, they just yell out my name, and I just go up and see them.”
A few units away, another resident, who asked to be identified only as M., describes the village less as a shelter and more as a community.
“It’s just been really like a small village of unexpected people thrown together,” she said. “We eat together. We live within six feet of each other.”
For both residents, the village has offered something difficult to find while experiencing homelessness: stability.
Located on Atlantic Street in South Dartmouth, the Ron Cooper Village, a 41–unit transitional shelter village operated by the Atlantic Community Shelters Society (ACSS), opened in September 2024, and was created specifically for people aged 50 and older experiencing homelessness. The site combines private Pallet-brand shelter units with housing support, health services, and community programming designed to help residents transition into permanent housing.
The village was named after Ronald Cooper, a longtime Cole Harbour councillor, community volunteer, and advocate.
According to staff at the village, the project…
