Owned and operated by the [Vancouver Native Housing Society](http://vnhs.ca/), Skwachays works as a social enterprise to improve conditions in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Skwachays is more than a good-looking boutique hotel; it has two additional functions. First, 24 units are saved for low-cost aboriginal artist housing; the lower level is being renovated into a workshop. Artists live at Skwachays on a three-year contract, during which they produce pieces that are sold in the hotel’s lobby gallery. Skwachays’ goal is to help the artists become financially independent by the end of their contract. Second, the remaining 18 rooms are designated as the hotel, each uniquely designed by one of six aboriginal artists. These rooms, as well as the gallery sales, fund the artist housing, resulting in a self-sustaining social enterprise.