Downtown Eastside seeks foreign aid

   http://thetyee.ca/Views/2007/10/18/ForeignAid/

        Jean Swanson, CCAC organiser, appealed to the UN to help the homeless in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside by urging the Vancouver municipal government, the government of British Columbia and the Canadian government to help end homelessness and provide adequate housing for those in need. The provincial government set up a committee of governments, business, and community-based businesses called the Inner-City Inclusivity (ICI) Housing Table, which made the recommendation that 3200 units of social housing be built by 2010.  The Vancouver City Council has only partially implemented these recommendations due “funding constraints”. This is viewed as strictly an excuse by VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Organising Community) and the three levels of government to not fulfill their commitments.

Housing the City’s Homeless

www.vancouversun.com/news/have+follow+through+housing+city+homeless/1360014/story.html

             Mayor Gregor Robertson explains how homelessness is one of the toughest challenges Vancouver faces and that with the Olympics arriving to our city, this moral disgrace may also hinder the reputation of the city itself. Within the past 2 months funding between the city, province and “Streettohome Foundation” has allowed the city staff and Homelessness Emergency Action Team (HEAT) to open 5 new HEAT shelters. They provide a warm and safe place to sleep for up to 500 homeless people a night. Since these shelters have opened they have been at full capacity and are making a huge difference within the city.  There are reports that aggressive panhandling is at near-zero levels in the evenings, people who did not want to go to shelters are now coming inside and are getting access to health and social services and both mental health and street disorder calls have dropped. Gregor explains that while much progress has been made, the funding for these new shelters ends March 31^st. The city has created a long term solution in ending homelessness by creating 14 new social housing buildings that will open in 2011, but in the meantime more funding is needed to keep the HEAT shelters open, giving the “hardest-to-house” a place to sleep while they wait. Gregor makes it clear that before next winter 500 units of temporary housing units are essential in allowing the transition out of shelters into more stable housing.

Children, seniors and single parents are joining the ranks

http://www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/ubcreports/2003/03nov06/homeless.html

A UBC Report attempts to bring one back to reality by illustrating the multiple number of people with disabilities, seniors and single parents who are homeless amongst the streets of Vancouver. An alarming rate of homeless children has also risen, in a twenty-four hour survey of homeless people, seventy one kids were found living on the streets.  Jim Franklin, (Institute for Health Promotion Research) believes that to get these people off the streets new solutions are needed such as community-based research data. Although there are many homeless residents in Vancouver, there are even more who are at the risk of being homeless. Factors such as spending half or more of gross household income on housing, or staying with friends or family temporarily, are some of the characteristics of a person who is on the verge of becoming homeless. Franklin states that our current homeless residents need supportive and long-term housing, not only in order to stabilize mental illness and reduce the need for more extreme levels of service, but it would in turn reduce the cities  burden on health services and be a much cheaper solution in the long-run.

Note: Written by Hilary Thompson, Nov.6th 2003

Downtown Eastside : Human settlement

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090223.wbcdteslaquian0223/BNStory/politics/

Mark Hume from the Globe and Mail interviews Aprodicio Laquian , a professor of human settlement at UBC, and author of “Beyond Metropolis“. Mark asks Aprodicio questions relevant to the downtown eastside, where many of Vancouver`s homeless are situated. Aprodicio explains that the root of the problem within the downtown eastside is the concentration of drug addiction, poverty, poor housing, prostitution, crime and mental illness. He also states that he believes this will continue because the downtown eastside attracts people from other parts of Canada and even the U.S. who are faced with personal, economic and social problems and are looking for a place to `belong`. Aprodicio makes it clear that the downtown eastside and its homeless are created due to other Vancouver residents ignoring the concentration of people with problems because they do not affect them in their own neighbourhoods. Another factor is that supporters of the downtown eastside do not allow any redevelopment of the area, believing it will destroy the resident’s sense of community and interfere with their human rights. Aprodicio declares that to solve the problem of homelessness cases of poor health, mental illness and drug addiction must be dealt with first by institutionalizing individuals who are not able to take care of themselves. Social housing projects should also continue to be built in the downtown east side along with affordable housing for middle-income people as well as an inner city redevelopment program.

Note: Interview done by Mark Hume, Globe and Mail

Doors of St. Pauls are swinging ever faster

www.theprovince.com/Health/Doors+Paul+swinging+ever+faster/1255190/story.html

Last year 16,483 homeless people and downtown eastside residence came through the ER doors of Saint Paul’s hospital and the numbers are continually increasing.  Many injuries are due to street violence or skin disorders that are a result of mental health or drug issues. During the winter days many of the homeless enter St. Paul`s just to catch a couple hours of warmth and safety.  Much of the medical staff amongst St. Paul`s hospital feel that they would be able to contribute more time and money to other areas of the health care system if they didn’t have to spend 20 percent of their resources on the homeless people of the downtown eastside.  They also believe that this issue can be solved if we are able to address this social problem efficiently. Medical staff has come to two conclusions, one being that our society has not taken responsibility for the mentally ill, and secondly, the concentration of shelters, clinics, food programs and other services available create a self-perpetuating cycle.  Having much of the homeless living in the downtown eastside, otherwise known as the centre of Vancouver’s drug community, it is easy for others to blame the homeless for the situation they are in. But long histories of mental illnesses and abuse are the underlying problem with much of the homeless in the downtown eastside and much more awareness is needed if this problem is to be solved.

Poll: must blame drugs for B.C. homeless problem

www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20061205/vancouver_homeless_061205/20061205/

          

               The Strategic Counsel for CTV, the Globe and Mail and CKNW Radio conducted a survey during the month of December 2006. They asked five hundred Vancouver residents why they believe people become homeless. Just over fifty percent blamed drug or alcohol addiction as well as mental health problems but many others blamed being too lazy, low welfare rates and lacking skills to get a job as other reasons. Residents were also asked how they felt when they came in contact with a homeless person; again just about half of them felt sympathetic yet others had feelings of anger, shame, fear and guilt. CTV also interviewed a homeless woman, Arlene, who admitted a drug addiction was one of factors that forced her to live in a park for six months. She currently lives in a temporary homeless shelter and explains how she greatly misses her own space and home, realizing the things people take for granted on a daily basis. She goes on to speak of how she never wanted or planned on becoming homeless and feels embarrassment walking through the streets pushing a grocery cart. Cynthia Low who works at the downtown eastside women’s shelter concludes the article by stating “It’s not safe for women to sleep on the street. There’s a guarantee she will be assaulted, a guarantee that someone will try to get something out of here”.

 

 

CBC News: Court strikes down Victoria bylaw againsty homeless camping

www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/10/14/bc-victoria-homeless-bylaw.html

       

        BC Supreme Court Justice Carol Ross ruled that the Victoria bylaw that prevents homeless people from sleeping in tents in public city parks is a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  The court found that because Victoria does not have enough shelters hundreds of homeless are deprived from their liberty and security. Bruce Carter, the Chief executive of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce criticized the ruling claiming that families and children would not be able to fully enjoy public parks if the homeless are camping there.  He claims that “The problems in our community are directly related to mental health and addictions and the lack of services to meet the needs in our community.”  He said the province needs to make the necessary health-care services available, and the federal government should increase funding for housing. Grace Pastine, spokeswoman for the B.C. Liberties Association, praised the decision while David Arthur Johnston, a Victoria homeless activist stated “I’m expecting to sleep down in the mayor’s grove tonight and….I don’t think I’m going to take down my tent.”

 

 

 

 

News Release April 10th, 2008: Vancouver Foundation targets youth homelessness

www.vancouverfoundation.bc.ca/documents/whatsnew/NRyouthhomelessness.pdf

The Vancouver Foundation is Canada’s largest community foundation (Charity) with assets of almost $800 million.  In 2007 they contributed almost $60 million to communities and innovative projects across British Columbia. On this date, the Vancouver Foundation announced that it would focus on a new area- Youth Homelessness- and they approved funding of $414,000 for two programs directed specifically towards this cause.  One pilot project- at a Broadway Youth Resource Center- which helps at-risk youth in Vancouver find rental housing will receive $114,000.  A further $300,000 funding will go to Central City Foundation which is building a $6 million long-term residential treatment center in Keremeos for young people aged 14-24. In 2007 the Vancouver Foundation gave three other grants towards homelessness.  The Covenant House, a well known Crisis Shelter in Vancouver received $75,000.  Another $10,000 went to Metro Vancouver so that they could conduct a regional homeless count, and $40,000 was issued to the City of Vancouver to fund a forum addressing the needs of homeless people with mental illness and addictions.

 

 

 

 

 

‘Stop Gap Housing’ – idea could make big dent in homelessness

http://thetyee.ca/News/2008/12/19/StopGapHousing/

 

 

       Local architect Gregory Henriquez , who created the new Woodward’s project that includes 200 units of permanent social housing, has a suggestion that he claims could transform the 2010 Winter Games from an international embarrassment into a show of Canadian compassion by saving lives. The author, Monte Paulsen, notes that social and economic dislocation is creating homeless British Columbians, currently at 10,000, faster than BC Housing can build homes for them, which normally takes years. Gregory Henriquez’ “Stop Gap Housing” are portable dwellings that could be built with impressive speed, and Henriquez is planning to erect 1,000 units on 8 Vancouver city sites in less than a year.  The cost of these units would be offset by the savings to B.C. taxpayers of hundreds of millions of dollars a year in police, ambulances and health care expenses. A 2008 study by SFU’s Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addiction found that it costs $644 million a year to maintain homelessness in B.C.  It also found that the cost of caring for housed individuals is half the cost of caring for the homeless, and these costs can then go to zero if addictions and mental health illnesses are treated.

 

 

Note: By Monte Paulsen, Published:  December 19, 2008

The Brain Injury Association of Canada: for many brain injury at root of homelessness

http://biac-aclc.ca/en/2008/10/08/for-many-brain-injury-at-root-of homelessness/

       Caroline Alphonso from The Globe and Mail describes a new study that has been published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal which states that mental health is linked to homelessness.  The research paper found that more than half the homeless population in the City of Toronto had experienced a severe brain injury, with 70% having done so before ending up on the streets. In response to the findings, Anita Palepu, a professor in the department of medicine at UBC, suggests that health-care providers should pay special attention to patients with head trauma who are at risk to mental health illnesses or addictions. Conclusions include suggestions for better rehabilitation and services for vulnerable people with head trauma to help prevent them from spiralling into depressed states that eventually lead to homelessness. Head trauma is caused by car accidents, falls or assaults and can lead to emotional instability, mental impairment and attention deficits.

Note: By Caroline Alphonso, October 8, 2008, The Globe and Mail