Event: End Homelessness Now Public Forum

VANCOUVER, BC On any given night, there are over 3,000 homeless people on the streets in Vancouver. They include runaways, teens, single adults, couples and families. They are living there, either temporarily or long-term, for any number of reasons. Tragically, far too many of these people have fallen through the cracks of the existing system. And from 2003 to 2005, there has been almost a 300% increase in the number of homeless people living full time on the street as opposed to emergency shelters. While we do nothing, the problem has been growing by almost 30% a year.

A free public forum dedicated to finding solutions to ending chronic homelessness in our city will be held at St. Andrews Wesley United Church (corner of Burrard & Nelson) in Vancouver at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 15th, 2007. The goal of the forum is to raise awareness of this growing crisis in our city and to look at ways it can be addressed with real targets, real action plans and real accountability.

Guest speakers will include Ms. Heather Lyons, Homeless Program Manager for the City of Portland, Bureau of Housing and Community Development and Mr. Ed Blackburn, Deputy Director of Central City Concern, an agency that has been working with homeless adults and families in the Portland metro area for almost 30 years.

Forum moderator will be Dr. Nancy Hall, the former Mental Health Advocate for the Province of B.C.


Event: End Homelessness Now Public Forum
Date: November 15, 2007
Time: 6:30 p.m. Vancouver Men’s Choir performs;
7:00 p.m. Forum begins
Place: St. Andrew’s - Wesley United Church,
1012 Nelson St. (corner of Nelson and Burrard)
Vancouver, B.C.
Web: www.endhomelessnessnow.ca

Click here for a detailed press release (pdf), and here for an event flyer (pdf).