Premier plans $41-million to help fight homelessness

The Canadian Press
October 13, 2007

VANCOUVER -- The B.C. government will add an additional $41-million to its housing strategy to try to combat the tide of homelessness in one of the country's wealthiest provinces.

Premier Gordon Campbell made the announcement at the Yukon Shelter in Vancouver yesterday, accompanied by Housing Minister Rich Coleman and other civic officials.

There are four parts to the announcement, including one that provides more money so that emergency shelters can stay open 24 hours a day instead of having people leave them every morning.

The announcements were designed to provide more housing possibilities as well as give the homeless more advantages to avoid becoming homeless in the first place.

"Imagine what it would be like not to know where you were going to go home to at night," Mr. Campbell said. "Imagine the instability that that creates in your life."

He said that in the past year the government had committed to more than 2,300 housing units to support the homeless, including the acquisition of hotels.

The announcement yesterday focused on four areas.

The outreach program announced last year assisted people in 20 communities and involved connecting 1,600 people with services and homes, he said.

"Of those 1,600, more than 80 per cent remain in accommodation a year later.

"We will invest an additional $3.9-million to expand the existing outreach program to almost 40 communities, new and existing."

He said new outreach services would be established in Campbell River, Comox, Courtenay, Dawson Creek, Fort St. John, Nelson and Vernon.

Aboriginals unable to find accommodation will benefit from $500,000 "specifically targeted" to help them find accommodation, the Premier said.

He said that the 1,300 emergency shelters in B.C. are closed most of the day and that will end.

The province will spend an additional $25-million to make sure the shelters are available 24 hours a day.

A pilot program announced last year will be expanded. "It's a rent supplement program for people that are homeless," he said. "That rent supplement program worked for 315 families over the past year and it stopped them from ever becoming homeless."

The program will be expanded to include an additional 750 families.

"There will be 1,065 families that will be able to take advantage of that rent supplement program," Mr. Campbell said.

Finally, he said the province would provide money for predevelopment costs for cities willing to put up the capital costs of housing. The offer is open now to Vancouver, Surrey, Victoria and Kelowna. "We believe we'll be able to generate an additional 1,500 units of housing across this province."

The announcement was not greeted warmly by a spokeswoman for a support agency located in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

Jean Swanson of the Carnegie Community Acton Project said permanent housing is needed more than improvements to temporary shelters.

"We've been expecting a big housing announcement for a long time," Ms. Swanson said.

"Some people were hoping that the government was going to build 4,000 units of housing. Compared with that expectation, increasing shelter beds is of course better than not increasing them, but it's extremely frustrating."

Link to article