Stands For Housing Continues

The "STAND for Housing/Homes for All" last Saturday generated requests for participation from many people and organizations. It was enough of a success that we'll do it again this Saturday, March 1st, 1-2pm.

Christ Church Cathedral is the newest organization to take a STAND advocating construction of new social housing for welfare-level incomes. It will be mounted in front of the stately cathedral at the corner of Burrard and Georgia.

This second STAND focuses on the recent federal Budget, which shamefully included no money for housing or relief of homelessness. The only spending said to be on "homelessness" -- isn't:

$110 million to researchers in Vancouver and four other Canadian cities for mental health "demonstration projects." The Vancouver project-- about $30 million-- will study dual-diagnosed people (mentally ill and addicted) in the Downtown Eastside.

... A grotesque misuse of public money that could instead be used to house those people, which would be a more humane, effective, and cheaper 'project' than using them as research subjects.

The STAND is this Saturday, March 1st, again from 1 to 2pm. I Here are the locations we know of as of this date:
- Main St. & 33rd Avenue
- Main St. & King Edward
- Arbutus & King Edward
- Broadway & McDonald
- Heather & 6th Avenue
- Commercial & 1st Avenue
- Cordova & Gore
- Oak & W 49th Ave
- A new STAND, at Burrard and Georgia, organized by Christ Church Cathedral.

These Stands for Housing, plus additional locations organized in future by other groups, neighbours, adults, and young people, will continue at regular intervals (to be announced) until serious policies and funding are dedicated by federal, provincial, and municipal politicians to building new, permanent low-income housing. Using the surplus billion$ of our prosperous economy for new, permanent low-income housing is the primary mechanism by which homelessness must be defeated.

The public and media are invited to join us at any of the above locations. The idea of the STAND is based on the moving example of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, whose children were "disappeared" by the military, 1976 to 1983. They stood every week in a city square wearing white scarves until the generals capitulated. The scarves became an international "brand" for peaceful protests.

In Vancouver we will pay respect to the hundreds of dead and dying homeless men, women, and children- victims of legislated poverty and government neglect in BC and Canada. In Vancouver the homeless populate our streets and lanes, huddle in parks and encampments, burn to death in doorways, are crushed in back alley garbage bins.