FINAL REMINDER: A Tale of Two Visions

MONDAY NIGHT!

The anticipated arrival of the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and Whistler next year has energized many churches to sieze this occasion for bold witness and community service. With thousands of people from around the world descending on this region, and with the expectation of a massive television audience for the Games, churches have viewed this as an opportunity to live out their calling and mission by participating in the Olympic festivities in a variety of ways (hospitality, chaplaincy, volunteer service, etc.).

It is worth pondering, however, what the Olympics is all about, and whether the vision of the world promoted by the Olympic Games is compatible with the vision of the kingdom of God announced and embodied in the mission of Jesus.

Does the spectacular ritual of the Games, and the philosophy of Olympism that guides its production, uphold the perspectives, beliefs and values that lie at the core of the ‘good news’ proclaimed by Jesus and his early followers?

Is there a way of thinking and a mode of perception embedded in the ideology of the Olympics that is essentially at odds with the message of solidarity and liberation expressed in the teaching and life of Jesus? These are some of the issues we want to explore together, both through a creative presentation of the rhetoric / reality of the Olympic Movement and the biblical witness to the kingdom of God, and a time of respectful dialogue and discussion.

We believe that these are important questions to consider, and that our understanding of the Olympic Movement and our posture toward the Olympic Games cannot be separated from our fidelity to the Crucified One.

We invite you to come and engage with us.

U.S. couple tells State Department False Creek North is 'unsafe'

KRISTEN THOMPSON
METRO VANCOUVER
June 24, 2009 12:01 a.m.

The American State Department has issued travel advisories for Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia and Haiti — but will it issue one for Vancouver?

An American couple living in False Creek North says they’ve alerted their government that the neighbourhood is unsafe for visitors, and is requesting it issue a travel advisory during the 2010 Games.

Deirdre Barlow, who is part of a group called Concerned Citizens of False Creek North, said residents are on edge after the city opened a shelter nearby, which she said has attracted violence, prostitution and drug use.

Read the rest here

Fate of homeless shelters linked to Little Mountain Housing?

By Carlito Pablo
June 23, 2009
Straight.com

Is there a connection between the pending decision by the City of Vancouver on an application by the province for a demolition permit for Little Mountain Housing, and the provincial government’s foot-dragging on renewing its continued funding for homeless shelters in the city?

That may sound like a bit of a stretch, and could easily be dismissed as another conspiracy theory.

But let’s take a look at some background.

On March 31, funding ended for the five homeless shelters that were bankrolled by the provincial government, the city, and a private group.

Since April 1, the province has been the sole funder of the shelters.

In May, Vancouver council passed a motion directing staff to continue working with the province in order to keep the shelters open until April 2010.

More than a month later and until today (June 23), there’s no word about whether or not the province will come up with money, which is about $500,000 a month to maintain the shelters.

Read the rest here

Shelters to shut down

Door closing on funding
Mike Howell, Vancouver Courier
Published: Friday, June 19, 2009

The nonprofit organization operating one of the city's five temporary homeless shelters near Main and Terminal told its employees to prepare to be out of a job at the end of the month.

Susan Tatoosh, executive director of the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society, said the shelter's closure at 201 Central St. would put 28 people out of work.

"Unless we hear otherwise, June 30 will be our closure date," said Tatoosh, noting 21 staff are full time and seven are on call. "And all of these people were unemployed prior to the opening of the shelter."

Read the rest here

See also City lacks plan for hundreds of homeless in temporary shelters (Vancouver Courier)

Death Lurks in an Empty Cupboard

In Canada's poorest neighbourhood, bad diets hasten illness and death.

By Amy Juschka
Published: June 19, 2009
The Tyee

Why, in a country as wealthy as Canada, are people going hungry? When Dr. Graham Riches first looked into the issue of "food insecurity" in the early 1980s, he was interested in that question. Nearly three decades later, Riches, emeritus professor of social work at the University of British Columbia, is still trying to find the answer.

This much hasn't changed: For millions of low-income Canadians, finding -- and affording -- nutritious food is a daily battle.

And more and more, charities are expected to meet the need.

Read the rest here

As rents increase, low-income tenants are shut out: report

By Mary Frances Hill,
Vancouver Sun
June 18, 2009


Unscrupulous landlords and ineffective rent controls are driving welfare recipients out of single-room occupancy hotels and onto the streets, according to a report by a Downtown Eastside housing activists' group.

The number of rooms renting at above $425 -- $50 above the welfare shelter rate -- is steadily increasing, said a report released Wednesday by the Carnegie Community Action Project.

The "Still Losing Hotel Rooms Report," co-authored by Wendy Pederson and Jean Swanson, found 694 more rooms than last year are renting at more than $425 a month.

In 2008, a similar CCAP report found 889 rooms renting at more than $425.

The Ministry of Human Resources designates $375 a month in each welfare cheque toward shelter costs, though only about six rooms out of 3,600 available in the Downtown Eastside are being rented for $375, said Pederson.

There is nothing a low-income tenant can do when faced with high rates, as rent controls in the poor neighbourhood are ineffective, Pederson said in an interview. "Single-room-occupancy residences are the last resort before homelessness."

In April and May, four surveyors from the CCAP posed as prospective tenants at 88 privately owned Downtown Eastside hotels and recorded information from 63 of them.

Pederson said about 344 previously closed hotel rooms have opened under non-profit management, and nearly 338 new units are expected to open by the end of 2009.

Link to article

See also Hotels charge more than welfare allows: report

Homeless, drug users say they're being unfairly targeted by Vancouver police

By RICHARD J. DALTON JR.,
VANCOUVER SUN
June 17, 2009

VANCOUVER -- Homeless people, drug users and their advocates pushed the Vancouver Police Board on Wednesday to void tickets for jaywalking and other minor offences in the Downtown Eastside, saying the police had unfairly targeted the neighbourhood in a crackdown on disorderly conduct.

Advocates from the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, the Pivot Legal Society and the Portland Hotel Society told the police board east-side residents can’t afford to pay the tickets and can’t navigate the city’s bureaucracy if they wanted to pay the fines.

“The community has been caused tremendous stress and grief,” said Laura Track, lawyer for the Pivot Legal Society, a non-profit legal advocacy organization.

The crackdown peaked in December with more than 1,000 tickets issued, Track said.

Read the rest here

No charges in homeless man's death

From Thursday's Globe and Mail
Last updated on Saturday, Jun. 20, 2009

Police response doesn't qualify as criminal negligence, investigation finds

Jonathan Guitard was never the “squeaky wheel.”

He didn't complain about his drug and alcohol addictions, his homelessness or his struggles with mental illness in his role as affable ambassador to the hundreds of people coming through the doors of Victoria's Our Place Society.

And he died in similar silence, unconscious on the street in the early-morning, below-freezing December air for hours after a call was made to police to pick him up.

The results of an investigation released yesterday by the Victoria Police Department found that, although the person answering the phone at the other end of the line the night Mr. Guitard died contravened policy and indirectly contributed to Mr. Guitard's death, it didn't qualify as criminal negligence that would result in charges.

Read the rest here

Temporary homeless shelters must remain open: Vancouver mayor

Last Updated: Friday, June 12, 2009
CBC.ca

Two controversial temporary shelters in the Beach Avenue area need to remain open at least until next spring, Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said Friday.

The shelters were opened during last year's cold snap, with little public consultation, and area residents are unhappy about the situation.

At a town hall meeting on Thursday night, about 200 area residents gathered to voice their displeasure with the city's decision, saying shelter users are aggressive and doing drugs, and their neighbourhood is suffering as a result.

"How is this possible," one woman asked of city officials who attended the meeting, "when our property is being used as toilets, injection sites and prostitution."

"I think it's a little too late for dialogue," added another to applause from the crowd. "I think it's pretty clear the sites have to go."

Some residents brought photographs depicting drug dealing, fights and even a man bringing an axe into one of the sites.

Robertson said that while he understands their concerns, the shelters need to remain open as long as there is demand.

Read the rest here

Vancouver emergency shelters draw fire from neighbours

Last Updated: Tuesday, June 9, 2009
CBC.ca

A battle is brewing over two homeless shelters underneath the Granville Street Bridge in downtown Vancouver.

The city opened five so-called low-barrier shelters throughout the city in late 2008 with funding from the city, the province and the private sector.

The shelters are called low-barrier because they have more relaxed rules about pets, possessions, intoxication and other behaviour often banned by more traditional homeless shelters. They were billed as a temporary emergency measure to get the homeless off the streets during the winter months, but the shelters have stayed open.

Now the city is asking the provincial government for enough money to keep them running until April, 2010.

However, False Creek residents along Beach Avenue say they've never been consulted about the two shelters located at 1435 Granville St. and 1422 Howe St.

Resident John Roberts said he wants the shelters shut down because they are making the neighbourhood unsafe.

Read the rest here
See also Downtown residents says homeless shelters on Howe and Granvile streets a disaster (Vancouver Courier)
See also Condo/shelter clash could have been avoided (Vancouver Courier)

Little Mountain Housing project moves closer to demolition

By Carlito Pablo
Straight.com
June 4, 2009

On June 1, the remaining 13 families at Vancouver’s oldest social housing site received notices that B.C. Housing has applied for permits to demolish their homes.

The letter—signed by the agency’s Vancouver Coastal Region director, Dale McMann—doesn’t indicate when the actual demolition work at Little Mountain Housing is expected to be carried out. Communications staff didn’t make McMann or another official at B.C. Housing or the Ministry of Housing and Social Development available by for an interview before the Straight ’s deadline.

Vancouver city councillors have expressed doubt that there’s anything council can do to stop the knocking down of the 224 social housing units in the area, which served as homes to thousands since they were built in the 1950s.

However, Coalition of Progressive Electors councillor Ellen Woodsworth told the Straight that it is “just absurd that we would tear down perfectly good housing and leave a site vacant for maybe who knows how many years”.

Read the rest here

See also Wrecking ball aimed at Little Mountain (Vancouver Courier, June 5)

How the minimum-wage fight will shape cabinet

Campbell will have to consider who will represent the social progressives – let's call them the Liberal wing – in his coalition party

B.C. Dispatch
The Globe and Mail

t was a vulnerable niche in the B.C. Liberals' election platform: an eight-year freeze in the minimum wage that has made the province one of the worst places in the country for workers on the bottom rung.

Premier Gordon Campbell insisted a pay hike would kill jobs, but a majority of British Columbians – two out of three – canvassed midway through the election campaign said $8 an hour isn't enough.

There were those in the B.C. cabinet who could have predicted it was a dangerous wedge issue and argued for change early in 2007: Wally Oppal, Carole Taylor, Olga Ilich. Pending a judicial recount in Mr. Oppal's case, all those voices are now gone.

As he puts together his next cabinet, Mr. Campbell will have to consider more than the usual mix of regional, gender and ethnic balances. He also might consider who will represent the social progressives – let's call them the Liberal wing – in his coalition party.

But if the acid test is the minimum wage, it's unlikely there are many champions willing to step forward.

Read the rest here