[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: B.C. deaths put spotlight on homelessness

[Terrie]

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From: Mike Yale <theyales at surenet.net>
Date: 2008/12/29
Subject: B.C. deaths put spotlight on homelessness
To: odspaction at googlegroups.com,
odspaction-announce+owner at googlegroups.com<odspaction-announce%2Bowner at googlegroups.com>



B.C. deaths put spotlight on homelessness; Vancouver's new mayor looks for
innovative ways to provide shelter beds and affordable housing

Petti Fong
The Toronto Star, Dec. 29, 2008

Two deaths, one at the beginning of 2008 and one at the end of the year,
highlighted the issue of homelessness in this city, making well known the
names of two people who spent years living anonymously on the streets.

Darrell Mickasko, 47, died Jan. 31 when he burned to death after the camp
stove he lit to stay warm exploded. On Dec. 19, Tracey, a 47-year-old
homeless woman familiar to downtown residents, died after the candle she lit
to keep warm during the city's recent cold snap set on fire the tarp she
used as a shelter.

Vancouver's new mayor, Gregor Robertson, who decided to enter local politics
after hearing of Mickasko's death, said it's painfully clear the status quo
is unacceptable.

"The Vancouver we hold in our hearts cannot be a city where people die of
exposure," said Robertson, who was visibly shaken by Tracey's death days
before Christmas.

"There are gaps in our safety nets despite the best efforts of police and
street workers."

Robertson, who took over as the mayor in early December after running on a
platform to end homelessness by 2015, said immediate action must be taken to
provide shelter beds for those on the streets.

He plans to use city bylaws to protect existing affordable housing, and then
to use rezoning to add cheap rental housing to the marketplace in the long
term.

It's an ambitious plan and perhaps an unrealistic one, according to Ann
Livingston, a representative of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users.

"No one is sure whether he is going to succeed. All these other politicians
have said they want to end homelessness," Livingston said. "But right now
the
fact that someone ran on this campaign promise and looks to be putting some
effort into this could make a difference."

She said this new focus on homelessness could do for the Downtown Eastside
what the opening of North America's first and only supervised injection site
did in 2003. While only a fraction of addicts use the site, the fact that it
is there has made a difference in attitudes, she said.

"If you show some willingness to help, the people here begin thinking of
themselves differently, helping themselves more," she said.

A three-party venture involving the city, province and private sector -
announced earlier this month with each party contributing $500,000 - will
fund temporary
overnight shelter beds for 90 days.

In one of his first moves, the mayor has appointed an emergency task force
on homelessness, which must deal with how to accommodate more than 1,500
homeless
when there are only about 750 shelter beds.

The problem became more pressing this month as Vancouver experienced near-
record low temperatures and snowfall.

Kerry Jang, a mental health advocate and a newly elected city councillor,
said the cold weather has forced the task force to look at innovative
answers.

Before classes resume next week, the city is working with the school board
to use the gym at Kitsilano Secondary School in Vancouver's west side as a
temporary
sleeping site for the homeless.

Another option, said Jang, is to use a motel on Vancouver's east side.

Shelter workers face a challenge finding room for pets and possessions,
which homeless people often keep in shopping carts.

Tracey, the homeless woman who died just before Christmas, was offered
temporary shelter but she turned down what was available because it didn't
allow
her to bring in her shopping cart. Such a facility opened only days later,
but it was too late.

Jang said with so much need out there and limited funds, social agencies and
politicians have to figure out how to best spend resources. It costs $40 to
$50 a night to provide each shelter mat.

"There is no magic bullet," said Jang. "But we've always known that, in this
field, we have to adapt and be open to every option out there."





-- 
Terrie ( mocharebyl at gmail.com )
"If you see an injustice being committed, you aren't an observer, you are a
participant." June Callwood
Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and
renders the present inaccessible.  Maya Angelou
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