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By Lloyd Mackey
VICTORIA church leaders are increasingly finding ways
in which their congregations can become involved in the ongoing task of
ending homelessness.
And, as a result of several strands of activities, some
Victoria churches may soon be ready, in cooperation with senior government
levels, to turn their surplus properties into affordable housing for people
in need.
Recently, BCCN interviewed Peggy Wilmot, who has been in the forefront of a
multi-faceted faith-based educational and action process. A lay leader at
St. John the Divine Anglican Church, Wilmot is the homelessness action
coordinator for Faith in Action, a group with the stated purpose of being
“a multifaith initiative in support of the poor.”
To Wilmot and her colleagues, the churches have a
significant role to play, in education, advocacy and action.
“There are about 1,500 homeless people in the
Victoria area,” she points out, suggesting there are a whole range of
issues involved, including addiction, mental illness and people simply not
getting the right breaks.
The Faith in Action approach has been multi-faceted, as
well. Their efforts have included:
• Presentations to a range of faith groups:
Christian, Jewish and Ismaili, to name just a few.
• Taking ‘Stands’ – arranging
for groups of people to stand together in public places with placards,
using simple wording to make a point.
• Writing letters. A Victoria journalist, Jody
Paterson, has a list of tips on the Faith in Action website for writing
letters to leaders and editors (www.victoriafaithinaction.ca).
Some of the approaches are combined. For example, at
coffee hours after church, Wilmot likes to set up a small exhibit and
encourage people who drop by to try writing letters.
The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness
(which grew out of a Mayor’s Task Force) took the timely action of
writing to federal finance minister Jim Flaherty, offering advice for his
January 27 budget. Much of their letter emphasized various ways of
stimulating the economy through infrastructure investment, including
affordable housing.
It also noted: “We further recommend that the
federal government move quickly to amend the Income Tax Act to eliminate
the capital gains tax on donations of land and buildings to registered
public charities for the purpose of providing perpetually affordable
housing. This would motivate businesses, organizations, philanthropists and
individuals to assist with the creation of affordable housing while
avoiding tax leakage.”
In mid-December, the coalition was awarded a $100,000
grant by the Victoria Foundation, to finance a database to streamline the
process of helping the homeless.
This past fall, Emmanuel Baptist Church hosted a
presentation called Moving Mountains, with the encouragement of its senior
minister, Rob Fitterer.
“It was strategic, in a way,” Wilmot says.
She notes that evangelical church leaders often expressed an interest in
doing something, but were not sure that models working for other faith
groups would work for them.
Fitterer and Emmanuel, well known and trusted in the
evangelical community as being one of their own, served as a networking
conduit. And it has worked, she says.
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Some of the networking examples are worth noting.
For example, if a motel comes up for sale, is there any
way of getting a buyer who can work at providing transitional housing?
Building a database helps identify need and opportunity – but the
Privacy Act creates a challenge.
For churches, specifically, Wilmot suggests that single
parent housing represents one of the biggest areas of need. And church
leaders “are keen on that particular field. They see the possibility
of emotional buy-in.” Housing – and spiritual – needs are
met.
At the Emmanuel session, Threshold Housing (an Anglican
group) and The Cridge Centre for the Family provided faith-based
information and resources.
There are opportunities for national networking as
well. Anglicans and Lutherans, whose national ministry agreement includes a
joint housing committee, meet regularly by conference calls to share
successes, failures and progress on projects. Recently, the group has been
sending material to federal human resources minister Diane Finley.
A variety of factors led to the current level of action
against homelessness in Victoria. For several years, a combination of the
low stock of affordable housing together with the increasing numbers of
people living on streets and in parks near the city core was getting
increasing public attention.
Then, in 2007, the mayor of the day struck a
‘Mayor's Task Force on Breaking the Cycle of Mental Illness,
Addictions and Homelessness: A Victoria Model.’
The mayor at the time was Alan Lowe, who recently
retired after a decade in the post. Lowe, himself an active Pentecostal
Christian, gave the task force a 120-day term “to recommend a service
model and business plan that would provide better assistance to residents
challenged with mental illness, addictions and/or homelessness.”
The task force was chaired by city councillor Charlayne
Thornton-Joe. It was charged with “breaking down the issue of
homelessness in Victoria and developing a new service delivery model that
will be a substantial shift in the way we all respond to our community's
social and health challenges.”
While the task force’s language was somewhat
bureaucratic in format, it did articulate the urgency of dealing with the
issue. One paragraph pointed out, for example, that “despite the good
work being done to support Victoria's most vulnerable population, the
pressures on the streets of Victoria are reaching a breaking point.
Victoria needs a community-owned solution to end homelessness for its
residents.”
Faith in Action is a key part of that solution. Church
groups wanting more information can contact Peggy Wilmot at
pwilmot@shaw.ca.
January 2009
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