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By Jim Coggins
CHURCHES continue to be at the heart of efforts to help the homeless in southern
B.C.
A 2008 survey counted 2,660 homeless in the Metro Vancouver region, although it
is generally assumed that actual numbers are higher than the number counted.
There are some 1,300 regular shelter beds in the region; an additional 100 cold
wet weather spaces opened in November for the winter; and 400 extreme weather
spaces open up whenever the weather gets very cold.
This means that even though the B.C. government has passed legislation allowing
police to force the homeless into shelters, there are not enough shelter spaces
to meet the need.
One hopeful sign is the opening of the Gateway of Hope in Langley November 27.
The $14 million building is being operated by the Salvation Army, but has had
significant financial support from the Canadian and B.C. governments, as well
as the City and Township of Langley.
It includes a 115-seat dining room, 13 resident units for women, 12 resident
units for men and 30 shelter beds.
A particularly encouraging sign is the support the development has received from
the community. More than 100 people came out for the ribbon cutting ceremony,
and 500 toured the facility the next day.
In the Tri-Cities, five churches take turns offering cold wet weather spaces.
Numbers have been down slightly this year, partly because 32 people who used
the shelters last year have found permanent housing – some of them as a result of being in the shelters.
Rob Thiessen, director of the Hope for Freedom Society, told the Tri-City News that once the homeless have food and shelter, they can give more attention to
solving long-term problems such as addiction.
“Homeless people live under the tyranny of the immediate. All day long, they are
thinking about where they are going to eat and where they are going to sleep.
When they come into a shelter, some of the worries go away and . . . suddenly
there is some room . . . to start thinking about other things.”
When the churches proposed opening the shelters a couple of years ago, residents
packed public meetings to express concerns about a potential increase in crime
around the churches. However, at a public meeting in Coquitlam last November to
consider extending the program for another year, no one spoke against the
proposal.
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Additional extreme weather spaces include: 40 at Surrey Urban Mission, 10 at
Cloverdale Church, 25 at Nightshift Ministries in Surrey, 30 in Burnaby
Alliance Church, 40 at the Salvation Army in New Westminster, 20 at the North
Shore Shelter, 16 at Richmond House, 16 at St. Alban’s Anglican Church in Richmond and 10 at First United in White Rock.
A less hopeful development is a report that homeless people from Vancouver are
turning up at Ruth and Naomi’s Mission, a ministry in Chilliwack directed by Ted and Ann Stoker. Allegedly,
somebody has been giving them one-way bus tickets out of town.
Another encouraging development, however, happened December 7. Vancouver mayor
Gregor Robertson met with 50 representatives of the Christian, Sikh, Muslim and
Jewish communities, to discuss the possibility of expanding the number of
shelter beds.
Most of these efforts are focused on providing temporary shelter beds, where the
homeless can stay overnight.
Some progress has also been made in recent years, in increasing long-term social
housing for the homeless; but such projects usually take years to complete.
Many long-term social housing complexes are also administered by Christian
ministries.
“The opening today represents a community that cares,” said Langley City mayor Peter Fassbender at the opening of the Gateway of Hope.
“Today is the beginning of a new journey.”
January 2010
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