Downtown Eastside groups issue urgent plea for homeless ahead of winter
Global News
The groups are warning that there are 3,100 people of no fixed address in the region, including 2,000 in the Downtown Eastside, but just 1,500 shelter beds.
As the cold, wet weather rolls into B.C.’s South Coast, a coalition of groups from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is calling for more safe and warm spaces for the homeless.
The Carnegie Housing Project held a press conference Thursday, warning that there are 3,100 people of no fixed address in the region, including 2,000 in the Downtown Eastside, but just 1,500 shelter beds.
The group, along with the Aboriginal Front Door Society, Overdose Prevention Society and Building Community Society, released nine urgent actions to address the crisis.
At the top of the list is a call for the province to create between 500 and 1,500 more shelter spaces.
“More can be done for these people. I’ve experienced homelessness multiple times throughout my lifetime, and I know what it’s like to not have a place to sleep and not have a place to rest your head,” said Chris Livingstone, vice-president of the Aboriginal Front Door Society.
“It’s like living in a fog because you’re always protecting your stuff. You’re always operating on no sleep.”
The group’s second key recommendation was the preservation of at-risk modular housing units.
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