Guest Editorial: Shirley Chan, CEO, Building Opportunities with Business

Economic development in the Downtown Eastside goes hand in hand with finding safe, secure and affordable homes for the people who live in the community. In my work with Building Opportunities with Business (BOB) and my previous experience as the non-market housing director for the City of Vancouver, I have seen first hand that the success of businesses and residents depends on this. When BOB places a person who has stable housing in a job, their chances of success are significantly higher than a person whose housing situation is uncertain. Businesses will thrive serving the residents rather than struggling with the problems associated with homelessness on their doorstep.

It is commendable that BC Housing has purchased many SRO hotels in the Downtown Eastside with non-profit housing providers managing and offering support services. While SROs are not the best housing, they meet a basic need when the quality of the units has been greatly improved by BC Housing. Furthermore, having this stock of housing in the public domain improves tenure for residents and repurposes these buildings from making a profit to providing a service.

BC Housing intervention has also improved the retail storefronts of these SROs. Upgrading the retail space for community-friendly retailers and improving the facades improve the quality of life for the area residents and contributes to the economic vitality of the neighbourhood. The Rice Block is home to a social enterprise that supports the women who live there. A new restaurant that will assist and serve the community will soon be open in the Pennsylvania.

Storefront by storefront, person by person, we are seeing improvements in the Downtown Eastside. There is still much more to be done, and we are working with our community partners to ensure the people who live here benefit from the improvements. We are thrilled that new employers such as London Drugs, Nesters Market, and SFU Theatre have risen to the challenge and with our support are employing residents.

At BOB, we believe everyone needs a job, a friend, and a home. BOB can connect people to jobs and provide support as a friend. We count on BC Housing and the non-profit housing providers to provide more affordable and well-managed housing units available in the inner city.

Building Opportunities with Business is a non-profit organization that is championing an inclusive revitalization process for the inner city that values existing businesses and residents.

Young people fleeing physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse or those who have been forced from their homes often end up in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Once there, they can expect to be vulnerable to violence and disease as well as sexual predators. They will likely end up living rough with no roof over their heads and tempted to use drugs, some of which are extremely addictive and life threatening.

In the past 10 years, Covenant House has helped 10,000 youth at risk in the Downtown Eastside who have come to the site looking for shelter, food, clothing, and counselling. The sad truth is there are more young people living rough in the Downtown Eastside than Covenant House has space for. However, capacity at the site was greatly increased recently thanks to funding from several partners including the federal and provincial governments and VANOC. The newly renovated and expanded development now provides 32 transitional housing beds with support services for homeless and at-risk youth ages 16 to 22.

Read more about the Covenant House expansion.

Heat treatment rooms (often referred to as bed bug saunas) are the newest weapon in the fight against bed bugs. These have been built at the Walton and Orwell hotels in Vancouver (managed by Lookout Emergency Aid Society and Vancouver Native Housing Society) and at Lookout’s Russell Housing Centre in New Westminster. The Lux, which is operated by RainCity Housing and Support Society, also has a purpose-built heat treatment room.

Read more updates about the government-owned SROs including the tentative construction schedule.

New emergency winter shelters open in Vancouver

The City of Vancouver, with funding from the provincial government, has opened four emergency shelters in different neighbourhoods: Mount Pleasant; South Granville; West End; and Kitsilano. The communities where the shelters will be located have been identified as having substantial homeless populations and a lack of shelter services. These low-barrier shelters will be open until April 30, 2010 and are in addition to three HEAT shelters opened in 2008 that will also continue operating until April 30. Altogether, there are seven City shelters operating this winter with space for 500 people.

Read more about the Emergency Shelter Program in Vancouver.