The Carnegie Outreach team played an important role in assisting with the relocation of about 40 homeless people from Oppenheimer Park to various government-owned SRO hotels this past August. The group’s offices are located across the street from the park and the outreach workers had pre-existing relationships with nearly all the campers.
"Our involvement was to offer a connection to these people as human beings," said Bob Moss, Outreach Supervisor. "We know most of these people and the biggest barrier to housing them has never been their willingness but rather the lack of appropriate rooms available. Some of them are very hard to house and this was the third or fourth time we’ve worked with them. BC Housing has a good understanding of the needs of this group of people and the government-owned SROs should be a more suitable type of housing for them than privately-owned ones."
Carnegie Outreach was one of the initial partners in the Homeless Outreach Project and developed one of the first programs of its kind in Vancouver, and indeed in B.C., dedicated to seeking out homeless people living on the street and finding them permanent housing. Their success paved the way for the provincial Homeless Outreach Program. Bob estimates that in the almost three years that they have been operating, they have found homes for over 600 people. The Carnegie staff, most of whom are part time, believe in this work and are committed to finding appropriate housing for anyone willing to work with them.
"Housing is where it starts," said Bob. "It provides a stability that is fundamental to moving forward. Without it, people will move from one crisis to another".