Red Tent campaign to hold sleepover for housing near Science World

If you thought your sleepover days were behind you—perhaps think again. The Red Tent campaign will be holding a solidarity sleepover on Friday night (February 19) on the north lawn of Science World.

The national campaign, initiated by Pivot Legal Society, aims to draw attention to Canada’s homelessness crisis. Organizers are hoping the project will put pressure on the federal government to enact a funded national housing program.

The red tents are meant to be a symbolic and bold display on the streets as the world’s eyes are focused on Vancouver during the Olympics.

A photo shoot will take place at 9 a.m.on Saturday morning, with the tents arranged to form the words Homes for All.

That will be followed by a march to the Olympic Tent Village and then the Vancouver Art Gallery to join a rally for a national housing program starting at noon.

Those who can’t make the sleepover can help by sponsoring tents, tarps, or ponchos.

Comments

a vancouver resident
will arguably be more interesting than the other pavillions.....
 
Strategis
An artistic, enjoyable, peaceable, educational and sociable way to draw attention to a real problem in Vancouver. There is simply not enough housing for the poor, so thousands are sleeping on the street, in parks, or staying in homeless shelters that don't provide a good night's sleep (I know, I spent many days in several last year, for research) causing chronic sleep deprivation, that adds to multiple other factors like malnutrition which synergistically disintegrates the personality, making people unable to climb out of joblessness, disease, addiction, psychological trauma, etc. Even the people who are lucky enough to have a low cost room don't always have adequate accomodation due to bed bugs, cockroaches, noise, security issues, lack of basic facilities, etc. Housing is a basic human need, like food and medical care, security and education. Without adequate housing people are not employable, and become a permanent drain on themselves, their families, their communities and the economy instead of upstanding, contributing members of society, which is what we all want, right?
 
 
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