Province funds 30 shelter beds at Salvation Army Harbour Light complex in Vancouver
As the City of Vancouver waits to find out if it can get an injunction against a crowded Downtown Eastside tent city, the provincial government is increasing the number of shelter beds in the neighbourhood.
Today, the province announced that 30 beds will open earlier than usual this year at the Salvation Army's Harbour Light complex at 119 East Cordova Street.
That's just a few blocks away from Oppenheimer Park, which is overrun with campers protesting the lack of affordable housing in Vancouver.
According to a B.C. Housing statement, the beds will remain open 24 hours per day, seven days a week until the end of March.
The province has also provided 20 rent supplements to the Carnegie Centre's homeless outreach program to help women staying in Oppenheimer Park.
It states that last year, $27 million in B.C. government funding went to providing more than 750 year-round shelter spaces in Vancouver. That works out to $36,000 per space per year.
On Monday, a B.C. Supreme Court justice will resume hearing the City of Vancouver's application for an injunction against the campers living in the park.
The city maintains that the structures on the grounds violate municipal bylaws.
Comments
5 Comments
Insanity
Oct 3, 2014 at 7:53pm
$3,000 a month is a bit of mortgage payment.
I sure am glad the government is paying to run shelters instead of buying condos and pooling employees to manage them. I mean, why would they want to increase BC Housing's stock when they can pay oodles of money to the Salvation Army?
Am I missing something?
If I had $36,000 a year for housing, I'd have more than a bed in a gym or whatever the "shelter" is.
Meatballs
Oct 3, 2014 at 7:59pm
Wait a sec... did you just say $36,000 a year per shelter space?!? I wonder who's job it is to provide all that? Why don't we just all forget the law and do whatever the fuck we want? No questions asked.
I support the poor
Oct 4, 2014 at 12:05am
but that is just fucking insane
Mark
Oct 4, 2014 at 3:00pm
$3,600 per space is absolutely ridiculous. Most people in Vancouver, whether renting or paying off mortgage,do not have such a high monthly payment.
The city is getting seriously ripped off, especially given that these are just simple beds pooled in a large location together.
OMG
Oct 6, 2014 at 8:21am
Don't forget that the $36,000 per year isn't just a roof over their heads, but also for cleaning staff and other needs that arise with people who have a hard time taking care of themselves. This is the problem with social housing. It isn't just buying places and filling it with nice furniture. You also need to supply maid service, an incredible amount of maintenance, medical/counselling staff and security. It is very expensive to house the poor and you can't ever cut back on the services. The monetary commitment is quite serious and as more people flock to Vancouver it'll just keep growing. Any government that takes this on and wants to do it properly, are going to have to drop many other programs in order to pay for it. I think this is why effective social housing has been elusive. I believe most of the general public would like to see the people taken care of, but are startled once they see the bill (see the comments above).