Surrey residents continue to block the construction of a winter homeless shelter

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      For the second year in a row, Surrey city councillors are sending additional homeless-outreach workers into the streets after failing to find a suitable location for a winter shelter.

      In a telephone interview, Surrey First’s Judy Villeneuve said that a staff of two will grow to a team of seven.

      “We feel that though the model is not ideal, it has actually had some positive results,” she told the Straight. “And our goal is still to have that new purpose-built shelter and transition housing with services finished in the next couple of years.”

      It wasn’t for a lack of trying that councillors proved unable to find aspace for the winter shelter. According to a report that went to council on October 20, staff examined 17 possible locations yet not one was deemed suitable.

      That document lists challenges that included “neighbourhood-integration issues”, “concerns expressed by either potential landlords or adjacent tenants”, and “perceived stigma”.

      Villeneuve confirmed that the issue was public consultation. “The community was not supportive and made that loud and clear,” she explained.

      According to the council report, there are more than 400 homeless people in Surrey, with the majority living in City Centre and Whalley.

      Shayne Williams helped examine some of those 17 potential locations for a shelter. The executive director for Lookout Emergency Aid Society (who was formerly with Keys Housing and Health Solutions) said a number of them were appropriate.

      “We were pretty amicable to working with many of the sites presented but challenges came when we consulted the direct neighbours or the community,” he told the Straight. “I think communities are judged on how they treat their most vulnerable people, and Surrey is, unfortunately, not welcoming to those folks.”

      When the City of Vancouver needed additional beds for homeless people vacating a camp in Oppenheimer Park, it skipped a lengthy process of public consultation and instead opened a new shelter without delay.
      Travis Lupick

      At the same time, Williams noted, Surrey has a number of emergency shelters while Burnaby, the third-most-populous municipality in B.C., does not have one.

      And in Vancouver, Williams continued, there’s ongoing pushback from residents of the West End after the city opened new spaces for homeless people at 900 Pacific Street and 1335 Howe Street.

      Some are accusing Mayor Gregor Robertson of failing to consult residents before announcing a combined 197 new beds at those sites. However, Williams praised the city for finding rooms in an area short on space.

      “As a society, we have to be part of this solution,” he said. “That can involve some discomfort, at times.”

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      Comments

      22 Comments

      OMG

      Oct 22, 2014 at 2:17pm

      This is why Vancouver city council does not wait for the approval of people living in the areas where they open up shelters. If they did, nobody would accept them. I wonder if the other parties, that are promising public consultation, would do the same thing?

      Lena

      Oct 22, 2014 at 5:12pm

      Get a job. No shelters in Surrey end of story

      Arthur Vandelay

      Oct 22, 2014 at 10:17pm

      This is the awful truth that everyone already knows -- nobody want homeless shelters, drug rehab sites or extra density/height through rezoning in their neighborhoods. Nobody. So there really is no point in consulting the neighbors on any of these matters as they will all say 'no'. Always. Then someone in charge has to make some adult decisions and suffer the political consequences.

      Sound familiar to anyone?

      Gawd!

      sweets

      Oct 23, 2014 at 12:29am

      *pretty sad community if their unable to assist the less fortunate~have a heart..be the example of Jesus and help eachother instead being against eachother..
      God Bless all that are reading this <3 pEaCe
      ~Sugar

      Nick

      Oct 23, 2014 at 12:34am

      Public spaces should be used for the intended purposes for what they were designed for. Take these needy folks to the farms, put them to work so they can feed themselves and be given a purpose in life.
      Keep them there up until they can take care of themselves.
      Homesteading and Lazing around in public parks, begging with their hands out and doing near nothing is not where these folks should be. Like most adults, they should learn to work and pay their fair taxes in order to enjoy the parks or most other public spaces/services.

      Nick Dajerkov

      Oct 23, 2014 at 3:46am

      I agree with Nick. As me and the boys in our squad always said, "Work Will Set You Free." Of course, things got a little out of hand with the insignias we decided *our* lazy, weasel-faced layabouts should wear and then of course, the tattooing ramped up, but I guess the proverbial straw that broke the camels back was when Dear Leader started calling them vermin and the camps started getting built. Sure, there were mass gaves and of course, a little bit of a Holocaust, but like any decent civilization, we were really sorry *afterwards.* I think Nick should go visit one of those camps, where he can proudly Tweet (under his real name and not some cowardly yellow-bellied nom-de-plume) a photo of himself doing a thumbs up next to the sign (and his idea) that says ""Arbeit macht frei". Just so, you know, dear old Nick can see exactly where his 'cleansing' program leads.
      You're a real credit to the race 'Nick'. Here's a rock. Crawl back under it.

      Naturalmystic

      Oct 23, 2014 at 9:16am

      No junkies, no crime.

      We need to make prison sentences longer for drug dealers. Spend more money and triple the number of customs inspectors and border guards and close the border to illegal narcotics. Triple the number of cops investigating illegal drugs, more prisons, crown prosecutors, judges and courts. It will cost billions but the damage junkies and illegal narcotics do to our society is incalculable. Let's get serious about fighting illegal drugs.

      @Naturalmystic

      Oct 23, 2014 at 10:57am

      Or we could legalize drugs and be done with the problem, instead of having a perpetual war. You can not eliminate drugs because people want to use drugs. No amount of moralistic legislation is going to change this fact. People like to use drugs. Not all of them, but enough of them that the market will always exist. Making the punishment draconian won't really alter that.

      A professional regulatory system for recreational drug sales makes far more sense than this continual insanity and violence. There is nothing inherently violent about drugs.

      What sort of damage to "illegal narcotics" do to society, anyway? What about the damage done to our security by the drug war?

      @Naturalmystic

      Oct 23, 2014 at 1:19pm

      Please go DIAF and never post again. Dumbest solution i've ever heard.

      Papa Hemmorhoid

      Oct 23, 2014 at 1:44pm

      The City of Surrey covers almost 317 sq. km.

      Big city.

      Small heart.