This morning the Tri-Cities Homelessness Task Force held an information session for all civic candidates in the Tri-Cities. Roughly 50 candidates showed up for the 30 minute presentation and 1.5 hour question and answer session.
The event was hosted by Sandy Burpee, Chair of the Task Force and the three person panel (as seen in the photo from right to left) consisted of Rob Thiessen, Managing Director of Hope for Freedom; Shain Carruthers, an outreach worker for Hope for Freedom and Michelle, an outreach psychiatric nurse with Hope for Freedom.
I have served on the Task Force for the last two years so I have a good grasp on what the issues are but these sessions always serve as a reminder for the work which needs to be done. The biggest reminder for me was that health comes from having secure, safe housing.
I have written elsewhere on the site that Port Coquitlam needs to “control the controllables” and do what they can to help with the issue. This means relaxing zoning for shelters, assisting with the co-ordination of volunteers and creating an avoidable housing strategy.
We have to work as a region (within the Tri-Cities) and as a larger region as part of the Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD). Each city has a set of existing services and expertise which could benefit the others. By co-ordinating these efforts we will get the most of our tax dollars and allow support services to come online faster.
Finally, we need to adopt Toronto’s Streets to Homes program while still leveraging the good work of groups like Hope for Freedom as they set up temporary solutions such as mat programs. This will take the entire MVRD getting on board and if elected I will push for this to happen quickly.
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