Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
a hallowe'en we'll never forget
photo from nancy raycroft - kenny and lindai'm not sure why the street newz and i aren't on cool aid's mailing list, but thanks to lisa from b channel for forwarding this very last minute press release (see next page).
giving credit where it's due, the olympic vista housing and the queens manor appear to somewhat successful efforts to house low income people. how affordable these will be remains to be seen -- we don't know what the olympic vista rents will be, and the queens manor (what a name) only has secure funding from the province for three months. after that, who knows. market rents (currently 800+ for one bedroom apartments) ?
when the work-in-progress humboldt street building is announced by press release, be sure to ask what was on that lot prior to the new building's construction. no doubt the press release will not tell us that a building constructed specifically for blind people used to stand on that site, a building that had been recently renovated. we will not be told what happened to all those blind people, though we do know what happened to blind kenny -- he is still at vic general, mourning the loss of his partner of 42 years, waiting for 'the system' to find him appropriate housing since he and linda were removed from the blind accessible building on humboldt street to make room for this new structure.
we are in a crisis situation, with poverty and homelessness increasing as capitalism falters and fails so many so completely. as a friend says - we don't need affordable housing, we need people who can afford housing! we need systemic changes to stop this growing chasm between ultra-wealthy and ultra-poor. we also need to continue to pay off the olympic debt, quietly and without any fanfare.
shelter beds are nice for emergencies, and this weekend will prove how valuable those can be, but they shouldn't be heralded as the be all and end all solution.
while we're all encouraged to be excited about the new insitutionalized shelter building in rock bay, it appears that only some of the street link people will be alright while folks from two other shelters will not fare so well. an inside source says street link currently houses 96 people (rather than the 80 this announcement mentions), 84 of whom will be moved to a new neighbourhood far away from resources they need, but at least they'll be inside. there's no mention of the people being displaced from the two other shelters, at st. john the divine and the salvation army, an estimate of about 72 lost mats, also about 60 hot meals no longer served.
it's hallowe'en weekend. the homeless who will spend that night outside might as well paint big targets on themselves so the drunken goons can find them more easily.
the chamber of commerce and the downtown victoria business association, and their employees at city hall, have won. homeless people, and the bottle exchange, will be removed from the downtown and we can all pretend victoria is the queen's cleanest colonial village as we admire the shiny new multi million dollar bridge. except ... there are still soup kitchens downtown, and the big new expensive 'our place' drop in centre. how soon until those are moved, or closed, too?
there's talk of a rally monday at noon on pandora green, to resist this final, just make them go away so i don't have to see them while i'm buying sweat shop products at the mall, solution.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: "Alan Rycroft"
News Release
For Immediate Release: October 29, 2010
Cool Aid Opens Rock Bay Landing and Queens Manor Next Week
Rock Bay Landing -
The Victoria Cool Aid Society, with support from BC Housing, is moving
the services from the Streetlink emergency shelter at 1634 Store Street
to the new Rock Bay Landing facility at 525 Ellice Street on Wednesday,
November 3. No residents will lose their bed during the transition -
they will sleep at Streetlink on November 2 and sleep at Rock Bay on
November 3. To enable staff to complete the move, drop-in services will
not be available from November 1-3.
The new, purpose-built Rock Bay Landing facility offers many
improvements including:
o 84 permanent shelter beds; up from 80 at Streetlink.
o 23 new units of transitional housing will be available starting
in mid-November.
o Two units of family shelter are available - the first in the
Capital Region.
o There is expanded space for 20 shelter mats during extreme
weather conditions.
o A card lock system and lockers for each resident will allow
almost 24-hour access to their rooms. At Streetlink, room access was
restricted to overnight hours only.
o A large exterior courtyard, accessed through the building, is
available for residents and drop-in visitors. No courtyard was available
at Streetlink.
o There is a day storage service available for non-residents and
carts can be accommodated on site.
o Washrooms, showers, laundry, training workshops, computer
access, kitchen and dining facilities are greatly improved.
o Additional rooms allow more opportunities for group work,
counselling and client meetings and services.
o A community policing office is located in the shelter.
o Rock Bay Landing is built to the highest green standards (LEED
GOLD) including solar panels on the roof, heat recovery, superior
insulation and much more.
o Pets are welcomed at Rock Bay Landing.
o There will be many more volunteer opportunities for community
members.
Queens Manor Housing -
On November 1, Victoria Cool Aid Society, with assistance from the City
of Victoria, BC Housing and Vancouver Island Health Authority, will be
opening "Queens Manor" - a building with 36 units of supportive housing
for adults currently without a home. The building, a former Travellers
Inn which was purchased by the City of Victoria, is located at 710
Queens Street (corner of Douglas). Sixteen or more adults will move in
on November 1, and the rest of the units will be settled during the
remainder of November. Single adults, couples and tenants with pets will
be accommodated at Queens Manor.
The building will be operated with two Cool Aid housing staff on site
24/7 until the end of January 2011. At that time, renovation work will
begin to make the motel rooms better suited for permanent housing. With
the assistance of our many partners in the Greater Victoria Coalition to
End Homelessness, we are confident that alternate accommodations will be
found for our Queens Manor tenants while the renovation is underway.
Together with the 23 transitional housing units at the new Rock Bay
Landing building on Ellice Street, Cool Aid is now operating 315 modest
apartments with 24/7 staffing -saving taxpayers millions of dollars
annually*. (These savings occur because people who are homeless require
significantly more expensive emergency health and justice services, such
as hospital beds and emergency room visits, police calls and court
appearances.)
Early in 2011, Cool Aid will open, in Saanich, 36 apartments for
low-income seniors who might otherwise be without housing, at the new
Olympic Vista building. Later in the year, an additional 23 modest
apartments will be opened at Swift House, in the renovated space vacated
by the old Streetlink emergency shelter.
This year marks a significant step forward for many people without homes
in the Capital Region and for the whole community. Cool Aid thanks its
partners without whom none of this would be possible, including: BC
Housing and the Province of British Columbia, Vancouver Island Health
Authority, City of Victoria, CRHD - all partners in the Greater Victoria
Coalition to End Homelessness - as well as VANOC and many generous
individuals, foundations and businesses.
The Victoria Cool Aid Society has been building hope, lives and
community in the Capital Region for over 42 years, since 1968, through a
wide range of programs including supported housing, emergency shelter,
community health and dental services, employment services, mental health
support and recreation and exercise programs for adults who are homeless
or in need of help. For more information visit www.CoolAid.org or call
250-383-1977.
- 30 -
Information: www.CoolAid.org/shelter
www.CoolAid.org/housing
Kathy Stinson, Executive Director
250-812-6480, kstinson@CoolAid.org
John Crean, Manager of Housing
250-896-0733, jcrean@CoolAid.org
Don McTavish, Manager of Shelters
250-888-7103, dmctavish@CoolAid.org
* Quoting the 2007 City of Victoria's "Mayor's Task Force on Breaking
the Cycle of Mental Illness, Addictions and Homelessness":
"Put simply, if we did nothing to change the system of services and
supports, homelessness, mental illness and addictions would cost
Victoria's taxpayers an estimated $50,000 per client per year - a
significantly higher cost than the $17,500 to $47,000 per client, per
year the Expert Panel estimates is needed to implement the new service
delivery model."
______________________________________
Alan Rycroft, M.A.
arycroft@CoolAid.org
Community Relations
Victoria Cool Aid Society
(250) 414-4781, 383-1639 fax
102-749 Pandora Avenue, Victoria, BC, V8W 1N9
www.CoolAid.org
Charitable Tax No. 12820 5069 RR0001
Friday, October 29, 2010
how would justin bieber read these words?
i thought this was maybe for real when i started listening, that justin bieber really has written his memoirs. i thought it was clever, if these were his words. i guess it's just a joke. happy hallowe'en! (unsmiley face)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
about the cuts, what i've heard ....
an update - just got a call from cool aid who claim the renovated motel rooms, some of which actually have kitchenettes, will cost $375 for the next three months while bc housing (bc government) is subsidizing them, then who knows after that. the funding's not secure. not sure why my friend said they're $700, he seemed quite confident on that and he's connected to the street so he oughta know ... i'll ask him his source ... also, the shelter mats are paid at closer to $35 than $40 a head ...
After the radio program today, I rode by the new Ellice Street shelter building in Rock Bay just west of Douglas St. near Gorge Rd. It’s a decent looking building, as buildings go, kinda institutional and cold and unwelcoming though. Many of us mourned the loss of the old Open Door building, feeling the newly named and constructed Our Place structure was too big and corporate, but at least it has an open outdoor space for people to gather with their dogs, and shopping carts, and a place to lock bikes.
There’s a document taped to the window of the nearly completed Ellice St. building, on Jensen Group Architects letterhead, that specifies a September 9th completion date. It also says the building contains 80 shelter beds, 2 family units, and 23 self contained units. Alongside the building is a different sign, the official Cool Aid sign, (Cool Aid is funded from various sources to manage some different housing around town) and it says there will be 83 shelter beds and 25 transitional housing units.
The Rock Bay shelter is located a distance from the city where the soup kitchens and the Our Place drop-in centre is. It’s walkable, it’d probably take 45 minutes for a healthy, in shape person with no physical disabilities. There are buses nearby, but of course those cost money. One thought that crossed my mind, as I rode through the Rock Bay neighbourhood where, I’ve heard, the sex trade proliferates in the evenings, is that there may be other employment opportunities for shelter tenants with initiative and a bit of luck. Rock Bay is a light industrial area, there are carpenters and mechanics and people who build various things and a recycling centre. I wonder, of those who make the long journey from the city only to find the shelter spaces are full, how many will take a ride with a stranger? Does anyone care?
Prior to my radio show this morning, with help from Rebecca at VIPIRG, we were able to contact the City and learn that they’re working on a press release which will, presumably, alleviate all our fears of three shelters closing prior to the opening of this new shelter, and which doesn’t seem to have enough space for all the people they’re displacing. A phone call to Philippe Lucas, a couple of days ago, was returned with a message saying he didn’t know the numbers, he referred me to a city employee to find out what’s going on. I haven’t had a chance to follow up.
The signs and papers posted at the Ellice St. building indicate that Knappett Projects is the general contractor, and Cityspaces Consulting is the project manager. If September 9th was the agreed upon completion date, who's really responsible for tossing homeless people onto the streets in November?
My best sources for information about what’s happening on the streets continues to be the people who live there, the people who hang out there, and their friends and advocates. Here’s what I’ve heard (and if anybody wants to do some investigative journalism and affirm this, be my guest …. maybe I’ll be able to hire you some day).
I’ve heard that those who provide official “shelter” are paid, presumably by some level of government (us taxpayers) forty dollars a night per head. St. John the Divine has space for about 40 people, allow shopping carts and dogs, and are a bit more lenient about taking people who’ve been consuming various substances than the Salvation Army which has about 20 mats, and you can’t get in if you’re not completely sober. On the other hand, you can only get into one of the few (about ten, as I recall) detox beds. I know people who’ve gotten hammered in the heart of winter so they can get a decent night’s sleep. Vancouver apparently has a place that will accept people overnight even if they’ve been imbibing heavily, and there are police present to keep the peace. Vancouver also has a safe injection site, which keeps things safer all around.
The Salvation Army, I’ve also heard, is paid $4 for each person who shows up for their lunch. I can’t recall how much people pay to eat that lunch, something like $5, and apparently there are two soup kitchens at the Sally Ann, one for those who can pay, and one for those who can’t. The people who can’t pay get a significantly crappier lunch than those who pay. My understanding, too, is that the Sally Ann downtown Victoria functions as a sort of half way house, and they receive money for each former prisoner they house. The Sally Ann, aka the Starvation Army, does alright financially it would seem, especially with all their fundraising efforts on top of this.
Maybe these shelters have enough money in their reserves, and compassion in their hearts, to extend their hospitality for another two or three nights, at least until the new shelter is opened?
The motels that the City recently bought are being renovated to include a bar fridge and a microwave. No hot plates. Again, this is what I’ve heard. They’re being touted as “low income” and, if you’ve got $700 a month to spend on rent, you’ll be able to afford it.
I suppose I could get in trouble for writing this, without absolute evidence and documents to prove it, but I’ve heard these stories from various people over many years and, with this latest horror story in the making with the potential displacement of many people and the lack of public information about it, I’m gonna take a chance and put it out there. I’m all for creating employment, and of course people who organize shelters and prepare food are entitled to a decent salary, but I’m increasingly concerned at the motives of some of those who maintaining this structural, institutionalized poverty. They really don’t want to change the system so that poverty and homelessness can be eliminated. They can’t imagine it. They’d lose their jobs.
photo: some of the local binners with a map of resources created through a uvic project (that will now require much updating since the shelters are closing and the bottle exchange is moving so that victoria will offer the appearance of a community that has "solved" its economic problems, and rose henry who's running for city council in the by-election, taken last summer.
There’s a document taped to the window of the nearly completed Ellice St. building, on Jensen Group Architects letterhead, that specifies a September 9th completion date. It also says the building contains 80 shelter beds, 2 family units, and 23 self contained units. Alongside the building is a different sign, the official Cool Aid sign, (Cool Aid is funded from various sources to manage some different housing around town) and it says there will be 83 shelter beds and 25 transitional housing units.
The Rock Bay shelter is located a distance from the city where the soup kitchens and the Our Place drop-in centre is. It’s walkable, it’d probably take 45 minutes for a healthy, in shape person with no physical disabilities. There are buses nearby, but of course those cost money. One thought that crossed my mind, as I rode through the Rock Bay neighbourhood where, I’ve heard, the sex trade proliferates in the evenings, is that there may be other employment opportunities for shelter tenants with initiative and a bit of luck. Rock Bay is a light industrial area, there are carpenters and mechanics and people who build various things and a recycling centre. I wonder, of those who make the long journey from the city only to find the shelter spaces are full, how many will take a ride with a stranger? Does anyone care?
Prior to my radio show this morning, with help from Rebecca at VIPIRG, we were able to contact the City and learn that they’re working on a press release which will, presumably, alleviate all our fears of three shelters closing prior to the opening of this new shelter, and which doesn’t seem to have enough space for all the people they’re displacing. A phone call to Philippe Lucas, a couple of days ago, was returned with a message saying he didn’t know the numbers, he referred me to a city employee to find out what’s going on. I haven’t had a chance to follow up.
The signs and papers posted at the Ellice St. building indicate that Knappett Projects is the general contractor, and Cityspaces Consulting is the project manager. If September 9th was the agreed upon completion date, who's really responsible for tossing homeless people onto the streets in November?
My best sources for information about what’s happening on the streets continues to be the people who live there, the people who hang out there, and their friends and advocates. Here’s what I’ve heard (and if anybody wants to do some investigative journalism and affirm this, be my guest …. maybe I’ll be able to hire you some day).
I’ve heard that those who provide official “shelter” are paid, presumably by some level of government (us taxpayers) forty dollars a night per head. St. John the Divine has space for about 40 people, allow shopping carts and dogs, and are a bit more lenient about taking people who’ve been consuming various substances than the Salvation Army which has about 20 mats, and you can’t get in if you’re not completely sober. On the other hand, you can only get into one of the few (about ten, as I recall) detox beds. I know people who’ve gotten hammered in the heart of winter so they can get a decent night’s sleep. Vancouver apparently has a place that will accept people overnight even if they’ve been imbibing heavily, and there are police present to keep the peace. Vancouver also has a safe injection site, which keeps things safer all around.
The Salvation Army, I’ve also heard, is paid $4 for each person who shows up for their lunch. I can’t recall how much people pay to eat that lunch, something like $5, and apparently there are two soup kitchens at the Sally Ann, one for those who can pay, and one for those who can’t. The people who can’t pay get a significantly crappier lunch than those who pay. My understanding, too, is that the Sally Ann downtown Victoria functions as a sort of half way house, and they receive money for each former prisoner they house. The Sally Ann, aka the Starvation Army, does alright financially it would seem, especially with all their fundraising efforts on top of this.
Maybe these shelters have enough money in their reserves, and compassion in their hearts, to extend their hospitality for another two or three nights, at least until the new shelter is opened?
The motels that the City recently bought are being renovated to include a bar fridge and a microwave. No hot plates. Again, this is what I’ve heard. They’re being touted as “low income” and, if you’ve got $700 a month to spend on rent, you’ll be able to afford it.
I suppose I could get in trouble for writing this, without absolute evidence and documents to prove it, but I’ve heard these stories from various people over many years and, with this latest horror story in the making with the potential displacement of many people and the lack of public information about it, I’m gonna take a chance and put it out there. I’m all for creating employment, and of course people who organize shelters and prepare food are entitled to a decent salary, but I’m increasingly concerned at the motives of some of those who maintaining this structural, institutionalized poverty. They really don’t want to change the system so that poverty and homelessness can be eliminated. They can’t imagine it. They’d lose their jobs.
about the cuts, from an anonymous inside source
November 3rd, Victoria’s poor and homeless will lose 72 warm, dry beds, and 60 hot meals daily.
Starting November 1st BC Housing will cut funding to St. John the Divine, a 40 mat Cold/Wet overnight shelter, and funding for the Salvation Army’s 20 free chapel mats. These mats were funded in July in response to public outcry around the Pandora Street ‘epidemic’. November 1st Cool Aid will lose their BC Gaming funding for drop-in services which funds 60 hot meals served daily to drop-in clients. November 3rd Streetlink will close down and Rock Bay Landing will open, Cool Aid’s new homeless shelter facility, creating a net loss of 12 beds at the new shelter. In the span of 3 days Victoria will lose 72 warm, dry beds and 60 hot meals.
The Streetlink 3:20pm Drop-In meal feeds 60 people every day of the week. Many come daily. Many have housing but can not afford to feed themselves. Many choose to sleep outside. A majority of the 3:20 regulars live on fixed incomes, such as disability or a pension. Losing the 3:20 meal means putting these people at a higher risk of homelessness, worsened physical health and reduced food security. And losing the Saturday and Sunday meals means losing the only hot meal option in the city on weekends. [This is not quite true .... Food Not Bombs provides free, hot, vegetarian food on Pandora Green every Sunday at 3 pmish].
St. John the Divine shelters those who have fallen between the cracks. People who have been barred from other shelters, people with dogs, people on their 7 day time away from staying at Streetlink – mandated by BC Housing to qualify as temporary housing – and people who generally don’t do well in the more structured and rule-based shelter system. The Salvation Army mats serve peoples who want to be in a more sober environment than at Streetlink, but who cannot afford to pay the $21/night that a bed at the Salvation Army would cost. Losing these 60 mats, at the beginning of November, adds another nearly insurmountable barrier to Victoria’s homeless.
Some believe that the loss of these mats will be made up for by new E.W.P (Extreme Weather Protocol) mats beginning shortly. E.W.P is called at 11am each day, and those mats are not a certainty each night. E.W.P is activated on the basis of weather: snow, wind and cold temperatures. These warm, dry spaces are not something that the homeless can rely on; being cold and sleeping outside is the only thing they can.
Critics claim that the city has dealt with the Pandora problem (by additional police presence in the area) and therefore these shelters are no longer needed. But these shelters are just one small band-aid for the Homeless community, and removing them will only exacerbate drug use issues, despair and the myriad of problems for those living around the 900 block of Pandora, and those who remain invisibly homeless elsewhere.
There is also the perception that Rock Bay Landing will have more shelter beds. In fact Streetlink currently provides shelter for 96 people each night, while Rock Bay Landing will only have 84 beds, with a net loss of 27 male beds as compared to Streetlink’s current occupancy. Also, without the drop-in meal, the 27 more homeless men who will no longer have somewhere to sleep will no longer qualify to eat.
These cuts, in effect by November 3rd, will undoubtedly cause a crisis among Victoria’s poor.
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