(ok, so the no-barrier shelter that is staying open is getting some
barriers. according to the article the mayor of Vancouver “promised
shelter staff will be more selective about whom they admit; those using
drugs in and around the shelter will be kicked out, and shelter users will
not be allowed out of the buildings without supervision.”
Maybe they still take shopping carts and dogs, but it’s a stretched
definition of ‘no-barrier’ in any case.)
-cbc.ca
One of two emergency shelters under Vancouver’s Granville Bridge will be
closed immediately under the terms of deal reached between the city and
the province.
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson and Housing and Social Development
Minister Rich Coleman agreed on Sunday that funding the 36-bed shelter at
1435 Granville St. will end, and the shelter will close on Wednesday.
B.C. Housing will move as many people as possible from the shelter into
new accommodation, the province said in a release Monday.
The second no-barrier emergency shelter at 1442 Howe St. will remain open
for 30 more days while officials attempt to solve some of the complaints
with a community consultation process.
If the province is satisfied that the neighbourhood’s concerns are
sufficiently addressed, the shelter will continue to be funded until April
30, 2010, said Coleman’s office.
Temporary funding extended
Robertson opened the two Homeless Emergency Action Team (HEAT) shelters,
along with three others, on a temporary basis last December, and funding
was extended in the spring in an effort to keep them open year-round.
The HEAT shelter on Howe Street will remain open for 30 more days while
city official meet with residents. The HEAT shelter on Howe Street will
remain open for 30 more days while city official meet with residents.
(CBC)
But residents complained the no-barrier shelters, which were open all
night to intoxicated and drug-using homeless people, created too many
problems in the upscale neighborhood on the north side of False Creek.
Local residents alleged since the shelters opened they have had to deal
with a plague of open drug use and dealing, public urination and
defecation, prostitution and public sex, trespassing, theft, aggressive
panhandling and harassment outside their homes.
Last week, Robertson promised shelter staff will be more selective about
whom they admit; those using drugs in and around the shelter will be
kicked out, and shelter users will not be allowed out of the buildings
without supervision.
The three other HEAT shelters — located at 51B Cordova St., 240 Northern
St., and the First United Church at 320 Hastings St. — will receive
funding until April 30, 2010, under the terms of the deal.
Filed under: Homelessness, local
