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Homelessness Action Week 2010 in Vancouver

Raul — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 23:21:05 +0000

photo credit: craigy_p

I am very lucky that I have never really been homeless. The closest I ever got to experiencing homelessness was when I came back from Mexico to Canada to do my doctoral degree, and I realized too late that I hadn’t really looked for a place to live in Vancouver. For the first few days, I stayed with my good friend Carlos and his family, but I absolutely felt the need for a place to call mine, the need for belonging. That sense of place that people associate with a place where to rest my head, where to prepare meals, food to put on the table. Even in the direst of times, I have never really been homeless and must admit I would really prefer not to be ever in that position.

Homelessness is a cause that really touches a nerve with me, and therefore, I am always eager to promote Homelessness Action Week, put together by The Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness (RSCH). This committee is a coalition of community organizations and all levels of government, with the mission of eliminating homelessness in Greater Vancouver through the full implementation of the Regional Homelessness Plan: Three Ways to Home.

You can check on this link the activities within the Metro Vancouver area for Homelessness Action Week 2010 (the fifth annual HAW).

Take action on homelessness. NOW.

Homelessness Action Week 2009 (Oct 11th to 17th)

Raul — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:04:43 +0000

photo credit: SF Homeless Project

Every year since I started blogging, I have written about Homelessness Action Week (2007, 2008). In fact, I have been involved with homelessness all year, not only this week. I try to do my part in helping in any way I can (mostly, from my blogging and academic trenches). I really wish I could do more, but at least, one of the few things I can do is highlight the issues at hand, and the events coming up.

There are numerous events in Vancouver (the majority of which I can’t attend, sadly) but one that I would LOVE a guest blogger for is Friday’s event at the Museum of Vancouver (7pm) where Monte Paulsen from The Tyee will be speaking about a survey on the state of homelessness in Vancouver. If you’d be interested in covering the event for me, please let me know by dropping a comment or via my contact form. I’d like to see how it compares with Mangano’s talk at The Vancouver Board of Trade.

I’m also really intrigued by the Homeless Connect project, so I’ll have to find out more about it. If you want to get involved, this link will open a PDF document with some ideas on how to get involved in tackling issues of homelessness.

Public policy lessons on homelessness for Vancouver’s next mayor

Raul — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 07:23:35 +0000

Credit: Vlastula on Flickr

Both of the candidates with actually the best shot at actually becoming the next Mayor of Vancouver (Gregor Robertson and Peter Ladner) have participated in debates on (and broadly proclaimed that they’ll work to end) homelessness in Vancouver (you can read a good recap by Tris here). Well, gentlemen, I seriously do hope that whoever wins, will seriously seek some sound advice on public policy, particularly on the issue of homelessness.

I am not an expert in homelessness policy by any means. I am, however, a specialist in environmental studies and public policy, and particularly I’ve researched issues that are clearly the domain of various levels of government. In particular, water governance in Mexico faces many challenges precisely because of this problem – overlapping jurisdictional responsibilities. Homelessness has the same basic structural problem. It should be a shared responsibility, but no actual level of government takes real responsibility and is truly accountable for dealing with homelessness.

In Mexico, wastewater governance and water supply provision, for example, is fully a responsibility of the municipality. That responsibility is enshrined in the Mexican Constitution (Article 115). Unfortunately, municipalities don’t really have a standing in the Canadian political system. Canadian federalism recognizes the Federation and the provinces (and Territories). However, municipalities/cities are not recognized (see Canada’s Cities report) and therefore, the intergovernmental relationships amongst municipalities, the provincial governments and the Federal have become really complicated [EDIT - Found even better sources on the debate on whether municipalities should be granted constitutional status in the site of the Library of the Parliament of Canada and in the Canadian Encylopedia].

This is unfortunate, and it’s a big problem if you think about it, because – who bears the brunt of homeless as a societal issue that needs to be addressed? The municipality. However, how can a municipality address an issue that requires cooperation between provinces, the Federation and the municipality if there is no actual recognized Constitutional status of the city in Canada? (see the sources I’ve included above on the state of the debate in regards to the constitutional status of the municipality/city)

According to Vision Vancouver’s blog, Gregor suggests to “build relationships with all levels of government” as one of the key actions they’ll undertake if elected.

According to Peter Ladner’s blog, Peter suggests that he will tackle homelessness “through a partnership of federal, provincial, regional, municipal governments and non-profit agencies”.

Well, dear candidates in the November 15th municipal election, you will need to not only build relationships and partnerships, but actually establish sound, solid intergovernmental agreements that lead to the implementation at a local (municipal) level of the Federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy. Although, that being said, I think we need a sound National Homelessness Action Strategy.

Homelessness is definitely a regional/municipal public policy issue, but municipalities can’t solve the problem by themselves, without the support of the Federal government. For all candidates, I suggest you coordinate your strategy with the Federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy (launched in December 2006).

Under the HPS, the federal government will offer the provinces and territories the opportunity to enter into bilateral partnerships, improve collaboration and develop linkages between the federal homelessness programs and provincial/territorial social services to help communities make strategic investments that will best serve their homeless populations.[HPS About Us]

I would also recommend investing in solid, evidence-based research on homelessness using a global, multi-country, multi-region comparative strategy. Surely, other countries have reduced homelessness. How did they do it? What did they do? What was needed?

I am sure someone must have done good research on the topic. I haven’t, but if I was a specialist in urban issues (specifically homelessness) rather than an environmental specialist, I probably would launch a research programme with applied outcomes (e.g. partner with the local communities to actually effect change).

I was able to find a good article on homelessness and health (co-authored by, amongst others, Dr. Jim Frankish, whose research I do respect a lot).

Homelessness and Health in Canada: Research Lessons and Priorities
C James Frankish; Stephen W Hwang; Darryl Quantz, Canadian Journal of Public Health; Mar/Apr 2005; 96.

[Link here]

Additional resources – Not a research paper, but Monte Paulsen’s post on The Tyee “Seven Solutions to Homelessness” is a great read.

One last word – whoever wins, please don’t just give us empty promises.

DO THINGS THAT WILL HAVE POSITIVE, LONG-LASTING POSITIVE EFFECTS!

Canadian elections results 2008 and poverty – Blog Action Day 2008

Raul — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 01:30:26 +0000

By now, I think everyone knows that Canada has a (now relatively stronger) minority Conservative government. Despite the abismal voter turnout (40% of Canadians who are eligible to vote chose not to) the Conservative party gained MP seats and the Liberals lost them. Once the dust settles, my biggest question to the new Conservative government remains. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT POVERTY ALLEVIATION?

I mean, let’s be honest. With regards to homelessness and poverty, a tendency to pass the buck seems common… “it’s not MY responsibility, it’s the responsibility of the other level of government“. Since today is Blog Action Day and the focus is on poverty, will the new Conservative government say that their platform is actually working towards economic recovery or will they say that it’s going to alleviate poverty? Because, really, what progress have we achieved in regards to a national homelessness policy and/or a national poverty alleviation strategy? I’m curious to hear…

Giant Ant Media Fundraiser this Friday Oct 17th – Blog Action Day ’08

Raul — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:29:07 +0000

It seems like this week all the pieces are coming together. There are over 9,000 blogs who will be contributing with blog posts, podcasts, photographs, and other forms of media to the Blog Action Day, this week is Homelessness Action Week, and The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is on Friday, October 17th – when my friends at the helm of Giant Ant Media (Jay Grandin and Leah Nelson) are throwing a fundraiser cocktail party (Jay jokingly called it AfricaCamp!) in partnership with The Urban Project.

Where: Lola’s Bar(2291 West Broadway)
When: October 17th, 2008
Why: Because it’s a very cool cause.
Additional incentive – If you make it before 9.00pm your $ 10 ticket also gets you a free drink.

I understand that Leah and Jay are going to be there starting at 8 PM to sell the tickets. So, head over there and contribute to a worthy project that is focused on empowering poor youth in communities in Africa.

Homelessness Action Week 2008 – October 12th to 19th, 2008

Raul — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:13:20 +0000

Photo Credit: Matthew Good on Flickr

Last week, I mentioned that I was worried about the lack of interest in local/Canadian politics and the excessive focus on the US election on Canadian and Vancouverite blogs and on Twitter. Well, with the news of an upcoming Federal election (October 14th, 2008), I am very, VERY happy to see the interest of our bloggers, readers and Twitterers renewed on Canadian issues

During the same week, I tried to remind my readers that in order for us to really participate, and put the public back into public policy, we need to focus on local issues while maintaining a global perspective. One of those hyperlocal issues that I think we need to focus on is the lack of homes and shelter for homeless people. On a side note, I am not too sure that homelessness will be taken up as a Federal election issue, but who knows.

Even though homelessness is mostly considered a regional, municipal/provincial public policy issue, there is an actual Federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy (launched in December 2006). From their About Us page:

Under the HPS, the federal government will offer the provinces and territories the opportunity to enter into bilateral partnerships, improve collaboration and develop linkages between the federal homelessness programs and provincial/territorial social services to help communities make strategic investments that will best serve their homeless populations.[HPS About Us]

Homeless Action Week will take place EXACTLY during the 2008 Federal election week, which is kind of timely, if you ask me. Why? Well, because everything is interconnected. With the 2010 Olympics and the discussions around the gentrification of the Downtown East Side, there will be a need to re-examine the Federal strategy on homelessness. And I have the feeling that Homeless Action Week may be the catalyzer for this re-examination.

Is lack of homes (and affordable housing) an issue? Well, let’s examine the data provided by the Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness.

A 24-hour snapshot count conducted on March 11 th, 2008 indicates that 2,592 individuals were found to be homeless in the Metro Vancouver region. This number is an increase of 427 individuals over the 2005 count data, or an increase of 19% over the number of homeless individuals found in 2005, and a jump of 131% since 2002.[HAW Research Page]

So, the question again is … how can you help? In addition to all of those great suggestions provided on the RSCH page for Homeless Action Week, you can also
- Blog about it.
- Tweet about it.
- Talk about it with your friends, family, etc.
- Write about it (in print).
- Discuss it on national media.

And, two additional things you can do…

One, you could donate your time, clothing items or food to local food banks. Rebecca has for very long been a champion of Metro Vancouver’s food banks, most recently raising over $10,000 dollars for the United Gospel Mission (along with Duane and with the generous help of Matt Good, Matt’s fans and many other participants). Lack of food would most definitely be an issue that homeless people face.

Two, you can participate in the events for the 2008 Homeless Action Week. Last year, I highlighted some of the 2007 HAW events and had a chance to participate in a few. As I mentioned in that previous post, sustainability, social change and social responsibility start at home, and Vancouver is my home, so that’s where I am trying to effect change.

On that note, I would like to invite you to follow @vanpoverty on Twitter, as this is a project where I am partnering with the brilliant Joe Solomon (@engagejoe on Twitter) to use our combined blogging/social media powers to bring issues of poverty and homelessness in Vancouver to the forefront.