Ever heard of a guy named Jim De Hoop?
I confess neither had I until I read his affidavit filed in B.C. Supreme Court last week regarding the Oppenheimer Park tent city.
He is the managing director of social development for the city.
Apparently, he got the gig in September 2011.
I bring up De Hoop and his affidavit because I thought you might be interested in some facts and comments he provided regarding the city’s homelessness crisis. His affidavit, by the way, was included in the Vancouver Park Board’s application to get an injunction to dismantle the tent city.
That injunction hearing goes to court Oct.6.
Until then, check out what De Hoop has to say:
· Based on the availability of shelter spaces in the Downtown Eastside at this time (Sept. 24), it is De Hoop’s view that all people camping at Oppenheimer Park who don’t have a home could — yes, could — be accommodated in shelters, temporary housing or single-room occupancy hotels “if they wished to be.”
· Approximately 50 of the 100 homeless people camping at the park are working with city staff and awaiting placement by B.C. Housing. The other approximately 50 campers are “apparently homeless” and have not consented to provide the necessary information to allow city staff to find them shelter.
· All festivals, various programs run by Carnegie community centre have been cancelled because of the encampment. “These negative impacts include the loss of opportunity for regular park patrons to socialize and engage in recreational activities, volunteering at the park, the loss of the food services that were available to them as part of park programming, a loss of social connection between regular park patrons and our staff, and the loss of first aid services and referrals,” De Hoop wrote.
All very interesting but the campers have made it quite clear they don’t want to live in a shelter because, as they’ve said, it’s not a home. The hotels, they say, are dangerous and rife with rats, bedbugs and cockroaches.
So they want some permanent housing.
Madam Justice Jennifer Duncan heard the campers’ concerns in this week’s court proceedings and encouraged them to sign up with the Carnegie housing outreach centre on Dunlevy and B.C. Housing’s Orange Hall on East Hastings to register their housing needs.
In another affidavit filed by the city’s chief housing officer, Mukhtar Latif, he revealed hopeful news on reducing the number of people living on the street. A homeless count conducted in March recorded 536 so-called street homeless.
Since then, Latif said, about 200 of the 536 have been housed in temporary housing at the former Biltmore hotel, the former Ramada on East Hastings and the Kingsway Continental. Some also moved into new social housing on Burrard Street.
That population is expected to decrease further when three other new social housing projects open before the end of the year, totalling more than 240 units.
And here’s a comment from Latif that many city hall watchers will want to revisit next year:
“I verily believe that in March 2015 an additional supportive housing site will be opened at 220 Princess St. with a further 117 units available to accommodate the homeless. This will provide a total of 793 incremental shelter, interim or permanent housing units made available since the homeless count in March 2014 which showed a total street homeless count of 536 individuals. As the interim and permanent housing becomes available, it will be possible to close shelter spaces.”
Wow.
For now, hundreds continue to camp in the park.
twitter.com/Howellings
