Communitynow Non-profit seeks ‘critically needed’ homeless shelters

LaurenVanderdeen

lvanderdeen@burnabynow.com

People have “given up hope” of getting into homeless shelters in Burnaby, according to a local coalition of non-profits aimed at ending homelessness in the city

Now the Society to End Homelessness in Burnaby is urgently requesting two new shelters to open in the city before this winter

The non-profit’s executive director, Carol-Ann Flanagan, wrote to council on behalf of theTask Force to End Homelessness in Burnaby on May 9 to request two “critically needed” 24-7 shelters

The society wants one of the shelters to be minimal barrier, such as the temporary Douglas Shelter, for people who may have “persistent and multiple episodes of homelessness ”

The other requested shelter would be for people who might be experiencing homelessness one time, such as vulnerable women and seniors.

Flanagan asked for the two shelters to be in different areas of the city, one in the north and one in the south, and to open by Oct 1

She said Burnaby’s homelessness situation has worsened over the past

Winter

“The sole shelter in Burnaby (Douglas) is full and turning people away most days; people have given up hope of getting in,”

Flanagan wrote

“Stays are lengthening, and this causes additional stress and frustrations ”

Flanagan said local non-profits have seen an increase in “the complexity and seriousness” of the conditions of people they serve, with more Indigenous people, seniors and people with serious health conditions coming in

Multiple non-profit programs are becoming overwhelmed

Flanagan said the extreme weather response sheltering site, a temporary shelter opened when the temperature drops below zero C, opened for a total of 104 nights and provided 1,320 bednights of service, the most since opening in 2005.

The weekly drop-in outreach resource centres, which serve people who are homeless and at risk of homelessness, are increasingly busy: in March this year, 828 guests were served versus a total of 603 served in November last year

The Burnaby Neighbourhood Food Hub

(which runs everyTuesday from 3 to 5 p m and serves essential grocery items) fed almost 2,000 people in March.

“These high numbers are now constant and a significant increase from the prior average of 100 to 120 persons per week,” said Flanagan.

Further, the hub drop-in space on Sixth Street was “very busy,” with 20 to 40 people coming in daily for day shelter services.

This resulted in “their programming being over- whelmed and neighbourhood concerns,” Flanagan said, and Progressive Housing Society moved away from the drop-in model

Remembrances

Obituaries

DECK, Jane Struthers Johns 1950 - 2023

Jane Deck of New Westminster, B C , died June 1st, 2023, surrounded by her fami y at Me vil e Hosp ce Home in Surrey Born Jan e Struthers in San Francisco, Cal forn a to E va Yvonne Sams and Charles Mddleton Struthers Cpt Struthers was in the Army Medical Corps serving n Korea and was killed in action November of 1950 On her mother’s remarriage, Jane was adopted by her loving dad Richard Grey Johns Jane s survived by her husband of 51 years, Michae Clemens Deck, three daughters Teresa, Miriam and Rosemary, grandchi dren, Willow, Archer and Zoë and s blings, Charles, Stephen, and Sara

Requiem Mass for her on Saturday, June 24, 2023, at Holy Trinty Anglcan Cathedral, 514 Carnarvon St, New Westminster at 1:30 pm n lieu of flowers, donatons may be made to the Primate’s World Relief and Deveopment Fund, PWRDForg

Say not in grief that she is no more, but say in thankfulness that she was

Walkey & Company Funeral Directors (604) 738 - 0006

THOMPSON, Lorne Robert March 30, 1969 May 10, 2023

"...And who can tell but Heaven, at last, May answer al my thousand prayers, And bid the future pay the past With joy for anguish, smiles for tears?"

FAREWELL by Anne Bronte

Thank you to St. Barnabas Parish and New Leaf Clubhouse communities for their years of kindness, support, and friendship so important to Lorne.

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