LangleyAdvance
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Thursday, April 24, 2014
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The Upcycle Design Challenge art show was April 22 at the Langley Arts Council building. That was also Earth Day. The scrap metal tugboat of Natasha Vanderzwan won second prize. Check out page A15 for more projects created by local residents in this second annual contest to reuse and revamp trash and unwanted items. The other items ranged from garden benches and a lamp to jewelry and clothing made from fabric banners.
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For the first time in years, there has been a slight decline in homelessness in the Langleys. by Matthew Claxton mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
The number of people sleeping on the streets of the Lower Mainland is up sharply, according to the latest Metro Vancouver Homeless Count. But not in Langley. Results from the 2014 count, conducted every three years, showed overall numbers had increased from 2,650 homeless to 2,770. Langley and many of its neighbours actually saw a small decline in the number of homeless people, compared to the 2011 count. Most of the increase was centered in Vancouver itself, which also had the largest number of homeless by a wide margin. Langley’s 2014 count saw volunteers locate 92 homeless people, of whom 38 were in a shelter of some kind. That’s slightly down from the 2011 high, when 103 homeless people were located in the Langleys. Langley had seen steadily increasing numbers in the previous years, from 57 homeless in 2005 to 86 in 2008. This marks Langley’s first actual decline since the counting began. “It shows that there is good work being done,” said Fraser Holland, a homelessness outreach worker in Langley. However, he noted that local social workers have already met up with several people who noted that they were not counted. Any snapshot count like this one will miss people and err on the low side, he said. Another issue is that Langley, though not a
large community, bears a higher proportion of homeless than many other communities. “Langley still has the fifth highest number in the region,” said Holland. Burnaby, Ridge Meadows, Richmond, New Westminster, and the North Shore also saw slight declines in the number of people without a permanent home. The TriCities and Surrey saw slight increases, while Vancouver’s numbers shot up, from 1,581 people counted in 2011 to 1,798 this year. The proportion of people without shelter across the region increased this year compared to 2011. Region-wide, there were 957 homeless without any shelter at all. In Langley, 54 people were unsheltered. There has been a slight increase in the percentage of teens and young adults on the streets. A total of 410 people under 25 were
counted in 2014, a three per cent increase. The number of seniors, however, went up sharply. A total of 371 people 55 and older were counted, up 38 per cent from 2011 when 268 seniors were counted. Holland had previously told the Langley Advance that, during the early-March counting process, local volunteers noticed more elderly homeless than in years past. He hopes that numbers backing up the observation will help encourage more action on this front. Langley’s homelessness is addressed by many groups, Holland noted, including churches, the Salvation Army, Ishtar Transitional Housing Society, and Aldergrove Neighbourhood Services Society programs. Despite any decline in the total numbers, there remains a lot to do, he said: “We’re still extremely busy.”
Emergency response
Joyride ends with crushed ankle A young man had his ankle crushed in an accident involving forklift driving. by Matthew Claxton
mclaxton@langleyadvance.com
Langley Mounties had to free a 22-year-old man from a forklift after it crashed on a construction site in Willoughby. Ambulance personnel were the first called to the scene, near the corner of 80th Avenue and 208th Street, said Cpl. Holly Marks, spokesperson for the Langley RCMP. Apparently, a group of young men had been joyriding in a stolen forklift near the
site late Monday evening. The forklift tipped over and pinned the ankle of one man. Officers helped free the trapped man, who had a crushing injury to his ankle. He was taken to the hospital. According to the brief statement he gave police, he was actually trying to stop another group of men from stealing the forklift when the accident happened. “We’re skeptical of his response,” Marks said. The victim appeared to be impaired by alcohol at the time of the crash. Police reports indicated there may have been two other men still present when emergency responders arrived at the scene.