WEDNESDAY
July 15 2015 Vol. 106 No. 55
CITY LIVING 8
Brock House of ages OPINION 10
Kettle concerns boil over STATE OF THE ARTS 20
Frazey Ford does Folk Fest There’s more online at
vancourier.com MIDWEEK EDITION
THE VOICE of VANCOUVER NEIGHBOURHOODS since 1908
Youth program provides more than shelter Cheryl Rossi
crossi@vancourier.com
AIR TIME James Clarke gets big air during Saturday’s finals of the Van Doren Invitational at Hastings Skatepark. Clarke, a Vancouverite, was one of the only skaters in the international skateboard competition who was a true indie, skating without the backing of big sponsorship. See story and photo gallery on page 21. PHOTO REBECCA BLISSETT
Mayor plans to renew call for papal visit to Downtown Eastside Mike Howell
mhowell@vancourier.com
If the opportunity presents itself when he visits the Vatican next week, Mayor Gregor Robertson says he will renew a request from a delegation of faith groups to personally invite Pope Francis to the Downtown Eastside in an effort to bring international attention to the city’s mental health, addictions and homelessness crises. Robertson will be in Vatican City July 21 as a participant in a two-day workshop with the Pope in which climate change and “modern slavery” will be discussed among city and state leaders, including the mayors of Seattle and Portland and California Gov. Jerry Brown. “If I have the opportunity, I’ll certainly be restating that invitation to come visit Van-
couver and see our challenges with poverty firsthand, which is surprising for such an affluent city,” Robertson told the Courier by telephone Monday. “We have our set of problems that have been tough to solve and he’s demonstrated his commitment to tackling poverty in all its forms.” Robertson believes a visit from the Pope would draw “enormous attention” to poverty and its associated problems in the Downtown Eastside. Such a visit, he added, would signal the importance of the provincial and federal governments to commit to a second round of investments to continue the work of the now-defunct Vancouver Agreement, which saw all three levels of government spend money in an effort to improve life for residents. “There’s been slow change in the neighbourhood and lots more people
housed, but there’s a lot more work to do and it would be great to have that level of attention from the Pope to catalyze some change with the B.C. and Canadian government,” the mayor said. In February, a group representing a broad range of faiths, including Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and Muslim, sent a letter to Pope Francis requesting he visit Vancouver to walk the Downtown Eastside and “break bread with the residents and others.” The group, which is led by the city’s former homeless advocate Judy Graves and lawyer Tom Beasley, also wants the Pope to visit an urban and remote reserve in Canada to better understand the plight of aboriginal people, many of whom move to the Downtown Eastside and end up on the streets. Continued on page 5
It wasn’t his bisexuality that estranged David from his family but his father’s drug and alcohol problems and David’s own abuse of these substances as a teenager. “I started living by my own at 16 years old,” the 23-year-old said. “I had some help and support from my grandma at the time, but she unfortunately died when I was 18.” He lost his job, his relationship ended and he found himself homeless, so David travelled from Montreal to Toronto and then Vancouver. He stayed at Covenant House and at RainCity HEAT shelters. He was homeless on and off for six years until RainCity gave him a room in January and then helped him secure a market apartment in April. That was made possible with the help of a rent subsidy from B.C. Housing, under RainCity’s LGBTQ2S youth housing project. RainCity Housing and Support Society is operating a housing and support program specifically for chronically and episodically homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer and two-spirited youth — the first program of its kind in Canada. RainCity has helped 11 such youth, aged 18 to 24, secure housing. Research reveals that 25 to 40 per cent of homeless youth in Canada are LGBTQ2S, the identity of approximately 10 per cent of the general population. David chose to reside on his own while other youth live with more structure in a communal house. RainCity first helped David with a shelter bed, then with referrals to counselling and drug and alcohol abuse recovery services. He remained homeless until they gave him a room. “I could go for a date and after that I can go home instead of going into a shelter,” he said of his situation now. “I can go to work because if somebody calls me and wants to give me work tomorrow, I’m able to go to sleep early because I have a home to go back to.” David collected social assistance when he was living in shelters. Continued on page 9
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