Emergency shelters credited for street disruption reduction
Posted January 21, 2013 2:43 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – A couple of winter shelters are getting the credit for a reduction in street disorder in Vancouver’s downtown.
Since the temporary homeless shelters opened in December, the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association has seen open drug use cut by 88 per cent, panhandling reduced by a third, trespassing down by a fifth, and the number of people sleeping downtown has dropped by half.
The Association’s Charles Gauthier says it’s something he sees every year.
“When you provide a roof over the heads of the individuals that are homeless, they’re getting three meals a day, they’re getting interactions with health care professionals, and they don’t have to be out there aggressively panhandling or sleeping out there, so the numbers drop.”
City Councillor Kerry Jang says it’s clear the shelters have had an impact.
“We’re making good progress. We’ve kind of stemmed the tide of homelessness. We’re starting to reduce street crime and street disorder quite a bit. But we need to move these people into permanent housing so that they are off the street permanently.”
Neighbours of at least one shelter decried its opening last month, with concerns the area is saturated with social services.
