B.C. MLA, advocates push for more shelter space province-wide

As temperatures dip, BC United is pushing for something to be done at all levels of government to increase shelter space in the province.

BCU South Surrey-White Rock MLA Trevor Halford says every day, people are often being turned away from shelter spaces.

“We have a significant problem here. Right now, in White Rock and South Surrey, we are struggling. Even if we do have those shelters in place, we are beyond capacity before dinner is even served. With a growing homeless population, we’re struggling to keep up,” he said in the B.C. Legislature Monday.

While he didn’t offer any solutions, Halford shared heartbreaking stories of people reaching out to him directly for help.

“I had a lady come up to me and she said, ‘Do you mind that when you’re not here at your constituency office, if I can park in your parking spot?’ I said, ‘No. Not at all. That’s absolutely fine. Do you have work around here? Is your child going to martial arts?’ which is above my office. And she said, ‘No. I’m living in my car with my daughter, and I thought that if parked in the MLA’s parking spot, that maybe they’d let me stay there for the night and maybe I would be safe because there’s security,'” he recalled.

Halford shared another woman’s story.

“Her home has been the bus stop of 32nd Avenue and King George Highway for the last year. Her home before that was on a patio, which she was being charged $15 per night (for),” the MLA explained.

He doesn’t think these stories are specific to his riding and is confident politicians across the board are hearing similar cries for help.

Halford notes it’s not just one demographic that is facing instability. He adds the teardown of older apartment buildings, built in the 1970s and earlier to make way for new units, is detrimental for some — specifically seniors.

“With that comes a population that is on a very fixed income, that is struggling to make decisions on whether or not they are able to make their rent or pay for their groceries or get their medication.”

He says complaints and concerns about health care used to be the number one issue in his constituency office. Now, he says it’s housing.

“Whether it’s a single mom getting evicted from a basement suite, whether it’s the seniors [who] are having to find a new location, whether it’s an adult with an intellectual disability that is moving out for the first time and trying to get housing — it is a challenge.”

Halford says climate change is complicating the affordability crisis and that’s adding urgency to the issue.

“Whether it’s heat waves or extreme cold snaps, our vulnerable population is growing at a rate that we’ve never seen before,” he said.

Meanwhile, Sarah Blyth with the Downtown Eastside Emergency Hub and Overdose Prevention Society says she’s been working on solutions with the province and community groups as we approach the cold winter months ahead.

“We’re working on some solutions, some drop-in centres that people can go to, some homeless resource centres that are specific to just getting people off the street, out of the cold,” she said.

“The shelters that we open during the winter, a lot of them should be open year-round and the reason why is because at the end of the winter, there’s still a lineup of people to get in, when we close the doors.”

Blyth is far from the only advocate looking for more beds and shelters, Union Gospel Mission (UGM) spokesperson Nicole Mucci says there are 92 shelter beds at UGM for men in Metro Vancouver looking to escape the cold, but that isn’t enough. Mucci says she’s concerned for those who won’t get a warm space to sleep, especially when they try to brave the elements.

“We see almost every single winter, for the last five or six years, in Metro Vancouver somebody has been seriously injured died because they’ve tried to stay warm in a tent and its lit fire,” she said.

“The demand is still greater than we can provide.”

Halford’s comments come just days after the BC Greens proposed funding shelters year-round.