City washes its hands on homeless

Dear Editor:

On March 17, the City of Kelowna announced its response to the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic while washing its hands on helping the homeless.

Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran urged “everyone to take the advice of medical health professionals seriously and practice good hygiene such as washing your hands often.”

City risk manager Lance Kayfish said, “The responsibility of helping people experiencing homelessness through the (COVID -19) pandemic is on BC Housing, not the city’s Journey Home program.”

Kelowna’s homeless are not immune to COVID-19 and are even more vulnerable to the virus than the mayor and his staff.

Like all residents, the homeless are social. They travel around the city to survive and have the potential to transmit the virus.

But the homeless are poor; lack resources; have no sinks to practice frequent hand washing; have no homes in which to self-isolate; and cannot protect themselves and others from the virus.

The homeless require special attention if the mayor intends to successfully manage the COVID-19 pandemic and protect all residents by flattening the curves of viral transmissions, infections and deaths over time.

Basran’s plan fails to give the same protection priority to the homeless as it does to protecting everyone else.

The Journey Home program is a fiveyear, $47 million jointly-funded effort by the city and other levels of government to provide programs and services for the homeless that act as a safety net during times of emergencies and crisis.

That crisis has arrived and the province is now in a state of declared emergency.

Basran has not stepped up with extraordinary efforts to protect the homeless.

His 2020 budget allocations to homelessness are abysmal: $13,900 for a crime prevention consultant; $1,750 for a homelessserving system strategy; $100,000 for the real estate department to review how to best meet complex housing needs and $75,000 for the community safety department to provide lighting, security and educational materials to promote the safety of supportive housing projects.

His lack of action begs the questions: “Does Basran care about the homeless?

Will the virus solve his homeless problem?” You be the judge. Richard Drinnan

Kelowna