TENT TROUBLE
Residents urge officials to find a solution to city’s growing housing crisis as tent encampments are starting to crop up
A single tent remains at a homeless encampment in east Richmond’s Hamilton neighbourhood, but locals say they won’t stop calling on city government for help until every last resident has found a safer place to live.
Pitched between the Westminster Highway and Queensborough Connector, the tent rests atop wooden pallets in a clearing surrounded by thick blackberry bushes and adjacent to a bike path. The camp is a short walk from the Hamilton Community Centre and was home to a trio of tents until last month.
Neighbours have reported two more encampments nearby and say despite their reports to police and the city, they remain concerned that not enough is being done to improve the situations of the people inside the tents.
Ted Lee, a businessman who lives on nearby McColl Crescent, has been documenting the encampments as they have grown and shrunk over the past two months. He takes photos and videos, and posts them to a private Hamilton community Facebook group.
Lee said the city has sent bylaw officers and cleaned up the encampments in response to locals’ reports, but he’s concerned about how safe they are. Particularly, he wonders what will happen if there is a medical emergency inside one of the tents and emergency responders are unaware or unable to access the person in distress.
He wants the city to find the residents somewhere better to live and offered two solutions.
“One is to recognize there is a housing problem in Richmond and give them proper housing that meets the human needs,” he said. “If they can’t do that, let them set up tents on the other side (of the Queensborough Connector) over there, and provide them with some basic services.”
Those services would include a portable toilet, water fountain and a garbage can. He believes his proposed alternative site, near a dog park, is easier to access.
The person living inside the tent declined to speak with Postmedia News on Sunday. They offered an apology through their closed tent flap, saying they felt sick and unprepared to host guests.
Angela Ellis, a mother of two who works in education and lives on Oliver Drive, is the administrator for the Hamilton Facebook group.
Some members of the group have reported a recent increase of suspicious or criminal activity including car break-ins, attempted property theft and strangers poking around their back yards. Some have posted photos of people caught by security cameras.
And some have speculated that there is a link between the encampment and the criminal activity, though Ellis said that hasn’t been proven.
What she knows for certain, however, is she doesn’t want the people living in the tents to suffer any longer in the cold and rain.
“They need help,” she said. “They should be temporarily put somewhere, given a timeline, ‘This is what you need to do,’ and offered some services to help them get on their feet, because housing is expensive.”
Richmond RCMP said the detachment has not seen a spike in theft and breaking-and-entering incidents in Hamilton.
Spokesman Cpl. Dennis Hwang suggested compassion is an important part of any response to the encampment issue.
“Someone who is homeless is not simply a faceless entity. They are people. They are human beings,” he said.
“Our detachment is working with our community partners including the City of Richmond to come up with long term solutions.”
City staff and police have a meeting scheduled Wednesday with the Hamilton residents to discuss their concerns.
City spokesman Ted Townsend said in an email the three camps in the neighbourhood have been inspected by bylaw officers and police, who found no health or safety concerns. He said they will continue to monitor the occupants closely.
“We are also working with the people in the camps to provide them with information on alternatives to camping,” Townsend said.
“Unfortunately, there are currently limited options for homeless in Richmond. Our existing year-round shelter only accommodates men and with just 10 beds and is routinely over capacity.”
Townsend said the city is working with its partners to develop desperately-needed housing for the homeless and people at risk of becoming homeless.
The city is relocating and expanding a new year-round, 30-bed emergency shelter at 12040 Horseshoe Way, to be run by the Salvation Army. It is also working with B.C. Housing and RainCity Housing to build 40 units of temporary modular housing. Both facilities aren’t expected to open until early next year.
The Salvation Army will also operate an extreme weather response shelter at the South Arm Outdoor Pool.