Agencies say more seniors and families among homeless
Housing shortage due to rising rents strains resources as winter arrives
Agencies supporting B.C.’s homeless and at risk say there is an urgent need for the public to help them take care of the growing number of seniors and families using their services as the seasons change and the housing crisis rages on.
During the last Metro Vancouver homeless count, in 2017, volunteers identified 3,605 people experiencing homelessness in the region, up 30 per cent during the previous count in 2014. They found that 21 per cent were seniors aged 55 and over, compared to 18 per cent in 2014. There were 119 accompanied children, up from 88 at the previous count.
Celine Mauboules, executive director of the Homelessness Services Association of B.C., said shelters serving women and families are already regularly at capacity.
She is hearing more stories of seniors turning up at shelters after finding themselves homeless for the first time in their lives.
“Maybe it’s a senior that’s on a fixed income and has lived in an affordable rental apartment, and the rents go up and all of a sudden they can’t afford it,” she said.
“Or they go into hospital for health issues ... and by the time they come out they haven’t paid their rent and have been evicted.”
Last week, the provincial government announced a plan to spend about $492 million to fund 4,900 new affordable mixed-income rental homes, and Mauboules said she finds hope in that.
“There’s definitely been a significant reinvestment in housing, which is fantastic,” Mauboules said.
Ethel Whitty, director of homelessness services for the City of Vancouver, said financial strain on seniors is a major concern.
“We’re seeing an increase in seniors who are trying to maintain their tenancy or find housing and it’s really difficult, of course, because on a small pension there’s no way to afford that small unit that costs $1,200, $1,300 a month for a bachelor,” Whitty said.
B.C. Housing is supporting some of them with rent supplements but Whitty said they still need more help.
She is urging anyone with an extra room to consider phoning 311 and asking to be put through to the homeless outreach team.
“If anyone in the public has a small unit for rent that they would like to offer to our outreach team as a place where we could house someone, we have a very wide range of clients who need support, from youth to seniors — people who are precariously housed or not necessarily homeless,” she said.
Whitty said B.C. Housing ’s 300 temporary shelter spaces in the city filled up within a few days of opening earlier this month, so the city is looking for room to expand.
By the end of December, another 200 temporary modular home units will be open, joining the 350 units already occupied.
The Salvation Army’s fastestgrowing client groups are now single-parent families and seniors, spokesman Mike Leland said.
While B.C.’s weather has been mild this fall, bringing them inside from wind and rain, and feeding them, is vital to their well-being, he said.
“The people that we assist, they’re dealing with addictions and a number of other health challenges, so you couple that with colds and flus and things brought on by extreme weather conditions, they’re extra vulnerable,” Leland said.
The Salvation Army is busy filling its 835 beds at 18 shelters across the province.
The organization gives people warm meals and blankets but could always use more socks, gloves, toques and even marine ponchos to keep people dry, Leland said.
Cash donations — particularly through the Salvation Army’s Christmas kettles — are also helpful because the organization can buy such supplies in bulk and at a discount, Leland said.
Staff at the Union Gospel Mission have been busy visiting street homeless to make sure they can keep warm and dry when the temperature drops.
“It’s still going to hit, it’s going to hit hard and it’s going to be brutal for anybody who is on the street,” spokesman Jeremy Hunka said.
Beginning this week, UGM will for the first time start dispatching its “mobile mission” five days per week, up from four days in the summer. Staff visit visiting parks, bridges and alleyways to give homeless people meals and survival gear, and connect them with UGM services.
Each week, they visit up to 120 people and hand out up to 30 packages of sleeping bags and warm clothing, Hunka said.
“We’re startled and surprised by the number of people who are completely unprepared for the cold weather that is to come,” Hunka said. “It has already been wet and soggy and that, over a period of time, takes a toll and diminishes immune systems.”
Hunka said UGM is running a campaign this Monday to Thursday during which anonymous donors match every dollar donated. The mission is also grateful to people who drop off used goods at 601 East Hastings St.
B.C. Housing spokeswoman Rajvir Rao said that in anticipation of cooler weather, the agency has funded 19 extra temporary shelters in Metro Vancouver this year to keep 591 people safe and warm, and has funded 20 extremeweather response shelters in the region offering an additional 385 spaces. As well, 467 units in nine new modular housing projects are now occupied.
“The temporary and extreme weather response shelter spaces supplement the almost 2,000 permanent, year-round shelter spaces available throughout British Columbia,” Rao said.
“More temporary shelters and extreme weather shelters may be added throughout the season when needed and where appropriate.”
On a small pension there’s no way to afford that small unit that costs $1,200, $1,300 a month for a bachelor.