In every community in our province, and across our country, it’s become common to see people living rough on the streets, in encampments or at rest stops. It’s a stark reminder of the homelessness crisis we are facing as a nation. Those experiencing homelessness often don’t have a place to go and unsafe and unsanitary conditions become a reality.
As a City Council, it deeply saddens us to witness the impacts of this crisis in our own community. That is why we continue to advocate to the BC Government for more funding and resources, to look at things differently and do whatever we can to support our most vulnerable residents. Each person in our community who is living without a home is someone’s family member – whether a parent, a child or a loved one – which is an important perspective that can sometimes be overlooked when we talk about this issue. Every person has value and deserves dignity and respect, especially when they are experiencing adversity. Addressing homelessness is a complex issue and one that no one person, group or government can solve alone.
When a person sees the encampments, the garbage buildup or someone who has overdosed on the side of the street, it’s easy to think that nothing is being done.
While it never seems to be enough, with the implementation of recent homelessness initiatives, we are better equipping front-line support workers, advocating for more detox beds in our health region and working with the Province to provide more shelter space and temporary housing.
On March 20, we unveiled our new Community Homelessness Information Application (CHIA), an app to help community outreach workers provide timely and effective services to those experiencing homelessness by tracking service delivery in encampments, accessing real-time bed inventory updates at shelters and developing historical data to advocate for more resources. CHIA allows for better coordination between service agencies and organizations, ultimately leading to improved support and access to housing.
Closely related to the topic of homelessness is how the Province is addressing mental health and substance use issues. This year, the City submitted a resolution to the Lower Mainland Local Government Management Association calling on the Province to provide additional rapid access to detox beds in the Fraser Health region. Despite its size and population, the Fraser Health region only has one publicly-funded facility that offers rapid access to detox and with only 24 beds. We know that wait times act as a barrier for those seeking treatment, so the City of Abbotsford is advocating for Fraser Health to increase this number. Given the significant need for these services in many communities, the resolution was amended last week to reflect an expansion of rapid access to detox across the province. This amended resolution will now be considered at the Union of BC Municipalities’ 2024 convention in September.
Additionally, on April 26 the City and Province signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reaffirming our shared commitment to working together to support people experiencing homelessness. It includes the development of new shelter and housing options through BC Housing’s Homeless Encampment Action Response Temporary Housing (HEARTH) program and providing increased support to people currently living in encampments through the Homeless Encampment Action Response Team (HEART) program.
Alongside the MOU, the Province also announced several investments in Abbotsford to help those who are experiencing homelessness in our community. The Province, through BC Housing, is providing $48.8 million in capital and operating funding toward projects that will bring more than 220 new shelter spaces and supportive housing to Abbotsford. This includes 111 new temporary shelter spaces – 59 at the Travelodge at 1821 Sumas Way and 22 at 2509 Pauline St., and a proposal to open another 30 at 2539 Montvue Ave. – a new 60-unit permanent supportive home for men recovering from addiction and at risk of homelessness at 31250 King Rd., and a 50-bed shelter at 34520 Lonzo Rd. to replace the 40-bed shelter at 1640 Riverside Rd., which opened the first week of May.
This significant investment will help our community in addressing our eight entrenched encampments in the City of Abbotsford. Six of these encampments are on lands owned by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure. The largest is along Gladys Avenue and spans properties owned by railway companies and BC Hydro. The City does not have authority over privately owned lands and cannot interact with encampments on private property, so we are grateful for the Province’s focus in this area. Over the past few years, the City has repeatedly asked for assistance from the property owners, in conjunction with BC Housing, to address the safety risks posed by the sites on these private lands. We know that adequate supports and services are required to get people into shelter and housing, in addition to advocating for them to be closed, which is why the City includes BC Housing in the dialogue.
The Province’s investments support the work that the City and our community partners are doing on the ground. On April 17, the City’s Abbotsford ACCESS initiative, a network of local service providers, hosted an Agency Awareness and Connections Breakfast event on the topic of housing and homelessness attended by more than 120 people. At the event there were a number of presenters sharing information on the current state of homelessness in Abbotsford and efforts to manage the issue.
These are just a few of the recent and ongoing projects we are pursuing to advance our goal of housing our most vulnerable residents. Homelessness is a complex issue to address, and it requires all levels of government to be innovative, collaborative and use a coordinated approach. We are committed to working with our provincial partners and will continue advocating for increased funding support to ensure we can keep enhancing community outreach programs and the resources that are available to support those most in need among us.
Abbotsford City Council