Homelessness in Vancouver
Homelessness is a social crisis that has been rapidly accelerating in the Canadian city of Vancouver, British Columbia, over the last decade.
[2] Relative homelessness describes people living in poor conditions of health or security, including an absence of both personal safety and steady income despite having physical shelter to reside in.
[3][4] Homelessness as a social issue in Vancouver originated from federal funding cuts to affordable housing.
[7] [failed verification] However, national affordable housing programs received funding cuts from the government during the 1980s.
The effects of homelessness have been felt most heavily in the Downtown Eastside, an area of Vancouver that has gained notoriety for crime and poverty.
In contrast, the 2001 census indicates that visible minorities represent 36.9 percent of Greater Vancouver’s overall population.
[3] In December 2016 the City of Vancouver decided to open community centres for overnight stays by homeless people.
[8] This shows that Vancouver's reasons for homelessness have diversified in recent years, with some of the causes being attributed to situations of substance abuse.
[10] Welfare support, which is used by almost half of Vancouver's homeless population, still cannot provide enough for rental in many areas of the city.
[10] However, it was found that addiction played a larger role for homeless living on the street rather than a shelter.
[10][13] Alcohol, marijuana, and crystal meth use are prevalent, and substance abuse along with crowding in shelters leads to an increased risk of contracting tuberculosis.
[8][13] It was found in 2011 that access to food had become much more of a problem for street homeless, and that health conditions had generally worsened since the 2008 count.
[1] Over half of the survey respondents, when asked, perceived that the police and justice system in Vancouver would disregard or not care about their situation.
"[14] Since 2011 Metro Vancouver manages the Federal Homelessness Partnering Strategy fund with the RSCH as the Community Advisory Board.
[10] There is a widespread number of government, non-profit, charity, and religious organizations dedicated to giving aid to the homeless population of Vancouver, but they are not consistent in supply and can be geographically scattered.
[8] A group known as Pivot Legal Society was highly active in convincing the provincial government to purchase the hotels.
Pivot Legal Society has been active in promoting various solutions towards dealing with homelessness and other social issues in Vancouver since its founding in 2000.
