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Powell River housing forum reveals crisis

Homelessness increasing in the area, say experts
housing
SHELTER NEEDED: Retired City of Vancouver advocate for the homeless Judy Graves was among the panel of seven local experts who spoke Wednesday, September 14, on the issues of affordability and availability of Powell River housing. Dave Brindle photo

Increases in the number of homeless Powell River people has largely been caused by a dwindling number of rental homes and sharp increases in rent, a panel of experts suggested at a recent town hall meeting on affordable housing.

Close to 80 people gathered at Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons’ town hall meeting Wednesday, September 14, at Evergreen Theatre to hear a seven-person panel discuss the growing problem.

Retired City of Vancouver advocate for the homeless Judy Graves was among the panel of local experts, which included her son-in-law, Powell River Community Resource Centre (CRC) manager Martyn Woolley.

“What we’re seeing is growth, an increasing number of people needing services,” said Woolley.

For the past two and a half years, lack of housing has been a growing problem, he said. This year alone, CRC has seen an 11 per cent increase in the numbers of people accessing its services and the rising cost of housing has been a contributing factor, he said.

“People are foregoing things like food and being fed at the CRC,” said Woolley. “They are also letting go of their Internet access and home phone. We’re filling that niche because people have to take those dollars and put them toward just living.”

As rental properties become more scarce, the cost of rent increases, he said. Powell River’s vacancy rate is currently less than one per cent.

Realtor Ross Cooper told those at the meeting that “a tidal wave of applications” roll in whenever rental properties come available through local property-management companies.

Cooper added that there has also been a trend of rentals going for more than their asking price, a result of renters securing them by offering higher rents. Cooper said rentals generally top out at $1,500 per month. Above that, he said, people will look at purchasing a home.

Cooper and other members of the panel also commented that much of the demand for homes is coming as a result of Metro Vancouver’s real estate market, as some homes in Powell River that were once rentals are sold to Lower Mainland buyers and taken out of the rental stock.

Woolley said a misconception about the increase in homelessness is that people are coming from out of town and ending up without a place to live in. He said many of the people he sees grew up in Powell River and life circumstances have contributed to them becoming homeless.

“We see a lot of addiction, poverty and mental illness,” said Woolley.

While the number of people without a home has increased, it has not been as noticeable because rural homelessness looks a lot different than homelessness in the city, said Vancouver Coastal Health social worker Rebecca Withers.

Overall increases in the number of people who do not have a place to live coming for help is something staff at the Salvation Army is seeing as well, said outreach worker Larry Gerow. So much so, the organization is currently looking into ways of providing a homeless shelter in Powell River.

“The closest shelter is in Courtenay,” said Gerow. “It’s really the only place we can send people.”

Graves said Powell River is on the cusp of a problem that will only worsen if measures are not taken. Graves said the current situation in Powell River reminds her of where Vancouver was in 1990.

“Homelessness does not happen in depressed communities,” said Graves. “Powell River is a growing and vibrant community.”

Over the next five years, if nothing is done, the problem will continue to grow and there will be an increase in the amount of visible homelessness, she said.

Because homeless people are more vulnerable, annual costs for government services, including health care, can be upwards of $50,000 per person, said Withers.

Graves said Powell River needs a cold-weather shelter and local churches to increase interim supports while other longer-term solutions are created, such as constructing more social housing.

In June, Inclusion Powell River applied for funding from the provincial government to construct 32 units of social housing, but even if the funding is received, it could take years before construction is completed, said Inclusion's executive director Lilla Tipton.

Tipton told those in attendance she expects to hear the result of the grant application later this month.

Powell River Employment Services Society executive director Lyn Adamson said over the years the lack of housing social problem has been discussed, but so far there has been only a patchwork of solutions applied to the problem.

“There’s no one in charge of this problem,” she said.

The community service non-profit recently released its Powell River Regional Community Plan, the result of April's Tapping the Groundswell conference, which included more than 100 recommendations on a variety of social issues.

“Our recommendation on homelessness is that we create a standing committee under a regional housing authority that focuses solely on the issue of homelessness,” said Adamson. “What we need is a body of people who are tasked to solve this.”

Graves said she wishes Vancouver had town hall meetings in 1990 to discuss the growing problem of homelessness.

“I encourage you all to continue to meet on the subject of housing and talk to your neighbours,” she said. “This is about homelessness, but it’s also about quality of life for all of us.”