Strathcona Park residents to be given shelter as city moves to wind down encampment

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The Vancouver Park Board has voted to begin moving residents out of the Strathcona Park encampment and into indoor temporary spaces.

The Park Board says it and its partners are still working on long-term solutions. However, it notes several short-term plans are currently underway.

City councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung says the residents of the homeless camp will be moved to “safe, warm, and dry indoor shelters” over the coming weeks.

“It’s hard to provide a specific and exact timeframe because there will be a process of identifying people’s housing needs and moving them to the appropriate options for them and appropriate locations. There are a number of shelters coming online that will take a little while to make sure they’re fully ready and operational,” she tells NEWS 1130. “But that work is underway and we’ll move as quickly as staff can do that.”

Bottom line, housing is critical issue. We need to work with senior governments to tackle this head on and step up investment in housing, as well as tackle providing related addiction and mental health services. The impact on not doing so ripples across the entire city.

— Sarah Kirby-Yung 楊瑞蘭 (@sarahkirby_yung) December 14, 2020

Neighbourhood welcomes change

Katie Lewis, vice president of the Strathcona Residents’ Association, is supportive of the plan and says it seems like it will be a quick process for the camp to come down.

But she notes it has taken nearly 200 days for something to be done.

“It’s been a lot of time coming and we’re getting there. It’s progress,” she says, adding it’s been a tough time for people living in the neighbourhood.

She says the park has never been in great condition and takes up about 80 per cent of the neighbourhood’s green space.

“We have the least green space in the entire city. We deserve to have a great park and we’re asking the city and the Park Board to do so,” Lewis adds.

“We need more and we need a better park.”

Residents won’t be forced to leave right away

According to a release, the city has identified “several” properties that can be used as temporary shelter spaces, including the Jericho Hostel and 2400 Motel. It is currently working with BC Housing to try and secure more locations.

“The status quo at Strathcona Park is not OK. We need a resolution to the encampment. I believe we are on track to do that,” Park Board Chair Camil Dumont says. “In order to get there, safer, dry, warm, indoor shelter for the many people currently stuck outdoors needs to be made available. Securing that option is a significant challenge. Thankfully, this work is underway. It’s a complex effort.”

People will not be forced to leave right away, and the City of Vancouver’s Sandra Singh says the goal is for campers to leave voluntarily.

“Everyone would prefer permanent housing,” she says. “There’s a lot of housing in the queue and we’re working with senior partners, but in the meantime, we do need to look at these types of temporary crisis shelters. And so, we will be working with individuals in the park to match them up to an option that can work for them.”

UPDATE: People currently camping at #StrathconaPark will not be immediately forced to leave.

Homeless outreach staff will work with them to find permanent housing or adequate shelter. #bcpoli #vanpoli

— Marcella Bernardo (@Bernardo1130) December 14, 2020

She says up to 300 spaces will soon be available, but she admits the Jericho Hostel may not be an appropriate site for everyone currently camping at Strathcona.

Once indoor spaces are available, the Park Board says it will enforce bylaws barring overnight camping at Strathcona Park.

“I think what’s been heartbreaking is when everybody doesn’t have a home and they are forced to seek shelter outside. But we do know from past experience that allowing encampments to sustain and grow is simply not the way forward because it always comes with safety risks,” Kirby-Yung says. “We typically see bodily harm, sometimes even serious injuries, sometimes death in camps for the residents there.”

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She also points to tensions that have flared within the community, saying the neighbourhood residents around the tent city have been compassionate.

“And advocating for housing for people in the park while at the same time really suffering a lot of related impacts on the neighbourhood,” Kirby-Yung explains. “They’ve lost their park, they’ve had a number of issues where it’s threatened their own personal safety or sense of safety, but they have continued to advocate to provide people with decent housing options.”

Kirby-Yung says it’s unfortunate that it’s taken the Park Board so long to come to this decision. “Because I think we could have saved some people from harm and gotten them into shelter before we got into these really cold, wet, and rainy months.”

The Strathcona Park grew after a tent city was forced off a property next to CRAB Park on Vancouver’s waterfront in the summer.

Residents who had moved to the CRAB Park area had been forced there after Oppenheimer Park was shut down by the city and Park Board.

Singh says work continues to re-open Oppenheimer.