There are 700 homeless people in Vancouver. Hundreds live in makeshift camps, and more than 200 live in emergency shelters, including a growing number of families. One cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. Since the rental market is so tight, landlords have their pick of who they want renting their spaces.
As a whole, our city simply does not have enough resources to get people off the streets and into affordable housing. Emergency housing also has a long waiting list of people who are desperate to get off the streets. One solution to this problem is to build affordable housing units. This will help low-income families to get off of the streets and back on their feet. A means of doing this is through the Community Development Block Grant. I believe a portion of this grant should be used to build affordable housing.
During a city council meeting, someone mentioned a plan to build 50 units of housing for homeless veterans. There were nearly that many homeless veterans in our city last year. This won’t solve homelessness, but it will help put a dent in the number of people without a home.
Tessa Shackelford
Vancouver
