Preliminary numbers from the City of Vancouver’s homeless count show that the number of people sleeping outside at night is declining.

This year’s count, which took place over a 24 hour period on March 13, 2013 found 273 people sleeping outside in Vancouver, which is:

• a decrease of 11% from 2012, which saw 306 street homeless; and
• a 66% decrease since 2008, which saw 811 street homeless, and was the first year of low-barrier shelters.

“The drop in people sleeping outside in Vancouver shows that we’re on the right path when it comes to ending street homelessness by 2015,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “Our efforts are working, but there is no question there is more work to do. This is within our grasp.

READ MORE

Help spread the word: The recent report card on the City’s Housing and Homelessness strategy shows Vancouver is currently exceeding all of its short-term targets for protecting and expanding affordable rental housing, building new supportive housing, and ending street homelessness.

Many highlights are included in the infographic below —  click here to read the full story

Construction is underway on the 12th new supportive housing development in Vancouver, a 99-unit development for those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Once complete, the building at 2465 Fraser St. will offer 69 apartments for adults who are homeless and at risk of homelessness and 30 apartments for youth that will be operated by the Vancouver Native Housing Society. It will also include a new youth resource centre run by Pacific Community Resources Society who, together with partner agencies, will provide support services for both resident youth as well as at-risk youth in the surrounding neighbourhood. This new youth centre will replace the Broadway Youth Resource Centre, which has served the community for the past 14 years.

“There is a crucial need for new supportive housing in Vancouver, and this project is a strong example of the kind of partnerships we need to solve homelessness,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “ The 99 new supportive housing units at 2465 Fraser St. will provide a safe place to live and access to life-changing services for Vancouver’s most vulnerable residents, especially homeless and at-risk youth.”

READ MORE

Vancouver City Council passed the 2012 City Operating Budget tonight at a Special Council Meeting, investing in affordable housing, parks and recreation services, and libraries, as part of a forward-looking fiscal plan for the coming year.

“Even in the midst of a challenging economic climate and a $52 million budget gap, we’ve delivered a budget that is balanced, progressive, and pragmatic,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “This budget fully protects and supports programs that impact Vancouver’s most vulnerable, including priority investments for homelessness and affordable housing, child care and seniors. We’re protecting all funding and support for arts and culture programming, continuing our support for Vancouver’s Greenest City goals, and increasing support for Vancouver’s public libraries and parks and recreation services.”

READ MORE

A report to council today identified that the current gap to end street homelessness in Vancouver by 2015 is just 450 new units of affordable housing.

“We know from the data our staff collected that our work, in partnership with the Province and community partners, is making progress on ending street homelessness,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “Now we’re just 450 units of new housing away from making sure no one needs to sleep on the street at night. I’m confident we’re on the right track.”

The Mayor also stated his commitment to use City land to keep leveraging support to end street homelessness. “By using City-owned land to leverage funding from senior levels of government and the private sector, we’ve been able to secure more than 1,500 new units of social housing. We need to keep this going.”

READ MORE

The City’s emergency homeless shelters have resulted in a significant drop in public disorder downtown, according to statistics compiled by the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association.

“Our emergency homeless shelters don’t just help people on the street, they also provide benefits to the City as a whole,” said Mayor Gregor Robertson. “Since the shelters opened in early December, we’ve seen significant drops in recorded incidents of trespassing and panhandling. It’s another indication that our efforts to reduce homelessness and help our most vulnerable are paying off.”

The statistics from the DVBIA show a number of positive trends due to the homeless shelters opening in December. These include:

READ MORE