The ears of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing must have been burning.
On Monday, Selina Robinson鈥檚 ministry issued a news release saying it has approved an additional $3.1 million to keep eight 麻豆传媒映画shelters open beyond their March 31 closing date.
The eight shelters, which total 240 beds, will now operate until March 31, 2020.
The move from government comes after COPE Coun. Jean Swanson to council Feb. 26 requesting that winter shelters be kept open year-round. Swanson鈥檚 motion was to be heard Tuesday at city hall while I was writing this piece.
But technology being what it is, I picked up the phone Monday and spoke to Swanson. And in her get-to-the-point way, this is what she said:
鈥淚 hate shelters, right. They鈥檙e deplorable. We need housing.鈥�
Anyway, she continued, extending the operation of the shelters is a 鈥渘o-brainer鈥� in the interim.
鈥淚 was at the Gathering Place [shelter] last year or the year before it closed and people there were crying,鈥� Swanson said. 鈥淭hey were saying, 鈥榃hat am I going to do? I have cancer, I just had a heart attack, I can鈥檛 live on the street, I can鈥檛 find any housing.鈥� It was terrible.鈥�
She then went about calculating the cost to keep each of 240 beds open until March 2020. It鈥檚 close to $13,000 a bed. Since being elected last October, Swanson has been doing a lot of math on the cost of this or that, and how the money would be better spent on building permanent housing.
"We could do nice modular housing so the foundation would be permanent," she said of the pre-fabricated housing that is cheaper than constructing concrete highrises. "It's so doable. All we need is the money for it, and the province and the feds should pay for it. Or else they should give the city the power to get the revenue to do it."
Swanson said she doesn鈥檛 want the provincial government鈥攐r the federal government, for that matter鈥攖o think that shelters are the way out of homelessness. In addition to the temporary or winter shelters, there are 940 permanent shelter spaces in 麻豆传媒映画and 120 beds that open when the weather is severe.
The city also opens 听two community centres, the main branch of the public library and the Powell Street Getaway as 鈥渨arming centres鈥� when the temperature reaches minus 5 degrees, or feels like minus 5 degrees.
In recent conversations with Housing Minister Robinson and Social Development Minister Shane Simpson, they鈥檙e keenly aware of the need for permanent housing. As Robinson , the government is working on it.
The 606 temporary modular housing units that have gone up in 麻豆传媒映画since last March are an example of that work.听
And, according to the release issued Monday, the government said 鈥渨ork has started on more than 2,450 affordable rental homes in 麻豆传媒映画as part of the province鈥檚 investments in affordable housing, some of which include shelter-rate units.鈥�
I鈥檝e asked for more information on that sentence to understand what affordable rental means and how many will rent for the $375 shelter rate. I was expected to get that information late Tuesday afternoon, and will update this piece when I get it.
鈥淭hat is the big question鈥攈ow many are shelter-rate units?鈥� Swanson said. 鈥淚t is so frustrating that they say 鈥榮ocial housing鈥� and you don鈥檛 have a clue what the rents were. Unless they鈥檙e renting for shelter or pension rate, they鈥檙e completely useless to people who are homeless.鈥�
I tuned in to Tuesday鈥檚 council meeting via my computer and it looked as if it would be a while before Swanson鈥檚 motion from Feb. 26 would be back on the table. But isn鈥檛 it moot now, councillor?
Swanson wouldn鈥檛 say Monday whether she planned to withdraw the motion, or have something else to say about it.
Meanwhile, 麻豆传媒映画conducts its 10th consecutive homeless count March 12 and 13. Last year, volunteers counted 鈥�659 on the street and 1,522 in some form of shelter. It was an all-time high.
So does Swanson think this year鈥檚 count will see a decrease in the number of homeless people?
鈥淚f it goes down, I don鈥檛 think it will go down much,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd if it goes down, I think it will be because of the opioid crisis.鈥�
Of the . who died of an overdose last year, 382 died in Vancouver.
The BC Coroners Service said 58 per cent of the 1,489 deaths occurred in private residences. Twenty-four per cent died in other homes including social and supportive housing, single-room-occupancy hotels and shelters.
Another four per cent died in 鈥渙ther inside locations鈥� and 12 per cent died in vehicles, on sidewalks, streets and in parks.
I鈥檝e asked for a breakdown specific to 麻豆传媒映画and will report back if and when I get it.
The eight shelters that will remain open until March 31, 2020 are at 828 Cambie St. (20 beds), 1138 Burrard St. (12 beds), 1060 Howe St. (40 beds), 131 Dunlevy St. (16 beds), 134 E. Cordova St. (40 beds), 138 E. Cordova St. (30 beds), 1401 Hornby St. (40 beds) and 1648 East First Ave. (40 beds).
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