Category Archives: Homeless

Homeless, Other Writers, Poverty

How to tackle the economic paradox

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We have persistent poverty within a booming economy; here’s what B.C. can ­ and should ­ do — Seth Klein — Vancouver Sun (p A11), December 12, 2006

It’s the time of year when we find ourselves particularly conscious of poverty and homelessness, but especially this year.

British Columbians seem acutely aware of a paradox that marks our economy: We are simultaneously experiencing solid economic growth and decades-low unemployment on the one hand, and record homelessness, persistent poverty, and a stubborn sense of economic insecurity on the other.

We all tend to be more generous during the holiday season, but these problems cannot be fixed through charity alone ­ they require public policy action.

So what can ­ and should ­ the provincial government do to improve the lot of low-income people, both those who rely on social assistance and those who struggle in the low-wage workforce? A lot.

1) Increase welfare rates. Premier Gordon Campbell’s October announcement that he will increase the shelter allowance for people receiving social assistance was welcome news. But this long overdue change shouldn’t wait until February’s budget. And overall rates must be increased, not just the shelter allowance.A single person without a recognized disability currently gets $510 a month for everything ­ housing, food, clothing, transportation, heat and electricity, toiletries, etc. A single parent with one child receives $968, and a person with a disability gets $856. People without a disability receive less today, in real (inflation adjusted) dollars, than they did 12 years ago. After inflation, rates are 20–26 per cent lower (and 12 per cent lower for people with disabilities.

2) Depoliticize the process of setting welfare rates. Rates should be grounded in a transparent and objective rationale, and tied to a realistic estimate of the basic cost of living. The Dieticians of B.C. report that people cannot eat a nutritious diet on welfare. Calculations by both the Social Planning and Research Council of B.C. and Human Resources and Social Development Canada show that welfare rates need to double if they are to meet minimum living costs.A good starting point would be to immediately increase welfare rates by 50 per cent, a measure that would cost about $500 million.

3) Let all welfare recipients keep some earned income. Currently, only those recipients with a recognized disability or barrier to employment are allowed to earn and keep some extra money. B.C. is the only province in Canada that penalizes other welfare recipients by one dollar for every dollar that they earn. Everyone should be able to earn and keep at least $500 per month tax-free.

4) Raise the minimum wage. As with welfare rates, the minimum wage should be depoliticized, and grounded in a clear rationale. An individual working full-time, yearround should not have an income below the poverty line. For this to be so, the minimum wage would need to be $10 per hour.

5) Index both welfare rates and the minimum wage to inflation, and adjust them annually. The Conservative government of Newfoundland recently indexed welfare to inflation, the first government in Canada to do so. B.C. should follow its lead.

6) Make welfare more accessible to those in need. The process of seeking social assistance has become so complicated to navigate, and the eligibility rules so restrictive, that many of those in need are systematically discouraged and denied, and some of these people end up on the streets. The entire application process should be the subject of an independent review, and redesigned so it is appropriate for the majority of people who seek assistance.

7) Increase the stock of affordable housing. The province’s recent move to expand rental subsidies is of some value, particularly for those living in communities with high vacancy rates. But truly addressing the housing crisis and escalating rents requires a significant boost in the quantity of lowincome housing. The province should aim to create 2,000 new units of social housing per year.

8) Enhance access to post-secondary education and training. Meaningful training and education is key to accessing stable, well-paying jobs. The province should rescind the rule that prevents people on welfare from being post-secondary students, and re-introduce tuition-free adult basic education and other upgrading programs at the post-secondary level.

9) Bring in a universal, publicly funded child care program. High quality child care brings important benefits to children in terms of brain development and school readiness, and is essential to women’s equal access to the paid labour market. Quebec has shown that, if the will exists, a province can act alone.

10) Enforce and enhance employment standards. People working in the low-wage workforce rely on provincial employment standards for their basic workplace rights: Minimum wages, statutory holidays, minimum and maximum shift times, overtime pay, etc.

But these standards aren’t being pro-actively enforced, and have been significantly weakened. Vulnerable workers need to know that their workplace rights will be honoured. And if the laws made unionization less challenging, such workers would likely see significant improvements in their income and security.

Combined, these measures would cost the provincial treasury just over $2 billion next year. That may sound like a lot, but consider that last year’s budget surplus was $3 billion, the current year’s surplus is on track to be a similar size, and next year’s surplus will be larger still.The money is there to make a dramatic difference, and the public wants to see action. The cost of inaction is high.

Seth Klein is the B.C. director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

Homeless, Municipal

Hmmmmmmm.

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Ouch! A friend called Sunday to smack my nose for being to hard on the City in my letter on Extreme Weather planning. It made for an interesting discussion. Although, when the major contribution by the City to Extreme Weather planning, in the main part, is to not put up barriers …

While my friend is correct that the City has come a ways in both awareness and attitude, but there is so much more they must come to perceive, to gain some understanding of and needs that call for action that letting them rest on their “laurels” is just not good acceptable. The temptation to avoid these messy issues by hiding behind “Social Advisory Committees”, “Regional Social Committees”, Social Planners and so on is great that we must continue to (cattle) prod them to keep moving and into action.

The conversation served to highlight just how much one’s perspective on housing, poverty, homeless and addictions is affected by one’s position on the “have nothing to super rich” scale of material possessions.

I can see and understand where my friend and the other involved, caring citizens see so much progress made and being made. I can also see and understand where my many friends, both homeless and poor as well as those involved directly in helping the homeless and poor, see no progress made and nothing happening.

June, July and August so many people are on holidays, at different times, everything goes on hold until sometime in mid-September. Currently we are into the Christmas/New Year season and pretty much on hold again. Understandable? Yes and No.

When you and yours are inside and fed vacations and the holiday season seem fair, deserved and necessary. When you and yours are standing in a cold December rain – vacations, holiday seasons and things moving forward with glacial slowness are just more barriers to improvements to your survival and regaining a life worth living.

1/3 of the year wasted on vacations and the holiday season. Something accomplished years down the road. These do nothing about the cold December rain falling on your head today or in providing support, encouragement and help in getting your act and life together – today or tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow …

So while I can see and understand my friend’s point and point of view, sometimes it is so hard to stay reasonable and positive. Particularly in light of my current economic state, balanced on a financially secure/unstable pivot point so very close to returning to being homeless. Sometimes I find I have to bite my tongue to not scream “Get your pampered asses in gear” or to give in to the urge to round up all the players, stand them in the cold December rain and deny them access to any resources other than those available to the homeless and poor.

All in hopes of communicating to them some understanding of the urgency and frustration I feel. Instead I take a deep breath, recite the serenity prayer and put pen to paper (so to speak) in hopes of educating and widening peoples understanding and perspectives.

Oh yes. In answer to the question posed about what I want from the City? I want them to bring to filling the basic living needs of those suffering poverty and homelessness the passion, the commitment, the marshalling of resources, the rallying of the public, the unlimited use of city staff and funds, the rush to put needed facilities/buildings in place – even if it requires borrowing millions of dollars to do so, “putting the arm” on local “donors” and the willingness to go to any lengths to get their way that they behaved with for the luxuries of Plan A.

Homeless

Kudos to the Extreme Weather Team

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Mr. Dave Murray deserves kudos not only for the hours he put in preparing a plan for and during the Extreme Weather the City experienced but for the example he sets for having one’s priorities in order. He used Food Bank funds to fill the pressing need for mattresses and sleeping bags, knowing the need to replenish these funds would cause extra work. Lives saved vs. extra work? Sadly, experience has shown that all too few in the City have this same generosity of spirit.

With the severity of the snow, cold and wind-chill the Extreme Weather the City experienced had the potential to KILL. Imagine the field day the national media would have had with people freezing to death, from lack of charity, on the streets of a City that prides itself on the number of churches it has.

How should we say thanks? Those who regularly support the Food Bank say thanks, in the most meaningful of ways, with every donation and hour volunteered. For others: why not drop by and say “Thank You”, help in replenishing the funds expended providing shelter from the killing cold and/or help to ensure that the Food Bank has sufficient stocks on hand to not only meet the Christmas Season demands but also sufficient food to make it through the post-holiday bleak period.

I want to take a moment to also offer Kudos to the many volunteers who put in so many volunteer hours to keep the Salvation Army open 24 hours a day during the crisis. And to Dave W. for his decision to keep the building open those 24 hours. I want to make special mention of Mr. Chris O’Neill who put in countless hours helping in the early morning with work caused by the extra people staying at the shelter and spent many more hours serving coffee to keep the Redemption Café open six extra hours a day.

Fortunately we will never know how many lives these citizens, so generous in spirit, saved. Which is, in the end, the best thanks they could get.

Homeless

Hippocratic Oath?

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I thought of Kevin George Ellis the other night and the abysmal way MSA Hospital treated this dying man (see tribute to the fallen http://www.somethingcool.ca/backissues/073106). Even worse than the way they treated Kevin is the fact that they continue to deliver substandard health care to the homeless putting their lives at risk. And, in the case I am thinking of, perhaps putting the health of the general public at risk.

One of the members of the homeless community has staff infection. The hospital gave him medication and sent him on his way – knowing he was homeless. I am not a doctor but from all the reports I have read of staff infection outbreaks in hospitals it sounds extremely infectious and easy to pass along. Now X is considerate enough that he warns people of his infection rather than trying to hide it. One could wish the medical professionals in Abbotsford had such ethical behaviour.

X also understands why, especially in the vastly overcrowded conditions caused by this life threatening weather he should not be in the Shelter. What I, and others, do not understand is why he is not in the hospital until he is fully well. Instead he is walking around the city leaving a trail of staff germs behind to infect unknowing members of the public. At the very least this would seem to be very questionable public health behaviour. Given the severe weather outside it is definitely a humanitarian issue. Just how many more unfortunates will the hospital contribute to the death of? How many dead will it take until the Fraser Valley Health Authority shows leadership and insists that MSA fulfill its purpose and deliver good healthcare to ALL suffering illness?

Homeless

Extreme Weather

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It is past cold, into the realm of bitchin’ cold. With all the snow on the ground, the fierce wind and the cold, the weather is life threatening. Many of the Abbotsford residents living on the streets have been sought whatever shelter, at whatever “price” they must “pay”, just to survive. For the first time in Abbotsford there is an Extreme Weather Plan in place and the coordinator of the plan has been checking up on the current population of the Salvation Army’s emergency shelter in case it is necessary to open additional beds.

Why is it that this year, for the very first time, Abbotsford has an Extreme Weather Plan in place? Because some concerned citizens gave their time and effort to get together to develop a plan and to get the plan approved by the provincial agency responsible for overseeing these plans, to ensure that when the weather turns deadly there are beds available to save lives. The City of Abbotsford is so lacking in leadership and vision that a group of citizens were forced to get together to address this life threatening issue.

Perhaps even more disheartening is that, in a city noted for the number of churches within its borders, not one was willing to step forward to open its doors to the poor and destitute when extreme weather threatens their lives. Apparently churches in Abbotsford favour the Inquisition behaviour model, distaining the lesson of the Good Samaritan.

Providentially for those so unfortunate as to find themselves homeless in Abbotsford, there are citizens whose principles and spirit values compel them to step forward to provide leadership and to render life-sustaining aid to those in need. Sadly, for the soul of our City, there seem far to few of these people willing to love their brother – even those brothers so many consider undeserving of love.