*please note that the original letter is posted at the end of my comments.

“What good is building something if no one wants to use it, or the location is not appropriate?” You are quite right it isn’t any good and the location is vital to the “success” of the housing.

At the Chamber of Commerce all-candidates meeting some candidates spoke of sticking housing at the edge of the city or out into the country. Miracle Valley (a treatment facility) is located a considerable distance from Mission but this has not stopped people, including some I have known, from walking away from treatment, housing and the three meals a day into Mission.

Building homeless housing on the outskirts of Abbotsford or further out in the countryside when that is not where they want to be and far from the services they need to access is really a waste of money – they will just walk away and we will not have accomplished anything effective in dealing with this issue. But these type of statement do make good political sound-bites.

On the question of consulting with the homeless, I would say that they have been consulted in the most meaningful and effective of ways. Many types housing have been built and the homeless have had the chance to evaluate and effectively vote on the housing through their behaviour.

I think that the behaviour of the homeless and the outcomes that result from the different types of housing is the best way to evaluate the type of housing we should be building. We are not building housing in a vacuum, but have the benefit of being able to look around and see what works and what the best practices are.

“And while everyone bickers about it, the people that really need a place to stay out of the weather and some food to eat will go without for another bitter winter.” Sadly this is so true.

It is not just that we need to take little steps – we need to take the first step.

There is that old saying about the journey of a thousand miles beginning with the first step. We have allowed homelessness and affordable housing to grow into a thousand mile journey, a journey that grows long as we dither about what first step to take.

We need a spectrum of housing built to meet a variety of housing needs of a very diverse group of people in need of safe, healthy housing they can afford.

The Gage Tower dorms at UBC you describe sound very much like the upstairs units at the Salvation Army which I thought was a good design when I was living there for the “first stage” housing it was being used for.

Again location is important. I had not thought of it myself but as several residents shared with me (input from those using the housing) the location was not good. Every time they went out they were in and had to run the gauntlet of a sea of people still in their addiction.

When people come out of Kinghaven or other treatment places they need to go into safe housing that is located away from drugs and people still in their addiction. Otherwise we are just setting them up to relapse into addiction and homelessness.

My experience and the experience and feedback from others in the housing at the Salvation Army convinced me that support, solid proactive support and supportive people is the key to having people coming out of treatment and into this type of first stage housing continue to recover and stay in recovery.

Let me say that here is one of the points why I think it is so important to truly listen to what people are saying. As I said I think this housing is very good for this type of first stage housing. My problem was always what you are going to do with it when the demand for this housing decreases.

My operating intention is to build the housing, support and services needed to get people into recovery and wellness and off the current cycles of treatment and relapse. We will never achieve a 100% but we can get up into the 80 – 90+% range, which means that at some point we have a decreasing number of people needing this housing. Leaving the question of what do you do with the unneeded living spaces?

Duh! Student housing or some other housing use I am sure someone knows of or can think of. A councillor does not have to try to solve all this himself. He just has to be willing to talk about the issue, ask for peoples thoughts and listen to what people say.

Actually, thinking about it, there are positive (and admittedly some negative – which we can address) aspects of having UFV students in some of the housing units with people working on their recovery and wellness.

However, this type of housing is not suitable for people still in their addiction or mental illness. They do not play nicely together and with multiple people sharing a common space a great deal of conflict and probably violence will erupt.

And that is why is why neither KInghaven nor the Salvation Army is able to deal with this housing. The Salvation Army only runs “dry” housing while minimal barrier housing houses people still in their addiction. Similarly Kinghaven is about

During the homeless count I was filling out survey forms for some people I knew had been roommates. When asked the question “what kind of housing do you need?” they all said something they could afford on their own without a roommate.

From all of their own viewpoints they were good roommates, the other guy was the roommate from H*ll. Knowing the people involved I knew that they had been roommates, each insisting they were a good roommate and the other person a terrible roommate.

I think one of the realities of housing those still in their addiction or mental illness is they each need their own private space; whether it be a room with its own bathroom or a small bachelor suite.

In Vancouver the provincial government has been purchasing the Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels and giving them to various housing organizations within Vancouver together with the funds to renovate the buildings and staff them adequately.

We need housing along these lines for minimal barrier housing for the addicts and mentally ill. It have been demonstrate time and again that if you house people they will be ready to move into treatment faster than if you left them on the street.

Support gets people into treatment and is needed to help them get into recovery and discover wellness.

Finally, remember that there is a spectrum of housing needed in Abbotsford, not just for those with mental health and/or addiction issues. The funding is up to $22 million, the high dollar figure to allow flexibility in the proposals the government has asked for. Especially in the area of what else may be proposed to include in buildings.

The street homeless are just the most visible of those in need of housing that is safe and that they can afford; the need in Abbotsford is both wider and deeper than most people recognize.

***********************************************************************

Hi James,

I am the fellow who came to your table at the All Candidates Forum last Thursday. I wanted to meet you and congratulate you on running for council and the fine work you have been doing keeping “the homelessness issue” in the public eye. I have long been mystified that you have not been offered a column in one of the local papers.

I noticed in all this “kafluffle” that no one has bothered to consult with “the homeless” to find out what kind of accomodations they would find suitable. What good is building something if no one wants to use it, or the location is not appropiate? And while everyone bickers about it, the people that really need a place to stay out of the weather and some food to eat will go without for another bitter winter.

If people are to proceed with change, little steps are required and they need to be built upon. $20 million for two buildings to house 50 units each?! That works out to $200,000 per unit, sure they will have some other fascilities in the building, still $150,000 can buy a townhouse in Abbotsford and we have over 400 homeless people, how come so few units? We need to provide the existing support groups, the Salvation Army, Kinghaven and others with enough money to give these people refuge first, so they can determine where they need to go next, a little step.

How much space does a person require when they are trying to get off the street? I have stayed in the Gage Tower dorms at UBC and it would have been great to live there when I was going to school and single, but demand was too high. Each module comfortably houses six students in about the same space as a large apartment. These dorms have private rooms with a bed, built-in desk and cabinets, shelves for books and a closet. They open onto a shared common room that includes a living/social area with T.V. and kitchenette, with a large, stalled bathroom and showers. That could house about 300 people per building, another step.

I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth and I may be mistaken, but I noticed no similar offer to Vancouver, Surrey or Langley; is it Campbell’s plan to move more people out of Vancouver and into Abbotsford before the Olympic Games? Every government dime comes with a cost; we can spend $20 million and not affect the lives of the homeless people on our streets one iota.

Thank you,

Steve Fult