For weeks, the coronavirus pandemic has been totally transforming our lives and devastating economies worldwide, right down to our own local neighbourhoods.
COVID-19 is a neighbourhood catastrophe waiting to happen in the DTES. Its first confirmed case appeared yesterday.
It’s very difficult, if not impossible, for most of the residents there to keep a safe distance from each other and practice good hygiene, even if they have some kind of shelter, never mind when they have no home at all. Here are just some of the challenges they face every day: Lining up for meals; sleeping in crowded rooms; and coping in SROs that may not even have soap or paper towels in the shared washrooms.
With limited public spaces in the DTES and people lined up outside stores and agencies to keep their physical distance, even public sidewalks have become hazardous for all since it’s impossible to keep 2 metres apart. Social distancing isn’t feasible in traditional shelters either.
Cities around the world have already taken decisive action to prevent the spread of the coronavirus amongst the homeless by taking advantage of the numerous hotels now empty due to the total shutdown of travel. Homeless individuals are being offered their own private rooms in hotels where they can be safe and self-isolate.
For example, London, Ontario’s city hall has already moved more than 100 homeless people into secured hotel rooms. They’ve also set up outdoor hand-sanitizing stations. Way back in March, the other London (England) block-booked entire hotels for three months so that “rough sleepers” can self-isolate. Belfast just housed all of their homeless in hotels, including food and meal delivery. In Australia, Perth has launched a ‘Hotels with a Heart’ trial to house their homeless, while Adelaide has housed hundreds in motels.
Here, the clock is ticking, but the alarm bell went off weeks ago. Vancouver needs to take decisive action and secure an adequate supply of hotel rooms now!
Yes, the city is working with the province on hotel solutions, but these talks have been underway for weeks! And, as Vancouver city councillor Jean Swanson pointed out in her excellent article in the Georgia Straight a few days ago, the plan for a few hundred rooms for Vancouver’s 2,000 homeless just doesn’t cut it.
In the absence of decisive action, grassroots organisers are reclaiming vacant properties to stay safe, like the Reclaimers in Oakland, inspired by Moms4Housing. Closer to home, on April 1st the vacant North Surrey Rec Centre was briefly occupied by the Hothouse Squat, with support from the Red Braid Alliance for Decolonial Socialism and Pivot Legal Society. Gentrification has exacerbated the vulnerability of communities to COVID-19.
For everyone’s sake, we needed an adequate number of hotel rooms secured (and outdoor hand-sanitizing stations set up) for the homeless folks crowded into the streets of the DTES long ago — long before the pandemic even started.
If we don’t see urgent changes now, we’re going to see a human tragedy that could have been easily averted.
UPDATE: COPE now has a petition to house urging the BC Government to house homeless folks in hotels. Click here to add your name!
Daily atmospheric CO2 [Courtesy of CO2.Earth]
Latest daily total (Apr. 8, 2020): 416.96 ppm
One year ago (Apr 8, 2019): 412.31 ppm
Click here to sign my empty homes tax petition!
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