While our ‘Streetmelt’ campaign didn’t make it to the finals, it did generate a lot of interest and support in this social enterprise idea. It’s now in a redevelopment stage and we would love any creative, logistical or financial input that would take it closer to becoming a reality. Call or email us!

On November 21, we had a Folding Party for our annual appeal. The gorgeous package was conceived and designed by Flipside Creative – all for free! And many of their staff, along with several other volunteers, made up the Folding Party group that assembled 6000 packages. Thank you, Flipside, and our volunteers that made this happen. Maybe one of your neighbours got one in the mail. Or maybe you did. Tell us what you think!

Our Donor Recognition Event on Nov 28 was warm, well attended and wonderful.  We decorated Heritage Hall on Main Street with art hanging from clotheslines, made grill cheese sandwiches fresh right in the hall, had a park bench and street buskers  – we brought the outside inside. Let us know what you thought if you attended, and thank you once again to all of our donors.

You might have heard in the news that all three of our temporary shelters are now up and running and each one filled up within days of opening. That’s 120 people that are now inside and no longer living on the street or in other unsafe situations. One is a reopened location, 1442 Howe Street, and opened on Dec 5. The other two are new; the Marble Arch opened on Dec 15 and is a renovated Hotel at 518 Richards with the shelter set up in what was once the pub, and the other is at 2950 Prince Edward, near Mount St Joseph’s Hospital, and opened on Dec 21.

Earlier this month we found out we were chosen to design and run a supported housing development in Coquitlam. It will be two programs – a 30 bed emergency shelter, and a transitional housing program with 30 studio suites for folks that are homeless. But it will be crucial to build healthy relationships with our partners, our neighbours and the larger community and we look forward to doing just that.

So thank you to all that made all of the above possible this past year. It takes more than a building, or a nonprofit, or even a city to end homelessness. It takes all of us.

What will you do to end homeless in 2012?

Street Melt! It’s a social enterprise idea that’s competing against entries all across Canada as part of the Aviva Community Fund grant competition.  It’s a chance to provide people an opportunity to become a part of the community and educate that community. It’s a chance to build self-esteem, create confidence, and provide entry level employment.

Right now many people living in our housing programs are looking for something like this because, deep down, people have a need to contribute. People need a home, and friend and something to do. This is the something to do part.

But to make it happen we need your help! The ideas with the most votes go on to the next round. After you register you can vote once a day, every day until Oct 19. The sooner you register, the more votes you have. You can register to vote here. Once there you can either use your email or facebook info to register.

Check our website often and after Oct 19 we’ll let you know if we made it to the next round. Keep your fingers crossed and maybe Street Melt will share in the $1,000,000 Aviva Community Fund. Which would be good, because everybody loves grill cheese sandwiches!

PS – check out Breakfast TV on City TV tomorrow morning when our Communications guy, Bill Briscall, will talk about this great idea.

First:

We had Jaime and Catherine get supplies from Home Depot and then assemble and brighten up our ‘house’.

Then:

We had Dueck provide a truck and swag for the parade.

Next:

The Parade, of course! We had staff, friends, family, friends of family, spouses, and – just like last year – the amazing Carnival Band!

And finally:

Our booth at Sunset Beach. Many people dropped by to show support, ask questions, or just wish us a ‘Happy Pride!’ Yes, there are no people in these pictures – that’s cuz when we were talking with folks we couldn’t take the pictures!

There are many more pics at our Flickr page, thanks to Jean Cueta, Vancouver-based photographer extraordinaire. And you should check out the Carnival Band’s Flickr page as well. And I almost forgot – there are videos! Below is just one clip, courtesy of ‘butchnews’. There are more video links at our Pride 2011 page. Happy Pride!!

First up – the amazingly beautiful wall garden at Princess Rooms! We banded together with the Environmental Youth Alliance again and after some clever water engineering and some elbow grease, Princess Avenue is now that much prettier. Most of the plants are edible, and will end up in the fabulous meals provided inside via the Princess Rooms meal program. Never mind a 100 mile diet – this is a 100 meter one! Oh, and we’re working hard with our partners at Hollyburn Properties to make sure this will be a sustainable project.

Second – The Scotia Bank Half Marathon. You’d think spending a few hours at a booth in Stanley Park would be boring. You’d be wrong. The first runners crossed the finish line before the commentators were even ready. After that it was one big endorphin high that permeated the booth village. People refuelling on bananas and cookies, asking with sincere interest “What does RainCity do?” or “What you guys do is great! Keep it up!” Check out the pics on our facebook page. We can’t wait to participate again next year, and Bill, our communications guy, says he’s doing the half. We’ll hold ‘em to it.

Last and definitely not least – the 215 West 2nd Ground Breaking! Where else can you experience a Coast Salish blessing, shovels, hard hats, speeches from Minister Rich Coleman, Mayor Gregor Robertson and other dignitaries, and live music? At a RainCity Housing Ground Breaking.

This particular ground breaking was extra special as we’re partnering with Katherine Sanford Housing Society. We like partnerships, as they go a long way in making communities stronger.

BC Housing will be providing the bricks and mortar monies and some staffing monies, the City of Vancouver provides the property, and Vancouver Coastal Health will be providing staffing monies as well. You can read the Vancouver Courier article, or the 24 article, or visit our facebook page to see photos (we hope you ‘like’ them) and the video generously shared by BC Housing.

Now that we’ve checked all those off the ‘to do’ list, what’s next?

So why the changes? Well, the easy part to explain is there were just more spaces inside than during the last count. For the last three years RainCity Housing has provided temporary shelters in three different neighbourhoods intentionally outside Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in order to address the homeless populations in those neighbourhoods and with much success. Hundreds of the individuals staying at these shelters went on to find permanent housing. Many people were coming inside for the first time in years.

The majority of the people staying at our shelter near Granville Street were under 30, and many of those were even younger. The count is getting more sophisticated in terms of connecting with youth, but we are also seeing more people under25 accessing our services and housing, and feeling more comfortable doing so, and therefore more visible for the count.

And the small decrease in over homeless numbers? The City and the Province have been actively creating purpose built housing throughout Vancouver, with about 1500 units completed and over another 1000 coming online over the next 2 to 3 years. Our Housing First ACT Team and the rest of the At Home/Chez Soi program provides subsidies for 200 people so they can afford to live anywhere in the city, not just the Downtown Eastside. The fact that the number hasn’t increased is an amazing sign, as the overall population has increased by 8% since the last count, and the counts done in 2005 and 2008 found large increases in the homeless population (thanks, Frances!).

But it’s important to remember that:

• Researchers say the actual numbers can be up to three times as high as the snapshot 24 hour count, due to people staying with relatives, couch surfing or just really hard to find.
• Women are still the invisible homeless, where the actual numbers aren’t accurate as there are still many barriers.
• The transgender community is over represented in homeless populations.

Can we collectively pat ourselves on the back? Yes. Nonprofits, the City and the Province, and organizations like Streetohome have made huge steps the right direction. But there’s still a lot more work to be done. Not only is more affordable and supported housing still needed, as a society we need to look at why homelessness is an issue and continue to find solutions until the day there really is a home for every person.

Tell what you think a solution to end homelessness could be.

And look (and listen) for upcoming podcasts here at ‘What’s New’, interviews of staff, other service providers and the amazing folks we get to work with.

Here’s how it works. Students work together in groups to find out the diverse social needs of their community and then select a social need that they are passionate about. They research local, grassroots, social providers whose aim is to help members of the community faced with that specific need, and then pick one charity they feel is having a positive impact on the community.

Once the research is complete, groups do a short presentation on their charity and how a grant would help it better serve its clients. A group from each class is chosen to conduct a final presentation in front of their entire school and a judging panel, most of whom are fellow students. Finally, the team with the most compelling presentation wins a $5,000 grant which is awarded directly to the chosen charity.

So each term we get a few groups of students calling and wanting to find out what we do at RainCity Housing. And every time it’s a new experience for me and I never grow tired of it, as each group has different ideas and ways of expressing them. Some want to interview our staff on video, some want to visit our different sites, but all of these amazing students are genuinely curious about how we can end homelessness and what can be actually done. When I was 15, I hadn’t even heard of the term homelessness, let alone want to do something about it.

Then the day came when I got a phone call from some very excited students. They had me on speaker phone and they were all talking at once, but it was easy it make out “We won! We won!” as all three took turns saying it. They also kept thanking me and RainCity Housing. “But you guys did all the work,” I said. “It was your presentation that won!”

Still, they thanked me once more, and invited me to their school to watch their presentation to the rest of the school staff.

Alina, Allie and Mathew from Cariboo Secondary School, Burnaby, BC with their $5000 cheque!

Sadly, not every group of students will be able to win $5000 for their chosen charity. But we’re all the wealthier for it because of the change that can take place. Because real change takes place when people of any age start to find out what role they can play in dispelling myths, learning about homelessness (in this instance), and sharing that information with family and friends.

How will you create change?

The Vivian staff shared this article with the women living at the Vivian, because it was important to find out what they thought and if they wanted to share their side of the story. The women living at the ‘Viv’ arranged a meeting to express their concerns about the article, and two of the women decided to write letters to the editor, one of which was edited and published. You can read the scanned letter in its entirety here.

Here is the unpublished letter that was dictated to a Vivian staff member:

Dear Courier:

My name is Shannon, I’m 25, I moved into the Vivian just before Christmas and that would have been my first Christmas that I got gifts and got experience a Christmas for the first time in my whole life.

I got onto the methadone program here and I see my son every Saturday, something I wasn’t able to do this before. I enjoy getting to be a mum for my son. The staff give me the extra encouragement to stay healthy and get stable, get on methadone so I can be stable enough to see my son once a week.

This place done a lot of good for me. I’ve learned to be a better person and be more stable. I actually have a home. I’m learning how to do things that I couldn’t do before. For one, I’m learning job-training skills. I’m learning how to be more independent and interact with people. I’m learning a lot about respecting others and that we all live here and work together. This is our home. It’s a safe place for all of us. If we didn’t have this here we wouldn’t have nothing. It’s a very positive place.

I feel like I have more self-esteem. I know what it’s like to be cared about and wanted. To feel safe and that I have my own home, because this is my home. The staff come here everyday to help out one-on-one. People are not living here in a hotel, it’s a home.

I think it’s great to have the support of the staff. I really like the art that we do and all the activities. We have fun and just get to relax.

It’s a really good place. I’ve told other friends I know who are unsafe to live here. It’s a place that I would recommend to people. It gives you a chance to know what success feels like. You don’t feel put down or shut out.

Shannon G

Not only do women living in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside need to have safe, supported housing, they need to have their voices heard. Thank you Laura Anne and Shannon for sharing your stories. And thank you for taking the time to listen.

On Wednesday I went to the 2nd ever East Van ‘Tweetup’ and was amazed by a number of things:
• the variety of people there
• how friendly everyone was towards each other
• how intense and passionate the conversations became

It could have been any neighbourhood, any theme, but what was really amazing was how strong the sense community felt in the room – strange, because many had never met before. And that’s the point. Social media often gets a bad rap as it’s still viewed as a one way conversation, ‘Follow me! Like me! But I may not like you back…’, and it’s not face to face. But there we were, face to face, talking passionately about the arts, homelessness, community – all there because of social media.

The 2nd Annual Vancouver Twestival took place last night and the who’s who of Vancouver’s twitterverse came out to play for a good cause. And while RainCity Housing wasn’t able to be there, it was easy to get a sense of the fun and camaraderie that took place by using social media. And over $8000 was raised for a local nonprofit, Beauty Night. Why blog about a different nonprofit? Because social media is about sharing; sharing ideas, sharing information, and sharing support for each other.

Do you think social media can strengthen traditional communities? Or bring like minded people together in person to support ideas and raise awareness of important issues?

Our HOP Team is a provincially funded program that started in 2006. The team literally reaches out, finding people sleeping in the rough, living outside for a variety of reasons, from not feeling safe at a shelter, to having pets. When it was below freezing last month I asked Jesse, a member of the team, if they saw more or less people sleeping outside. The answer surprised me.

“The weather has less to do with it now,” Jesse said. “People are more connected to services than before and have access to low barrier shelters, so we don’t see nearly as many people in the rough now. Most of our referrals lately have been folks that can’t afford their rent any more.”

While the face of homelessness may be changing, we think our low barrier shelters and HOP team are making a difference. What do you think?