Tag Archives: Quadra Island homelessness

Housing

Free workshops support a collaborative response to homelessness in the Comox Valley

Editor’s note – Editor’s note – 197 ‘unsheltered’ Campbell River residents were reported in the 2023 Point-in Time count. Data from the 2021 census suggests another 3,450 are paying more for rent or mortgages than they can afford.

There is less data from rural areas, but annecdotal evidence suggests the number of people living in unstable conditions on Cortes and Quadra Island’s is higher than the 77 and 41 reported through the 2022 ‘Collecting Stories of Where You Live’ survey. They couch surfed, lived in vehicles,  sheds etc, or outside. (11 Cortes residents and 12 people in Area C reported they were ‘unsheltered.’) Emma Wallace, who oversaw the project, suggested the actual number of Cortes residents living in ‘unsheltered’ or ‘at risk’ conditions might be 10% higher than what was reported. This gap between is believed to be even greater on Quadra Island, where there were fewer respondents to the survey. As someone recently pointed out, you need access to a computer to fill in an online survey. .

By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse,  Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Comox Valley residents have the opportunity to participate in a range of free education workshops this spring, thanks to the Strengthening Communities’ Services Program administered by the Union of BC Municipalities. 

The workshops run from April 10 through June 25 and are open to the public. They cover topics including mental health first aid, trauma-informed frontline response education and gender diversity education in the workplace. 

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Housing

Unhoused People Struggle with ‘Street Feet’ in Rainy Vancouver

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in the Tyee, which gives a warning about the photos you see above (and puts them in the text below). When people cannot dry their feet out for a prolonged period of time, they get what some of our WWI grandfathers and great grandfathers called ‘trench foot.’

This report is from Vancouver, but probably also applicable in our area. The 2023 ‘Point in Time counts‘ found 197 ‘house challenged’ people in Campbell River, 272 in the the Comox Valley, and 126 in Powell River. There is less data about rural areas, but 11 of the respondents to the 2022 ‘Collecting Stories Of Where You Live’ survey on Cortes Island reported they had been ‘unsheltered’ at some point during the year. There were fewer respondents in Area C (which includes Quadra, Read and other Discovery Islands), where the number was 12.

Even more alarming, the number of ‘homeless’ people appears to be growing. 32% of the respondents to the Campbell River ‘Point in Time’ count said they had been ‘unsheltered’ for less than a year. There were actually 81 more people on the streets than in the 2021 count. Similar increases were reported in the Comox Valley, Parksville/Qualicum, Port Alberni and Sechelt/Gibsons. (This was the first ‘Point in Time’ count in Powell River, so there are no previous numbers for a comparison.) When people were asked why they were unsheltered, the #1 response in every one of these ‘Point in Time’ counts was they could not afford to pay for housing.

There are far larger numbers of people spending more of their than income than they can reasonably afford (i.e. +30%) for rent or mortgages. According to the 2021 census, 47% of the renters on Cortes Island and 38% of the renters in Campbell River and Electoral Area C are vulnerable. Roughly 15% of the home owners in these three communities are also considered to be ‘at risk.’

By Michelle Gamage, The Tyee, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

In the winter and spring, unhoused people in Vancouver struggle with something known anecdotally as “street feet.”

It happens when the rain soaks your socks and shoes and you’re unable to clean and dry your feet regularly, sometimes leaving them damp for months on end.

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Housing, Opinion

The #1 cause of homelessness

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“Scapegoating: the act of blaming a person or group for something bad that has happened or that someone else has done. Example: the scapegoating of immigrants for the country’s economic problems.” – Cambridge Dictionary

While it is easy to blame the unhoused population for their predicament, all of the recent ‘Point In Time’ (PIT) suggest they are indications of a much larger problem. 

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Food

First 2 months of ICAN’s food recovery program: almost 1,300 people benefit

In the two months that ICAN’s food recovery program has been in operation, close to 1,300 people have received benefits.  

“Since the beginning of March we’ve distributed 10,408.4 kilos of food, and that has been  distributed to 338 individuals, who were feeding 671 people.  In addition to that, we have been supplying various agencies like Quadra Circle, the Read Island Aging In Place program, the Read Island Community Kitchen. These agencies have been feeding an additional 600 people. In  total, we estimate that this food has provided meals for 1,271 people,” said Ramona Boyle, Coordinator of Quadra ICAN.

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Food

The Garden Share and Food Recovery Programs on Quadra Island

Quadra ICAN started up two food security initiatives last week. 

The Garden Share program is designed to increase the amount of food grown on Quadra Island. 

Marc Doll, a local farmer and one of the candidates during the last election, said Vancouver Island grew about half of its food prior to the Second World War. He believes this statistic is currently closer to 4% or 5%.

ICAN Coordinator Ramona Boyle explained that this is the Garden Share program’s second year.  

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