Open the churches to the homeless
From an admittedly non-scientific review 鈥� the Yellow Pages 鈥� there appears to be no shortage of religious organizations in the lower Island.
Furthermore, by my count, more than 80 of these organizations include the word 鈥渃hurch鈥� in their title. Presumably, this indicates they operate some premises that are used as a place of worship.
As an act of charity, would it not be possible for some, if not all, of these facilities to provide temporary shelter for two or three of the homeless currently forced to sleep in tents?
A few curtain dividers and sleeping bags is all it would take.
Donald Sutherland
Victoria
Leadership needed to end homelessness
Alarmingly increasing numbers of people are now sleeping on our streets and in our our parks.
Instead of our provincial government and municipalities fretting, meeting, scurrying and spending 鈥渉elter skelter on shelter,鈥� would it not be wise to investigate and determine how and why these unfortunate souls are homeless in the first place?
Randomly purchasing broken-down, vacated hotels and motels might work as an overnight fix, but in the long term such is tantamount to filling potholes on an unused highway that leads to nowhere.
C鈥檓on Premier, c鈥檓on mayors, get your heads together. Seriously, why are there now so many without shelter?
Show us some collective leadership and plan of action as to determining the cause and providing justified and valid long-term correction.
Graeme Roberts
Brentwood Bay
Front-line workers should be at front of line
I was not pleased to hear that the vaccination priorities for COVID-19 have been switched to age priority rather than front-line workers, with the exception of those working in emergency or intensive care and paramedics.
I do not understand why those working in the dental profession, such as dentists and hygienists, should not be considered among those front-line workers, because of the nature of their work.
Not only are they themselves subjected to the virus, but also their patients, who comprise a wide age range.
In the United States, dentists, dental teams and dental students are in the first phase of vaccinations.
As a senior in my 70s, with underlying health conditions, I am still willing to stand in line, to wait for these important, valued front-line workers to get their shots.
Eleanor Mintz
Victoria
Metchosin residents are feeling betrayed
Re: 鈥淏oys and Girls Club says it needs to sell Metchosin land to fund programs,鈥� Jan. 21.
In 2007, the Boys and Girls Club told Metchosin residents something very different. In their April property re-zoning application to district council, they said:
鈥淭he 鈥榖ack鈥� 40 acres of our property has remained in a pristine natural state composed of Garry oak, Arbutus and Douglas fir. There are also small stream and wetland ecosystems contained in this area 鈥� We are exploring the possibility of pursuing a conservation covenant for this endangered Garry oak/Arbutus ridge which would ensure this unique habitat for wildlife observation and nature studies would be maintained in perpetuity. To that end we are incorporating this possibility into our current capital campaign as an attractive element to potential donors.鈥�
Donors who have supported successive club funding campaigns and stakeholders who鈥檝e supported annual property-tax exemptions since the 2004 property acquisition took these and other representations from Boys and Girls Club executive as expressions of genuine intent.
Mayor John Ranns is correct when he says that we feel betrayed.
Carol Voyt
Metchosin
Use all that money to provide real relief
Re: 鈥淗igh-risk arrest at housing facility,鈥� Jan. 23.
One figure stood out: There were 4,384 priority one or two calls to temporary housing facilities and homeless camps in a six-month time span. I worked that out to be an average of one call an hour, 24/7 for six months. If we are not appalled by these figures we should be.
This is not a trickle-down effect: It is a tsunami leaving people living in the affected areas facing drug deals, discarded waste and needles and, yes, bodily waste. These people are left in fear, having to add extra security and in some cases moving from the area.
Our businesses are hanging on by a thread, and face further threats due to break-ins.
Our first responders have been thrown into a world unlike anything they have seen before. Each call requires equipping themselves with PPE so that they and the people they serve remain safe.
But we have added another dimension to that by not having adequate treatment for the addicted, insufficient mental-health beds and treatment, and a cost of living that has driven more people onto the streets.
My heart goes out to the first responders. I care deeply of what happens to them. Has this double burden resulted in stress-related illness, leave of absence, PTSD and even change of career? Do we know the real cost to the health of our first responders?
I do not know what drives some people to the despair of addiction, but it seems that we are enabling them to continue the downward spiral. Where is the help for these people?
We closed mental hospitals with the misguided idea that we will monitor them out in the community 鈥� have we not seen the error in that?
The city and province spent $3,085,000 remediating and in legal fees on just two sites 鈥� the courthouse and the boulevard on Pandora. (With more remediation to come as more homeless camps are dismantled.)
There has been $33.5 million spent on two locations (Comfort Inn and Paul鈥檚 Inn) to house the homeless. These two locations alone totalled $10 million over assessed value.
Why is this money so readily available, but the dollars are not there to stop this horrible cycle of addiction, mental illness and homelessness? In spite of reassurances that supports are in place, drug overdoses and deaths are up and break-ins are unprecedented.
Please let us support people on both sides of the equation, our first responders, homeowners, businesses and those who so desperately need help to overcome their addictions or mental illness.
Merle Somers
Victoria
Stop spending money on the wrong solutions
Re: 鈥淗igh-risk arrest at housing facility,鈥� Jan. 23.
The article reported that 鈥減olice statistics show that 60 per cent of high-priority calls between June and November were focused on the city鈥檚 multi-unit residential temporary housing facilities and encampments.鈥�
It was further reported: 鈥淧olice responded to 4,384 priority one or priority two calls at 13 locations between June 鈥� shortly after the sa国际传媒 government purchased or leased several hotels.鈥�
Wow! And the powers that be plan to buy or lease another hotel! And another and another?
How about real solutions like drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres, mental-health facilities and yes, for some, incarceration. It might cost more, but I believe the public would be prepared to pay for real solutions rather than paying several hundred thousand dollars per hotel room for 鈥渢emporary鈥� housing with all the crime that goes with it.
I鈥檓 sure that a few people will say that some of the homeless are simply unemployed and/or choose not to work, but I think the statistics suggest otherwise, that too many fall into the first three categories. Housing them together is not a recipe for success.
Wayne Cox
Saanichton
Wear medical masks at the Cook Street tent
The temporary warming site in Cook Street Village, while controversial, might be necessary to the homeless.
The persons working at the site as shown on TV coverage, appear to be wearing kerchiefs that will hide their identity, but are useless against preventing the spread of COVID-19.
Persons running or using this and other sanctioned sites should be mandated to wear only approved medical masks.
Stephen Nielsen
Victoria
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