The Chilliwack
Progress Friday
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Life
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News
News
Helping Hands
Measles
Cancelled
Helping Haiti is about more than money.
Fraser Health plans vaccination clinics.
Controversial appointment cancelled by premier.
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Two-decade reign is over as Smyl leaves Chiefs Smyl reaction, page 32 Eric Welsh, The Progress After 21 years behind the bench of the Chilliwack Chiefs, Harvey Smyl is leaving the team. The BCHL squad announced Wednesday night that the long-time coach and general manager will not be renewing his contract when it expires at the end of May. “We met last week and I gave him a written contract proposal,” I got the very team president clear feeling Glen Ringdal Thursday that he’s just said morning. “I at that stage can’t talk about was in it, of life when what but the offer, change is in in my opinion, was very fair. It order wasn’t a situation where I low~ Glen balled him and Ringdal he got pissed off. I don’t feel that’s it at all.” t Smyl went to t Alberta for the weekend, returning to Chilliwack Tuesday morning. Smyl came into the Chiefs office and delivered the somewhat surprising news. “He said that it wasn’t a matter of countering the proposal or anything like that. It was just time,” Ringdal said. “I got the very clear feeling that he’s just at that stage of life when change is in order. To do a job for 21 years, the longest I ever did a job was for nine years and I was done.” Smyl is 52 years old and the youngest of his three children is graduating high school this spring. On a personal level, it kind of makes sense.
Homeless count sheds light on Chilliwack needs
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Kim Lloyd (left) of Pacific Community Resources Society shows volunteers Leah Froese of Abbotsford’s Cyrus Centre (right) and Penny Robinson how to fill out forms for Chilliwack’s Homeless Count 2014. The two were among the 15 to 20 volunteers helping out on Wednesday. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Jennifer Feinberg The Progress The chips, granola bars and fresh fruit were given out freely. Volunteers were busy conducting the 24-hour Homeless Count on Tuesday and Wednesday across Chilliwack. The snacks and water were like a friendly way to broach the topic of the survey. They were definitely more of an introduction than a bribe, explained Steve Esau, manager/counsellor at Chilliwack Addictions. “If they felt like filling out a survey — great!” he said. Esau was one of about 20 trained volunteers in the Homeless Count 2014 who
fanned out across Chilliwack on March 11-12, talking confidentially and with respect to street people, about their housing situations and much more. The region-wide count is held every three years, and has been ongoing in communities across Metro Vancouver, Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley. It provides a snapshot of the community homelessness situation, rather than an exhaustive study. “The survey helps us understand what is needed in our community in terms of services,” Esau said. They get feedback on which resources and services are being accessed in Chilliwack,
and which ones are most useful, and which may not be viewed as helpful by those they’re designed to serve. “We can speculate all we want, but the true voices we need to hear are from those actually going through it. This an opportunity for us to hear those voices,” said Esau. The results are compiled by FVRD officials while MCC officials in Abbotsford coordinate the planning. The 2014 count was completed with the help of about 100 volunteers across the Fraser Valley region, with about 20 per community, or fewer in smaller towns. Many of the people who volunteer for the count are indi-
viduals who already work for social service agencies and local non-profits who serve the target population of the survey, which include homeless or streetentrenched populations. “It’s a good mix of people who step forward to help,” said Ron van Wyk, associate executive director of MCC BC in Abbotsford. They used the same approach that they’ve always used. “We call it a survey,” said van Wyk. “Because it’s more than a count.” They do compile numbers on how many individuals self-identify as homeless, but they also seek to understand the reasons
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