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Garbage dumping targeted in a new way Jennifer Feinberg The Progress
Crews install posts for a fence underneath the Yale Road overpass on Monday afternoon. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Fence part of action plan on homeless: City Jennifer Feinberg The Progress Public safety issues arising from a homeless camp under the Yale Road overpass in Chilliwack led to a fence going up this week. But that is only part of the story. It’s also about solutions being sought collectively at the community level to help those in need. Chilliwack Healthier Community, CHC, a coalition of 32 agencies and organizations, is moving forward on an action plan to address some of the safety concerns, arising from the discovery of garbage, used needles and human feces. The cement enclosure under the overpass was being used as a place for some homeless to con-
gregate and take shelter. Most were not willing to ditch their carts and belongings to enter a homeless shelter for the night. So the CHC has mapped out a few ideas, including the one where they fence off the cemented area, and increase education and awareness of local services, to help address some of the irritants. Enter local Sally Ann reps in partnership with the City of Chilliwack, tackling part of the problem directly. “One of the barriers was that there was no place to park their shopping carts and store their items safely at our shelter,” said Tim Bohr, director of community ministries for Salvation Army. “Their whole world is in that cart. We have the capacity to store
cism about the fence going up: “The City of Chilliwack cares deeply about the homeless and at risk individuals in our community and is taking a team approach to actively address homelessness in our community,” wrote the mayor. That’s why they got together with agencies like the Salvation Army, Ruth and Naomi’s, Cyrus Centre, and the Contact Centre, who stay in contact with the street community, and have been offering feedback as to what’s needed. “We’re listening,” Gaetz said. But city officials could not turn a blind eye to the growing rumble of public safety concerns from the area where the homeless were congregating.
a backpack or a couple of suitcases, but we didn’t have the capacity for shopping carts.” Now they do. “They (city officials) said to us, ‘What would you need?’ and I said we could use a container specifically for that function, and that was it,” said Bohr. Open communication was credited for the swift action being taken. “We are very pleased with the pro-active, compassionate and collaborative approach taken by the CHC to address this need within our community,” said Bohr. It’s “another creative solution” meant to help those in need, agreed Mayor Sharon Gaetz. She took to social media Wednesday to respond to criti-
Continued: HOMELESS/ p5
A strategy to take on garbage dumping in Chilliwack is in the early stages, focused on improved reporting. Next time an illegal dumping incident is witnessed in Chilliwack, it’s hoped that more people will know what to do and spring into action. The answer is to call the provincial RAPP hotline, of course — not the RCMP as some people do — to report the crime. A strategy to fight the rampant dumping in Chilliwack, and across the Fraser Valley, is in the works thanks to a partnership of groups and agencies who met recently to brainstorm some action-oriented solutions. Stakeholders put their heads together, including Chilliwack groups who organize riverside cleanups and advocate for sport fishing, as well as City of Chilliwack, BC Conservation Officer Service, FVRD and more. The meeting Nov. 17 facilitated by Fraser Riverkeeper, pinpointed that the “under-reporting of illegal dumping” was key, and is probably due to a lack of knowledge on how to properly report incidents. All reports should be made to the Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) Hotline by calling 1-888-952-7277. But often the reports reach a conservation officer too late to conduct an effective investigation and bring polluters to justice. In order to address this issue, the attendees agreed to ramp up education and public awareness of illegal dumping and the proper way to report. “We’ve gone ahead and put up Continued: DUMPING/ p12
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