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Homeless camp gets city’s attention Tents pitched on city hall lawn to protest cuts to homeless programs J.R. RARDON CAMPBELL RIVER MIRROR
A group of Campbell River’s homeless took both city officials and homeless advocates by surprise when they erected an impromptu protest camp on the lawn of city hall Thursday evening. “I had no idea. This is an initiative they’ve taken on themselves,” said Paul Mason, program manager at the Campbell River Housing Resource Centre. “But I’m not shocked. There’s nowhere for them to go. Wherever they go, they get moved on.” The camp broke up Sunday, after the homeless delegation secured delegate status at the upcoming June 22 meeting of city council. The protesters are calling for the city to get more involved in solutions to what they see as an escalating crisis for the homeless since the closure of the extreme-weather shelter in March. In addition to the loss of the secure overnight sleeping shelter, provincial funds that provided a free breakfast program were tied to the shelter and are no longer available. “The loss of that funding did provide some financial challenges for a variety of organizations,” Mayor Andy Adams said Friday afternoon. “Today was the first time we knew about that. I’m not sure we’re in a position, financially, to do anything about it, but council does consistently lobby on behalf of support
J.R. RaRdon/Campbell RiveR miRRoR
Homeless protestors and supporters set up camp on the lawn at Campbell River City Hall Thursday evening.
organizations for federal and provincial funding.” Patricia John, who organized the protest camp, said a year-round, low-barrier shelter is crucial to the safety and well-being of Campbell
River’s street people. Such a shelter was identified as a need by the recently disbanded Homelessness Coalition, which will be replaced by a community based committee funded in part through
Island Health. “A lot of funding and resources have been cut short,” said John. “The main one is the breakfast, but also we need an emergency shelter. Anywhere we sleep we get kicked out or
run off. It’s getting harder for us all the time.” John said the tipping point that led her to take action was the death in late April of Florence Jean Drake.
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