Municipal: Albion community centre is taking shape. 3
As we age: Dancing for heart, mind. 11
Arts: Sightlines Theatre does Our Town. 17
Wednesday, Februar y 24, 2016 · mapleridgenews.com · est. 1978 · (office) 604-467-1122 · (d e li ve r y) 6 0 4 - 4 6 6 - 6 3 9 7
Setting priorities for rec projects Council will look at revised list in March By Ph i l M e lnych uk pmelnychuk@mapleridgenews.com
For Peat’s sake Bella Olson-Brooks (left) gets a slap on the back from Jacquelyn Phan during a tap number called Giggity at the Peggy Peat Preview Show at the ACT on Sunday. Colleen Flanagan/THE NEWS
Maple Ridge is plowing ahead with its plan to provide people with more places to play, despite questions about who’s going to pay. Early next month, council will prioritize the recreation projects it wants to build, from new sports fields to a museum or aquatic centre. Once the to-do list is complete, a schedule will be set and plans will be made to get the public’s OK to borrow the money to pay for it all. Two councillors, though, were cautious about costs and voted against telling staff to continue the work. See Recreation, 10
Talks for interim homeless shelter RainCity facility to close March 31 B y Phi l M elnyc h u k pmelnychuk@mapleridge
Maple Ridge is in discussions to open another temporary homeless shelter after the current one closes, at the end March, and the latter has been turning people away. RainCity Housing is still trying to find places for the
40 people at Maple Ridge’s temporary homeless shelter, but Sean Speer isn’t optimistic. “The shelter will be closing,” Speer told Maple Ridge council Monday. Unlike in Vancouver, RainCity hasn’t been able to find housing in Maple Ridge for all the shelter residents, so by closing day, March 31, several will have no place to go. “Realistically, the servic-
es are not there. With this model, I’m not optimistic at all that we’ll end up with [the result] at our other shelters,” Speer added. And if the shelter clients ended up back on the street, they’d be more prone to overdoses in remote locations, further from help. Forty overdoses have occurred in the shelter since it opened, Speer said. Maple Ridge Mayor Nicole Read expects B.C. Housing
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for them. This has been pretty intense for them, too. That would be an epic failure. “These people are sick and need clinical support.” She’s confident the province will keep helping the homeless in Maple Ridge. The senior government paid for the six months of operating costs at the RainCity shelter. “This is something that the province needs to take responsibility for because
these people have been on our streets for long periods of time,” Read said. If an interim shelter is set up, discussions could start on opening a permanent, supportive or low-barrier housing, for people with mental health or substance abuse issues. Maple Ridge needs a lowbarrier shelter to get people on their way into permanent homes, Read said. See Shelter, 8
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and Fraser Health will pick up where RainCity leaves off. Both agencies are already discussing an interim supportive shelter with the City of Maple Ridge, Read said after the meeting. No location has been identified for a supportive shelter. “There’s no way that they will allow these people back on to the streets,” Read said of the province. “That would not be a good political move
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