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INSIDE: Coquitlam man has some dam concerns [pg. 3] / TC Sports [pg. 38]
RETRO REACTION$
PIAO IS ON THE BALL
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 4, 2018 Your community. Your stories.
TRI-CITY
NEWS n A full page of comments readers posted on our Facebook page & website: page 13 n Letters to the editor: page 14
HOMELESSNESS
Community concerns re. needles lead to new hire at shelter Public meeting of homelessness task force Friday DIANE STRANDBERG The Tri-CiTy News
MARIO BARTEL/THE TRI-CITY NEWS
Jayden Piao’s journey to tournament-winning golfer started two years ago when his dad brought him along to hit a bucket of balls at the Eaglequest Golf driving range in Coquitlam. For more on Piao, please read story in Sports, page 38.
Expanding used needle sweeps to areas beyond the Coquitlam homeless shelter will be the goal of a new harmreduction co-ordinator who was hired with funds from Fraser Health. Tuesday, RainCity Housing co-executive director Catharine Hume confirmed that the co-ordinator has been hired to, among other duties, oversee sweeps beyond those currently conducted near the shelter, located at 3030 Gordon Ave., and Fox Park, where a child was pricked with a needle last fall. Some of the patrols will scour popular Coquitlam River trails and other routes are being established for sweeps to make sure used needles aren’t left outdoors. The additional service comes as a Coquitlam task force meets Friday to hear from businesses about their concerns about the two-year-old homeless shelter and transition housing development on city land on Gordon Avenue (see sidebar, page 6). Hume, who said she plans to have staff attend the task force
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Coquitlam Centre, Access youth team up for first Metro Vancouver regional youth homeless count: page 7
meetings, said she welcomes the opportunity to hear from residents and business about their concerns as well as from other groups. But while needles are a major concern of task force members, she maintains 3030 Gordon isn’t entirely to blame for the problem. RainCity’s communication manager, Bill Briscoll, said the Purpose Society, under contract with Fraser Health, distributes and collects used needles outside the shelter. As well, shelter staff and residents have increased their efforts to raise awareness about the importance of safe storage while collection boxes for used needles are located throughout the shelter, Hume told The TriCity News. see ‘WE TAKE IT’, page 6
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