As the number of homeless people in DTES grows, so do concerns about adequate sanitation, access to water, and the health and safety of people who are largely left to fend for themselves on the streets of the city.
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On a recent morning, tents were spread out along the sidewalks of Hastings Street for two blocks, from Main to Carrall streets.
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Makeshift structures built with tarps, umbrellas, and other materials provided some privacy and some protection from the weather. A handful of sites had propane stoves or heaters, the kind you see on restaurant patios, and at one site a plate of food sat on a table surrounded by chairs.
Personal belongings were stacked on shelves or packed into shopping carts as people milled about, sometimes making their way through narrow paths between tents and other structures. The only public restroom available nearby is at the Carnegie Community Center on Main, which closes at 11 p.m.
As the number of homeless people grows in the Downtown Eastside, so do concerns about adequate sanitation, access to water, and the health and safety of people who are largely self-sufficient in the streets of the city.
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“Bathrooms that are only available while the community center is open are not acceptable,” Fiona York, project coordinator at the Carnegie Action Center, said in an email.
Postmedia News counted about 70 temporary homes along the two-block stretch of Hastings on Wednesday, including marquises, makeshift structures made of tarps and at least 55 tents.
“For a similar number of people (about 70) at CRAB Park, three portable toilets and two permanent toilets are being built,” York said.
Dave Hamm, vice president of the Vancouver Area Drug Users Network, thinks trailer bathrooms, like the one in Oppenheimer Park, should be located on the corner of Columbia and Hastings streets.
“As long as the infrastructure for water and plumbing exists,” he said, “it should be a no-brainer. That should go there right now.”
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“There are many examples of effective sanitation facilities,” York said, highlighting a pilot project with nightly showers and toilets behind the Astoria Hotel. “Even Strathcona Park had a warm-up center and shower and toilet facilities.”
A second public restroom, in nearby Pigeon Park, is currently out of service. City officials couldn’t say when it was last accessible, but a 2011 Postmedia article quotes Hamm as saying the unit was barely functional even then.
“Wow,” Hamm said, “11 years ago, we were still asking for toilets.”
Mary Clare Zak, CEO of Social Policy and Projects for the city of Vancouver, said at least one bathroom trailer would be deployed soon, and that it would provide “direct access in a space that is needed now.”
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“We managed to secure the trailer and the funds that will be required to go along with it,” Zak said. “We have at least one location and we may have an option for another.”
The lack of proper sanitation in the neighborhood is just one of the issues the city and local residents are struggling with, as homelessness and the number of people living in this stretch of Hastings continues to grow.
“We are currently at an all-time high for homeless numbers,” York said.
She said the recent fire at the Winters Hotel and the closure of the London Hotel, as well as rising rents, are contributing factors.
a recent city council decision It has likely helped end the controversial practice of daily “street sweeps,” during which city workers, accompanied by Vancouver police, were charged with dismantling and disposing of unattended tents and other personal belongings. found on the street.
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“People aren’t moving their tents anymore and they may be there for the longer term,” said Matthew Smedley, executive director of Mission Possible, a local nonprofit group.
There are two water fountains on the two-block stretch, one at Pigeon Park and one at the Carnegie Community Center. Without enough dumpsters, trash ends up on the sidewalk and in the street.
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The city deployed additional dumpsters throughout Hastings earlier this week and will provide “trash bags, gloves and other cleaning tools to community managers and organizations,” said Taryn Scollard, deputy general manager of engineering, in a statement.
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City sanitation workers stop by daily to sweep trash from the sidewalk and streets, but the growing number of tents sometimes makes access difficult.
Zak said the city is working with community groups and nonprofits to support “micro-cleaning” initiatives that will hold community members and organizations accountable for keeping particular stretches of the street free of trash or structures, like tents, blocking the sidewalk. . Money previously allocated for VPD officers to accompany city staff will be used to fund the new initiatives, at a significantly lower cost.
Smedley said the VPD’s sudden announcement that officers would stop accompanying city workers during street sweeps meant “everyone was caught off guard.”
“There wasn’t enough time to do the planning to have a smooth transition to a better approach, a more respectful and humane approach,” he said. “So everyone is struggling right now.”
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