Housing activists used paint brushes Saturday to illustrate their disappointment in a lack of welfare-rate housing in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Protesters assembled for a "paint-in" on a lot at 58 W. Hastings St., which they hope to see developed into more affordable housing.
The city-owned land sits between the Portland Hotel and Grand Union Pub, and is currently the site of a community garden operated by the Portland Hotel Society.
Protesters painted slogans such as "End homelessness now," "social housing here now" and "House the homeless first" in brightly-coloured paint on a cement wall facing the garden. Several activists took turns speaking about their disappointment in how the city is handling the housing crisis.
They spoke of a "community vision" for the site: 100-per-cent welfare- and pension-rate housing (the shelter-assistance rate is $375 monthly) to house one-third Chinese seniors, one-third Indigenous people and one-third Downtown Eastside residents who are currently homeless or live in single-room occupancy hotels.
At least half the tenants would be women and some units would be designated for people with disabilities, according to their community vision. The units would be at least 500 square feet and the building would be anchored by a community meeting space, cultural supports and peer services.
Maria Wallstam, an organizer with the Carnegie Community Action Project, said she's heard of plans for social-mix housing on the site, likely a public-private partnership, where only 15 per cent of the units would be designated for welfare and fixed-income tenants.
"We really need every single unit in this new development at 100-per-cent social housing and welfare rate," Wallstam said.
There is no development application for 58 West Hastings posted to the city's website and city representatives were unavailable for comment Saturday.
But the Vancouver Courier reported in April 2015 that the city report had written in a report: "The garden is an ideal use of the site until the site is redeveloped for housing purposes anticipated in 2016."
The report didn’t specify what type of housing was planned for the site, according to the Courier.
The Downtown Eastside Street Market Society filed a development application in August 2014 to use the eastern portion of the site but later withdrew. Before the community garden occupied roughly two-thirds of the lot, it was the site of the Olympic tent village in 2010.
Jean Swanson, a longtime anti-poverty activist, said she believed that with financial support from the federal and provincial governments, the community vision for 58 West Hastings could be realized.
"It's the perfect place for it," Swanson said.
Swanson said Mukhtar Latif, Vancouver's chief housing officer, told her there would be a community consultation regarding the site in April or this month, but she hasn't yet heard of his plans.
Latif is also CEO of the Vancouver Affordable Housing Agency, which was created to implement recommendations from the Mayor's Task Force on Housing Affordability.
Swanson said with 836 homeless living in the Downtown Eastside (1,746 homeless were counted city-wide in 2015) and a shortage of welfare-rate housing opening in 2016, it's vital the city looks at 58 West Hastings and nine other sites for affordable housing.
"Homeless people have half the life expectancy of other people, so it's very important that they be prioritized for housing," Swanson said.
"But the city isn't doing that. It's building thousands of units for middle-class people who, while they can't afford maybe good housing, they do have some housing."
