VANCOUVER — Agencies supporting B.C.’s homeless and at risk say there is an urgent need for the public to help them take care of the growing number of seniors and families using their services as the seasons change and homelessness persists.
During the last Metro Vancouver homeless count, in 2017, volunteers identified 3,605 people experiencing homelessness in the region, up 30 per cent during the previous count in 2014.
They found that 21 per cent were older than 54, compared with 18 per cent in 2014. There were also 119 accompanied children, up from 88 in the previous count.
Celine Mauboules, executive director of the Homelessness Services Association of B.C., said shelters serving women and families are already regularly at capacity.
She said she is hearing more stories of seniors turning up at shelters after finding themselves homeless for the first time in their lives.
“Maybe it’s a senior that’s on a fixed income and has lived in an affordable rental apartment, and the rents go up and all of a sudden they can’t afford it,” she said. “Or they go into hospital for health issues … and by the time they come out, they haven’t paid their rent and have been evicted.”
The provincial government announced a plan this month to spend about $492 million to fund 4,900 new affordable mixed-income rental homes, and Mauboules said she finds hope in that.
“There’s definitely been a significant reinvestment in housing, which is fantastic,” Mauboules said.
Ethel Whitty, director of homelessness services for the City of Vancouver, said financial strain on seniors is a major concern.
“We’re seeing an increase in seniors who are trying to maintain their tenancy or find housing and it’s really difficult, of course, because on a small pension there’s no way to afford that small unit that costs $1,200, $1,300 a month for a bachelor,” Whitty said.
B.C. Housing is supporting some of them with rent supplements but Whitty said they need more help from the public.
