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CITYWIDE HOUSING COALITION
13 Street-corner "STANDS" for Housing
Continue this Saturday, then pause for Easter Break
Housing advocates will occupy thirteen Vancouver streetcorners, Saturday March 15 for one hour, 1-2pm, brandishing blue banners and wearing vivid blue scarves. They'll be calling on City Council to protect all Vancouver renters from condo-conversion of their homes, and for renewal of federal and provincial programs that formerly built permanent social housing for low- and moderate-income singles and families.
BC and Canada gradually cancelled their housing programs in the period between 1993 and 2001. The programs used public money to build tens of thousands of rental and co-op homes every year. Loss of those programs and the resulting cascade of displacements are the main cause of homelessness exploding across the country.
STANDers will be paying respects to hundreds of dead and dying homeless women, men, and children- victims of legislated poverty and government neglect in BC and Canada. In Vancouver they populate our streets and lanes, huddle in parks and encampments, burn to death in doorways, are crushed in laneway garbage bins. [Note: At 2pm, STANDers are invited to join the World Against War rally (5th anniversary of the Iraq war) at the Art Gallery.]
At least thirteen "STANDs for Housing" have been confirmed for this, the fourth of four weekly STANDs:
Georgia & Burrard (Sheila Paterson and the Christ Church Cathedral Social Justice Cttee)
Burrard & West 4th Ave (Ginger Richards and Sandra Bruneau of Dunbar Make Poverty History)
Arbutus & King Edward (Dave Diewert and Streams)
King Edward & Main (Ned Jacobs, Mary Ann Code, and Community Advocates for Little Mtn)
Main St. & 33rd Avenue (Kia Salomons and CALM)
Broadway & Commercial (Lauren Gill, Homeless Nation and RAOK)
Commercial & 1st Avenue (Anna Truong of Citywide, Teresa Vandertuin & Streams of Justice)
Heather & 6th Ave (Rider Cooey of Citywide Housing Coalition and False Creek neighbours)
Broadway & McDonald (Julie Hughes, Candace Simmonds and Kitsilano neighbours)
Cordova & Gore (Anne Kennedy and St James Social Gospel Coordinating Group)
Oak & W 49th Ave (Leslie Kemp and Unitarian Church Social Justice Cttee)
Sasamat & West 10th Ave (Deegy Dallong and neighbours)
Burrard & Nelson (Bobbie Phillips and the St Andrew's-Wesley Homelessness & Mental Health Action Group)
"STANDs for Housing" began Feb 23 with nine STANDS and have grown by 44% in three weeks. We will pause over the Easter break, skipping Saturday, March 22nd, then continue. We want federal, provincial, and civic politicians to dedicate substantial funds to building new, permanent social housing, as was done for fifty years until 1993. Using the surplus billions in Canada's prosperous federal and provincial economies to build the full spectrum of housing for all citizens is the primary mechanism by which homelessness must be defeated.
The public and media are invited to join us at any of the above locations we have some blue scarves for the scarfless. The idea of the STAND is based on the moving example of the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, whose children were "disappeared" by the military, 1976 to 1983. They stood every week in a city square wearing white scarves until the generals capitulated. The scarves became an international symbol for protests against unjust and inhumane governments.
Contact Rider Cooey, 604.872-1382
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Citywide Housing Coalition, Fairview organizer Last update: 02-06-2008 20:20
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