The City of New Westminster has approved a two-year organizational pilot project and strategy to address the three crises of homelessness, mental health, and substance use.

The New Westminster Downtown Residents Association will be hosting a presentation and Q&A with John Stark, Manager of Community Planning, and Brad Davie, Deputy Fire Chief, about the city's Crisis Response Pilot Project.

Join us at 7:00pm, Wednesday April 3, at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Hall, 514 Carnarvon St.

Agenda

• 6:30pm: Registration
• 7:00pm: Presentation and Q&A by John Stark, Manager of Community Planning, and Brad Davie, Deputy Fire Chief about New Westminster's Crisis Response Pilot Project

Summary of Meeting

The City was represented by:

• Claudia Freire, Social Planning
• John Stark, Manager of Community Planning
• Lisa Spitale, City Administrative Officer
• Brad Davie, Deputy Fire Chief

Here is a summary of the key points:

• Homeless rates in New Westminster have steadily declined from 2007-2014 but then increased sharply from 2020-2023, in line with trends in Surrey and Burnaby.
• Indigenous people are over-represented among the homeless population, making up 41% of unsheltered homeless but only 3.1% of the general population.
• New Westminster has far less of a problem with permanent camp sites than cities with less homeless support, like Abbotsford.
• The city is taking a holistic approach and working across teams and with other metro Vancouver organizations.
• Target is for a 9 member Crisis Response Team to be established by end of May 2024. Hiring, on-boarding, and training is in progress. These will be professionals who "signed up for the job", instead of the current situation where city staff without the necessary training or motivation are being asked to respond. THe new team will have significant indigenous and "lived experience" presence.
• Supportive housing projects are being developed with BC Housing. Approvals process is being fast-tracked.
• A mental health response team is moving to 24/7 coverage from 8 hours previously.
• The hours for the overdose prevention site are being extended, and services are extended, to move substance users off the street.
• Advocacy is underway to get support from outside orgs like BC Housing for initiatives like portable toilets.
• The city is working with outside academic institutions to establish an independent evaluation process of the results, and to ensure that services are free from bias.
• Plans are underway to convert the existing shelter (Old Navy) to 24/7 and expand overdose prevention site services. Expansion of the shelter to 24/7 would eliminate the issue of dumping all the residents on the street at the same time every morning, and not having support available during the day. The major obstacle to making this happen appears to be the fact that building upgrades are required and the owner of the building is reluctant to give permission. Alternative sites are being investigated.
• More money and resources are needed from senior government. The Province should really be running this initiative, not the City. Resident voices can carry more weight with the provincial government than city staff, so residents are encouraged to make their voices heard. Call or write your MP/MLA! It really makes a difference.
• The majority of the City Council is fully supportive of the project.
• The program involves regular feedback from and discussions with businesses, residents associations and other stakeholders.

Latest update April 02, 2024