Homeless outreach centre needed

By Dan Hilborn
Published May 3, 2006


Patricia Pedersen has had a very busy six months.

As Burnaby's official homeless outreach worker, she has given assistance to exactly 112 people - including 32 dependent children - who either live on the streets of Burnaby or are threatened with the loss of their homes.

In 20 of those cases, Pedersen was instrumental in helping those people or families find new homes. Other times, she's helped her clients get medical attention or put food in their bellies.

But funding for her job runs out sometime next month, and Pedersen is worried that some of the most unfortunate people in the city are going to be left without the assistance and support they need to find decent affordable accommodation.

And with just a few weeks left in her mandate, Pedersen is calling for the creation of a permanent drop-in centre for the homeless in Burnaby, complete with two or three outreach workers to serve as advocates.

"We need a drop-in centre that has a meal every day," Pedersen said. "We need to have something permanent."

Pedersen, who works for the Progressive Housing Society near the corner of Kingsway and Edmonds, says Burnaby has little official help and few public resources for those unfortunate individuals who are deemed 'at-risk' of living on the streets.

Some of the most upsetting stories revolve around the 'long-term homeless' who are unable to access government help because they lack formal documentation, which often relies on having a stable home address.

"Often I see people with no identification, no medical and no money," she said.

And while the homeless typically don't come looking for help until they are in dire straits, Pedersen said government does not make it easy for a person to get themselves off the streets. In British Columbia, the disadvantaged have to contend with a government bureaucracy that makes a series of unusual demands before official assistance is offered.

Pedersen said one of the most disturbing cases she saw was last December when she was called to help a mentally confused man who was sleeping inside a Ministry of Employment and Immigration office. The man came in asking for help and was told that there was a minimum 21- day waiting period.

"He had a protruding hernia and I was afraid he was was going to die," Pedersen said. "I tried to get him to a doctor, but he wouldn't go because he didn't trust them. He was afraid to get into my car, because he was afraid I'd take him someplace else to be locked up.

"December was the last time I saw him. I fear he's probably not around anymore. I called the police and ambulance that day, but to no avail. I'm hoping he'll resurface again."

That 21-day waiting period - which all applicants for government assistance must endure - is probably the most frequent complaint Pedersen hears in her work, she said.

Another problem arises because B.C.'s welfare regulations demand that a person's most recent income tax statements have to be filed before they are eligible for government assistance - a nearly impossible task for someone who has been living on the streets or moving from couch to couch.

And even after they qualify, a single person in B.C. receives only $500 per month, of which $325 is allocated specifically for shelter. Pedersen says that funding is "impossible" to live on.

"That's supposed to include their heat, light and phone, and it's impossible," she said. "There's no housing in Burnaby at all at that price. Even in the surrounding areas, that $325 is tough to find."

Pedersen admits she's had to "think outside the box" to find solutions for some people - such as advising people who sleep outside to try to pool their income assistance cheques to find suitable accommodation.

But there is yet another drawback to having people live together, and that is a social assistance rule that deems all male-female couples as dependencies - giving two people just a little bit more than $600 per month, instead of two cheques of $500 apiece. And when one roommate is deemed to be dependent on the other, it's typically the woman who loses her rights and privileges under the law.

Another major deficiency in Burnaby's services for the homeless is the lack of free meal programs - currently there is only one free lunch in the city, offered every Tuesday out of a church on Sussex Street - and the absence of a medical clinic that will treat people without documentation.

Pedersen admits to taking homeless people from Burnaby to a drop- in clinic in downtown Vancouver, where she has to be less than truthful about where her client lives. "I do it because it's in the best interest of the client," she said. "I need to get them medical help, and I'm not able to do it in Burnaby."

While families with children are eligible for assistance from within the school system, which has a network of community school coordinators dedicated to that task, a family that is just beginning to experience difficulties will often have trouble learning where to go for help.

For instance, sometimes a family won't ask for help until after the main income earner has lost their job and the food has run out. And once an individual or family is on that downward slope, the situation can deteriorate quickly, she said.

Sometimes, families compound the problem when they make a decision to put food on the table instead of paying the rent.