Coquitlam Alliance Church will open its doors to shelter homeless people beginning Nov. 1 but how many of those people will show up is unknown due to declining rates of homelessness in the Tri-Cities.
"It will be a very interesting year," conceded Rob Thiessen, managing director of the Hope for Freedom Society which runs the cold/wet weather mat program.
Outreach workers who counted homeless people in the region last month found 48 people living rough, compared to 72 people in September 2010 and 215 in 2008.
Thiessen attributes the lower numbers to the success of the mat program and the fact that outreach workers have built relationships with service providers who can help homeless people, and Hope For Freedom's own recovery program, which has 85 beds for people seeking to combat substance abuse issues.
"The partnerships and the ability for our outreach team to get people to a recovery program is a big part of that," he said, noting those who are still homeless may need more intensive services. "We're going to need more from mental health and things like that to get the last of it done."
Thiessen said he never imagined a drop in homelessness when he faced an initial storm of controversy in Coquitlam over the mat program when it was proposed a few years ago. Then, people were concerned crime and transient populations coming to Tri-Cities, issues that failed to materialize.
Now, ending homelessness "seems like something we can take the risk of dreaming," Thiessen said, although he warned against complacency and said a permanent homeless shelter at 3030 Gordon Ave. in Coquitlam is still necessary to help local homeless people.
Thiessen said poverty continues to be an ongoing issue, evidenced by the high numbers of people who attended the recent Connect Day to get a free meal and some services. Many of those who showed up weren't homeless but they were at risk of being homeless.
"Like the guy who was just in here," Thiessen said, "He can't find a place to live at $375 [welfare shelter rates] so he spends almost all his welfare cheque, except for $10. For food he has to go to the food bank."
Meanwhile, in Port Moody, council supported the continued use of St. Andrew's United Church for the cold/wet weather mat program in March.
"It does work," said Coun. Bob Elliott, who is the city's liaison on the Tri-Cities Homelessness Task Group.
dstrandberg@tricitynews.com
