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BURPEE: Home is where the heart, health and hope are

Home. It is our sanctuary, a place of safety, warmth and security. Where we hang our hat and keep family memories. Homelessness.

Home. It is our sanctuary, a place of safety, warmth and security. Where we hang our hat and keep family memories.

Homelessness. In the Lower Mainland we think of the destitute poverty and mental illness that is so visible on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. But homelessness is also a serious issue here in the Tri-Cities. We just can't see it as clearly.

In the Tri-Cities, we are fortunate to have a strong network of support - meal programs, food banks, cold-weather shelters, health and employment agencies, and outreach workers - all focused on not just short-term shelter but finding permanent and affordable housing. Our volunteer-driven approach has been so successful at reducing the number of homeless in our community that it has been studied by others in North America.

Imagine, just for a minute, how you would live without a home.

How would you make it to work each day? Or find work? Where would your children do their homework? Where would you sleep? And what about your belongings, your medication, your personal care items? Where would you keep them?

These are daily concerns for the area's small number of street homeless, those we see pushing carts full of possessions or camping in the far corners of parks.

But these problems are also the reality for many invisible homeless.

You can see them, you just can't see that they are homeless.

These are folks not much different from you and me. A neighbour whose paycheque no longer covers a modest rent increase. A community member whose illness has put him out of work for an extended period of time. Or maybe a young mom in an abusive relationship who has chosen to leave but finds there is nowhere affordable to go.

Each day, stories like these play out and the daunting challenge of finding a safe, secure and affordable home begins. The road to homelessness may start on a friend's couch, then perhaps a shared room with a hotplate, then to a car and, if lucky, back to a couch. Each day is a race to beat others in a similar situation to Craigslist and other rental listings, with the faint hope for that elusive affordable home. Otherwise, the cycle continues.

Without housing first, a life must be placed on hold. Imagine trying to regain your health after a serious illness or trying to build a new life for you and your young children while sleeping on a friend's couch.

In the Tri-Cities, more than 700 individuals and families are on social housing waiting lists with BC Housing. In the recent Housing Affordability Discussion Paper report by the city of Coquitlam it was found that between 1991 and 2011, rents rose much faster than household incomes. In fact, household income increased 23% over those 20 years while average rent increased 89% and average dwelling value increased 200%.

It has long been recognized that a person's quality of life is largely determined by their housing situation, affecting their health, employment and level of education. Adequate and affordable housing is an essential element for a healthy community and addressing the housing affordability gap should be a top priority for all three levels of government.

Later this fall, Coquitlam council will be reviewing a draft Housing Affordability Strategy. It is hoped this strategy will include real and tangible incentives for developers to create rental housing stock affordable to low- and moderate-income households. And hopefully, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody will follow suit. Without these incentives, developers will simply build pricier condos that, if rented out by their owners, are usually well out of reach of our most vulnerable families, seniors and the disabled.

A healthy and inclusive community is one that understands that adequate, secure, affordable rental housing is a community asset.

Sandy Burpee is chair of the Tri-City Homelessness and Housing Task Group.