Help the Citywide Housing Coalition End Homelessness Now!
Tell your elected representatives that you want homelessness in Vancouver to end. Join with thousands of other British Columbian citizens in our letter writing campaign to increase desperately needed social housing and to end homelessness.
Why? On January 5, 1999, the City of Vancouver, along with other cities across Canada, declared homelessness a national disaster.* That was more than eight years ago, and since then the population of people living on the streets in Vancouver has skyrocketed. If Vancouver was willing to declare homelessness a national disaster in 1999, then the city should now be declaring it a national atrocity. People in our city are dying because they don't have homes.
A very important step in stopping homelessness was taken in the spring of 2007 when a diverse group of community organizations and policy makers came together to create the Inner-City Inclusivity Housing Table Recommendations (ICI Report - to read, click on education left side of this page). The ICI Report called for immediate action against homelessness, including 3200 units of social housing and an increase in social assistance. Since the creation of the report, over 100 organizations throughout the city have endorsed the recommendations. But the ICI Report needs even more support if it is to become an essential issue for our government leaders.
Help make homelessness and the ICI Report absolutely essential issues for our politicians. Write a letter to our elected officials telling them to take action against homelessness now by implementing the ICI recommendations. Please include your address and postal code in your letter (our audience will pay more attention to us when they know we are eligible voters). You can address your letters "Dear elected representatives."
Activists and policy makers say that every personalized letter sent to the government is worth 1000 signatures. Thousands of personalized letters supporting the ICI Report will create a force that our politicians won't be able to ignore!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*http://www.city.vancouver.bc.ca/ctyclerk/cclerk/000613/a3.htm
Sample Letter
Dear elected representatives,
I am writing to ask you to endorse the Inner-City Inclusivity Housing Report. As you know not only was this report brought together by a wide range of different organizations from community groups to developers to government and VANOC representatives, it has also been endorsed by over 100 organizations, prominent individuals and several Members of Parliament.
The commitment of government leaders to providing affordable housing in the city of Vancouver and supporting the ICI Report would be a visible statement that our elected officials are committed to providing additional housing in the city. This is needed as the population is increasing at the same time as the prices of housing stock, both in the rental market and to buy is moving more and more out of reach of the average working person.
When elections next come around--whether they be federal, provincial, or municipal--I WILL NOT vote for those in public office who do not support social housing in the city of Vancouver.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Your full address with postal code (required)
WE MUST RECEIVE ALL LETTERS BY SEPTEMBER 30, 2007 - PLEASE EMAIL ALL LETTERS TO: