I have joined up with four other class mates that are also interested in the same topic and here is the link to the new blog we are creating:

www.helpthehomeless.wordpress.com

The project will also offer education for all of these families and our programs will vary depending on the situation of each family. The programs could be:

• Raising a successful family as young parents
• Employment (this class will teach how to apply and keep a job)
• Finances
• Housing
• Counselling (this will be offered to individuals who need  someone to talk to about their issues)

The whole idea of these classes is that eventually the family will be able to function as a unit and support each other. Once they have been rehabilitated they will not be sent out on their own. Support will be offered even once they have left the program.

The issue of homeless families does not seem to be very publicized one, yet when you look into near by cities such as Calgary there is an estimated 200 homeless families with one or more children. This study also found the 79% of the families were living in shelters, many of which do not offer the support they need as a family in order to get out of the cycle of homelessness. This is the reason why it is crucial they have a place to go for support, if we can help these families then we will also reduce a lot of the homeless people that are currently in shelters.

Social Value Proposition

To help families get back on their feet and teach them how to be self sustainable.

One thing that always makes me want to help more is taking a drive through the downtown east side, its shocking to me that we still have people in Canada that live in conditions such as these. Knowing nurses who have worked in the downtown east side I have heard many stories of how low these standards of living are. This also has enabled me to understand that many people that have been forced to live in this area are mentally ill. We consider Canada to have an advanced medical care system yet we allow these people to be forced into these living conditions. This is another area of homelessness in Vancouver that has to be addressed.

“I got mugged by some guys with a hammer. There was a girl there to and she told them to hit me again. After the first hit I went down on one knee and told them “Its going to take more than that boys!!” Well they gave me more!!! I lost hearing in my left ear and and had a skull compressed fracture. I then stayed drunk for 4 more days to take the pain away and I wanted to rest so I went to a detox.“

Another major issue with homelessness is the image it gives the city. Vancouver is a city which has a large tourist business but this is being damaged by the areas that have large amounts of homeless people in them. If you do a search for vancouver tourists in google there are warnings on many of the websites about how there is a large amount of homeless people. This is obviously not a good image for any city to have and its one that can damage the tourist industry significantly.

Here we are going to look at some of the table which are shown in the report.

From this table you can see how much the street homeless increased from 2005 to 2008, this was a figure of 420 people. However when you look at the number of sheltered homeless from 2005 to 2008 it decreased by 2 people and this is an alarming number epically when you consider the idea that the number of homeless people will continue to rise. If this will happen it will mean more people will be on the streets.

This table give you an in depth break down of where the homeless people are located and the percentage increase from 2005 to 2008.

These figures make it obviously how serious a problem this is. With homeless expected to increase even more over the next few years then something has to be done. Not only for the homeless people them selves but also to save Vancouver`s image.

• Between 1991 and 1996 the number of people at risk of homelessness rose from 39,000 to 57,600
• In a 24-hour Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD) survey of homeless people, 71 kids were found to be living on the street
• The results show that 2,592 individuals were found homeless by volunteers in a 24-hour count from March 10 to 11, representing a 19-percent increase from the last count in 2005
• Here is a break down of the areas in Vancouver and their homeless population:

• Vancouver: 1,547
• Surrey: 386
• New Westminster: 124
• North Shore: 113
• Tri-Cities: 95
• Maple Ridge: 90
• Burnaby: 86
• Langley: 80
• Richmond: 54
• Delta: 17

• These number represent a 19% increase from the 2005 count and a 137% increase from the 2002 count
• In 2007 Metro Vancouver homeless shelters had to turn away people more than 40,000 times between April and December
• It costs tax payers less money to house a homeless person than to leave them on the streets. A study found that the service and shelter costs of homeless people ranged from $30,000 to $40,000 per year, on average,compared to $22,000 to $28,000 per year for housed individuals

This article shows exactly how serious a problem homelessness is in Vancouver. It states that there is 1,547 homeless in Vancouver and 2,592 in Metro Vancouver. The shelters are not able to hold any where near this number of people, and this one of the reasons the situation is so desperate.

With the dramatic rise in standard of living in Canada in recent years it is shocking how bad this problem is. I believe it is a classic problem of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. As the porperty prices in Vancouver rise so does the problem of homelessness. Less and less people can afford housing and this is what forces them out onto the streets. This explaines the dramatic rise in homeless people in recent years.