Work to help Burnaby's homeless hampered by lack of permanent shelter
Re: Burnaby's silence on homelessness deafening (Column, NewsLeader, Jan. 11)
The "deafening silence" on homelessness is not altogether due to a lack of caring or compassion, but rather to frustration.
Social service agencies have been trying for many years to establish at least one permanent shelter in Burnaby. However, for just as many years they have been thwarted by the city's intransigent attitude towards any kind of such a project and the agencies proposing it. The Progressive Housing Society, silenced, has obtained funding from provincial and federal sources for a mobile service, as well as a program of finding accommodation and providing support for reintegration of the homeless or those at risk of becoming homeless. The integration would be much more rapid and lasting if there were a shelter where the initial stages could be undertaken.
Doris Routliffe
Burnaby
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