STORY about Housing posted on July 20, 2010 by Tami Starlight
Community Vision tackles Downtown Eastside stereotypes and gentrification
Wendy Pedersen gives the VMC exclusive access to her office & she holds up the "vision poster"
Jean Swanson (left) & Wendy Pedersen (right) of CCAP begin press conference
Wendy Pedersen giving a final & personal touch to the mainstream media
VMC is given exclusive access to the CCAP office
The 3 CCAP visions & community rocks with DTES community members inscriptions on them (center)
Also posted by Tami Starlight:
Also in Housing:
Approximately 100 people attended (capacity-standing room only) Carnegie Community Action Project news release of their 3rd community vision, titled "CCAP's community vision for change."
"The energy was electric!" said Wendy Pedersen, community organizer at the Carnegie Community Action Project. "Exceeded my expectations and had no idea that many people would turn out. The Carnegie Association members spoke so well of the CCAP vision."
"Supporters from various resident groups, coops and even condo owners, were very passionate about speakiong for this community vision," she said.
"There is a lot more work to do to implement this vison," said Wendy in a telephone interview at 6pm.
It is very important for members of the Downtown Eastside to remain and get involved with their respective communities and to have more say in the ongoing development of the DTES. Certainly many I have personally spoken with in the community are concerned about displacement and lack of community consultation. That many love the "down to earthiness" of the DTES, and not just the fact is it "still" fairly affordable.
Such a strong and vibrant community. One I am proud to live in.
All my relations/Namaste
Tami Starlight - VMC - and resident of the downtown eastside. (Unceeded Coast Salish Territory)
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News release July 20, 2010
Community Vision tackles Downtown Eastside stereotypes and gentrification
The low-income community in the Downtown Eastside has a right to exist and seek improvements for itself.
That’s the main point of a new Vision for the Downtown Eastside called Assets to Action, Community Vision for Change in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
The Vision was developed over two years with input from a massive sample of 1200 Downtown Eastside (DTES) residents, in co-operation with many DTES groups. The process, led by the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP), included Visioning workshops with about 300 people, a questionnaire with 655 people, mapping workshops with 200 people, three days of work with 44 low-income community leaders drawing out the Vision, Values and Actions from the previous work, distribution of the draft report to numerous DTES residents and groups for feedback, incorporation of the feedback into the final document, and three published interim reports. CCAP proposes that the Vision be the foundation and guide for future development in the DTES.
“Our Vision starts from the fact that there are lots of good things about our community,” said CCAP organizer and report co-author, Wendy Pedersen. “Our community assets include a sense of community and belonging, life saving social and health services, many chances to volunteer and contribute, a lack of judgment, and connection to the cultural heritage of the neighbourhood. The wider society stigmatizes many DTES residents because of race, gender, sexual orientation, addiction, mental or physical health and poverty. But in the DTES people who experience discrimination are the majority. They are not marginal. They feel accepted here and don’t always have to defend their situation to others.”
“With this Vision low-income residents are saying they want to have more control over their own community,” said Phoenix Winter, one of the participants, and a board member of the Carnegie Community Centre Association. “We don’t want others coming here and telling us what’s wrong with us and what we need. We have good ideas about solving problems ourselves.”
Actions needed to implement the Community Vision include more social housing, reducing poverty, slowing gentrification until low-income residents have decent housing and low-income community assets are secure. The Vision also calls for treatment on demand for people with addictions, more harm reduction services and replacing the current illegal drug market with a regulated legal market based on public health and human rights principles. See page 8 and 9 for a full list of Actions. “While government is needed to get some of these changes,” said Pedersen, “residents are already working on others like a DTES street market and expanding wireless internet to the whole DTES.”
“Slowing gentrification is crucial to implement this report,” said Pedersen. “Low income people are being pushed out by property value increases. Only 12% of privately owned SRO hotel rooms are now renting for the welfare shelter allowance or less. That’s why we are calling on the Mayor and Council to do three important things for DTES residents: 1) Purchase five lots a year for social housing in the DTES for the next ten years; 2) Use its zoning and planning tools to slow gentrification until existing residents and homeless people have decent self-contained social housing, and our community assets are secure; 3) And use this Vision as the basis of a DTES strategy for change.” said Pedersen.
To see CCAP’s Vision report, go to http://ccapvancouver.wordpress.com/
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