Dear editor,
Re: Point of clarification on CVRD’s use of term ‘service’ (Sept. 24 Letter).
Thank you, Shanyn Simcoe, BSN, RN, for reiterating my perspective that the intention of the CVRD or B.C. Corporation, and the not exactly not- for-profit, business-as-usual plan, is to provide an inadequate few housing units.
For the past 20 years, this method has proved to exponentially increase homelessness.
With respect, your professional or political clarification of what the CVRD means by “homeless services” actually confuses the issue by grouping those requiring assisted social housing, your area of expertise, with those who just need a truly affordable place to call home.
Housing and attempting to house “seniors, youth 15 and up, and single women fleeing abuse,” under the same roof as those suffering the effects of mental illness and substance abuse, is a proven fail.
To clarify my point and firsthand experience actually resolving the issue of one man’s chronic shelterless-ness, the solution to end homelessness based on the numbers in the Comox Valley, is to adapt to the needs of the people and begin the process of rezoning and legally permitting the integration of 3,000 tiny houses.
Tracy Ann Smith
Black Creek
