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Strong Community

Strong Community 

There are several types of poor people that help make a community strong . When a community fails in their duty to accommodate any of these groups of less fortunate folk, the balance becomes a-skewed and the entire community suffers. Service jobs remain vacant, social services becomes over used by some who really need medical/mental health intervention, and the criminal justice sector wastes precious community capital playing whack a mole. 

As my home island becomes less accommodating to people living on low or fixed incomes, I can see how the exodus of these people hurts all of us. This article will attempt to identify, exemplify and make some suggestions that could help strengthen our weakened community fabric.

For arguments sake, and as an example, I will try to use 3 classifications to identify the poor people who make up the lower strands of our social fabric. In no particular order. 

Firstly there are the addicted. This cohort has manifested an amazing ability to survive, regardless of the lack of housing. By putting the continuation of their required substance use at the top of their priorities, they can hold onto the most precarious of housing types imaginable. Abandoned cabins, rotten boats, and even semi mobile vehicles are utilized by this group to maintain a residence on the island. Often they are the last to leave as housing disappears. Consequently they often consume a disproportionate amount of community social capital(csc). CSC is such things as foodbanks, private support or assistance, feeling safe, casual employment and the like. 

Often these people are used as the example of the perilous poor and the perceived threat they aim at our community,  from petty theft, public intoxication and other similar affronts to our social norms. Without affordable supportive housing , these folks will often live a harsh and shortened life. A life bereft by self abuse, and dangerous public behaviour. Housing these people earlier saves scarce resources. More importantly, housing gives them a base to receive the addiction/ health services they so desperately need. It makes everyone in the community safer. It can turn around a lost life, often towards being a contributing community member. 

The second group of poor folks a community needs to support are much easier to accommodate. However because their priority is affordable housing, they are often the first to leave as the housing costs rise, above their often fixed incomes. Their departure  cause the most critical of losses a community can suffer from. Frequently on our island they were the elders. Those with community knowledge and understanding. Long time residents. Retired people who volunteered at our library and thrift shop. Grandparents and casual child care providers. Gone. Another important thread in our social fabric weakened at a loss to all. 

Lastly and by no means any less significant are our young working people and families. Folks trying to save money for a down payment on a first home. Renters, single moms and other single people who have to pay ever increasing rents with wages that never seem to follow close enough. Often called the working poor, their departure from our community makes us all poorer. Without them our volunteer fire department falters, are children are taught by instructors from away, we have to bring strangers into our homes to fix a plumbing or electrical problem. Trust. 

Good people for sure, but people from away. Living and working on island, local folks help offset the large carbon footprint island commuters and  off-island  workers spew forth.  Not strong threads in our community social fabric. Our neighbourhood DNA. 

The commonality of these 3 groups is the lack of affordable housing. Affordable as in 30% of your monthly take home income. Not some ridiculous % below market costs in an ever increasing market. Winning the housing lottery and then not using those ‘winnings’ to support the very community that helped build your capital now realized,  is selfish and shortsighted. You got to where you are because of the collective. Not in-spite of it. 

If we are to move forward together, there must be an immediate effort by our elected representatives and the rest of us to make affordable housing a real priority. Really, now. Several types of housing need to be established. Fast. Lives and our community’s health depend on it.  

Housing First. As in the Finnish model( CBC Sunday Edition covered it recently, google it). It works. Land trusts, co-op’s, emergency modular, and a myriad of other types of housing models are available. All we seem to be missing is the political will and leadership a strong community must bring forward. Please let our Mayor and council know you support Housing First. We can make this a priority. We are community. A poorer community as we loose together. 

Comments welcome. 

Our leaders email: 

mayorandcouncil@bimbc.ca