'WE'RE STARTING TO SEE RESULTS'

B.C. Housing Minister Rich Coleman, the Downtown Eastside's 'czar,'
points to a new urgent-care centre, a housing registry and the
rehousing of 1,693 of B.C.'s homeless as evidence of progress

An "urgent care centre" for people with complex mental-health and
addiction problems waiting to get into treatment is set to open in
downtown Vancouver.

After a parade of official openings of newly renovated
single-roomoccupancy hotels in the Downtown Eastside this year,
housing minister Rich Coleman said the new facility - a 30-bed unit
at the St. Helen's on 1161 Granville Street - is the next step in the
province's Homelessness Intervention Project.

"It's for people who cannot go into supportive housing and have to go
to the Burnaby Centre [for Mental Health and Addictions] but need to
have enough time to get off the street and stabilize first," said
Coleman. "This gives them a place to stay versus an emergency room."

The pilot project, jointly run by B.C. Housing, Vancouver Coastal
Health and the Coast Foundation for Mental Health, is scheduled to be
up and running by the end of the year.

The facility wouldn't have been possible without the cross-ministry
cooperation resulting from the Homelessness Intervention Project,
which aims to reduce chronic homelessness in five B.C. cities,
including Vancouver, while integrating services and maximizing efficiencies.

Having taken the lead with this project, Coleman has become de facto
Downtown Eastside czar, a role argued for by a number of contributors
to Operation Phoenix articles.

"Czar" is a title the media have given him, said Coleman, but one
whose duties he's ready to accept.

"I'm the housing minister and my job is to deal with homelessness,
mental health and addiction, and coordinate it across government," he
said. "If that makes me the czar, then I'll accept that, because
we're going to get this thing done." It's a big job. A Province
investigation tallied the cost of providing services to the
neighbourhood by all three levels of government and other
organizations at $360 million in 2007 - or almost $1 million a day.
In addition to government agencies, a mishmash of roughly 120
non-profit groups serve the Downtown Eastside.

So far, the Homelessness Intervention Project has done a "phenomenal"
job, said Coleman. According to internal reports, the project has
placed 1,693 people in homes since March, including 429 in Vancouver
(80 per cent have remained housed).

But whether or not Coleman has been as effective in reducing
inefficiencies and avoiding duplication of services to get the
maximum bang out of the taxpayer buck is less clear.

Coleman has pinpointed outreach teams as an area rife with
duplication. "Some of them have been amalgamated to get higher
efficiencies," he said.

Pressed for details, staffers could not elaborate, but stress that
the project has reduced the hoop-jumping required to navigate the system.

Instead of a homeless person visiting separate ministries and
agencies to get help, they can have a single contact with an outreach
worker who is then able to co-ordinate housing, income assistance and
appropriate supports in one go.

The project also launched a new housing registry last December that
allows a homeless person to submit one application to be considered
for all vacancies in various Downtown Eastside housing units. Coleman
wasn't able to say how much money has been saved or diverted to
better use, or whether funding has been cut to any agency.

Janice Abbott, executive director of Atira Property Management, which
operates 17 of the 23 Eastside SROs, said there's been an obvious
increase in the quality and quantity of housing in the Downtown
Eastside, but the benefits from improved co-ordination haven't trickled down.

"I don't see a difference," said Abbott. "I think non-profits for the
most part have been kept out of the process . . . which is absolutely
crazy because we're delivering the service."

Philip Owen, a vocal critic who has called for more accountability
and oversight of funds and services in the neighbourhood, said
integration is a move in the right direction, but is unsure how
successful it'll be.

"Sure, it's helping. Absolutely. But how successful it has been or
will be, I don't know."

But at least the government is addressing the problem, he said.

Vancouver Police chief Jim Chu, who had called for a "director for
the most vulnerable people" to co-ordinate services in the Downtown
Eastside a month before Coleman's appointment, said things have got better.

"There's been incremental improvements," he said. "The fix won't be overnight."

Coleman believes the efforts are making a difference. His regular
visits and chats with locals have persuaded him there are fewer
homeless people on the streets.

"It's hard to empirically say that, but I do believe that all the
partners are pulling in the right direction," said Coleman.

"We're starting to see results."