Frances Bula, Richmond News, March 18, 2023 (With quotes from BCNPHA CEO Jill Atkey)
Dave McAleer was hanging out in the kitchen area of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Lookout shelter last week when two young women came in asking if he would be willing to participate in a survey about homelessness.
Sure, he said, and then spent half an hour answering their questions. How old was he? Almost 70. When did he first become homeless? Eleven months ago, when he lost his room at the Lucky Lodge, where he’d lived for several years. Had he lived somewhere else before Vancouver? Yes, Victoria, but he’d moved to Vancouver 12 years ago.
One piece of information they didn’t ask him for was his name. For Vancouver’s one-day homeless count, which takes place every three years, that’s not required. And according to some experts in the field, that gap is a major obstacle toward any meaningful solution to the problem.