Vancouver Park Board creates new position to address homelessness

The Vancouver Park Board has recently created a position meant to better improve its response to unhoused people sheltering in the city's parks.

Betty Lepps was appointed to be the board's director of urban relationships, a move being touted as the "first of its kind" for the city and a model for other jurisdictions.

“I believe that this is a unique position, and in my experience, I’ve never heard of this role elsewhere. However, it is one that is long overdue in the parks and recreation system across the country,” said general manager Donnie Rosa in a statement.

“People sheltering in parks is not an operational issue, it’s a human condition that needs a humane approach."

Lepps tells CTV News Vancouver that her background working with BC Housing, and with vulnerable communities across the country and abroad, has equipped her with both the compassion and practical skills required for the role.

"So many people look at different situations and think, 'How does a person end up in this way?' And there's so many different ways that someone can end up homeless or at risk of homelessness," she says.

"Once we have a better understanding, we approach the situation differently."

Working directly with staff who are, in many cases, the first point of contact between the city and its most vulnerable residents, is something Lepps says will be part of the role. However, she says homelessness can’t be addressed by the park board and its staff alone.

"We all are part of it, all constituents, the park board, the city, BC housing, we're all a part of this issue," she says.

"It's going to take systems to make those changes. And part of this role is going to be working with those internal and external systems, to work together to come to a place where we can look and see: Where are the gaps, what are we missing, and how do we support?"

Vancouver has not done its annual homeless count since 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That year there were 2,095 people experiencing homelessness. Of those, 547 were "unsheltered," meaning they were living outdoors – on the streets or in parks.

In December of 2021, city staff issued a memo updating council on "efforts to assess the current state of homelessness in Vancouver and plans for understanding the state of homelessness in 2022." That report found despite the creation of hundreds of new, indoor spaces, "the rate of homelessness remains the same or perhaps may have even increased."

It noted how restrictions imposed because of the pandemic forced more people out onto the streets and into the city's parks. The closure of indoor spaces like community centres and libraries, limits on visitors at the city's Single Room Occupancy buildings, and capacity limits at emergency shelters all "impacted the number of people who need(ed) to find shelter in other places – either overnight or during the day – out on sidewalks and in parks," the report read.

More than 700 spaces – which include both supportive housing units and beds in emergency shelters – have been created since the last homeless count in response to the number of people living outdoors.

Among those were hotels BC Housing purchased specifically to house people sheltering in Vancouver's parks. An encampment at Oppenheimer Park was dismantled in May of 2020. Parks are under the jurisdiction of the Vancouver Park Board, which opted not to seek a court order to clear the park. The province used its powers under the Emergency Program Act to intervene, citing the risk of COVID-19.

Many living at Oppenheimer relocated to Strathcona Park, where a tent city with hundreds of occupants would remain for the better part of a year. An eviction order was issued by the Park Board for April 30, 2021, and everyone had moved out by the next day. Those who did not disperse or move indoors set up an encampment at CRAB Park. An attempt to get an injunction to clear those campers was denied in January of this year.

Lepps says work is ongoing to make sure those who are currently living on the streets or in the city's parks will be able to move indoors.

"There's thousands of units that are going to come on in the next few years – affordable housing, supportive housing, shelters – to support individuals who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness," she says.

"Everybody from my recent experience is working very hard to ensure that there's spaces that are safe for people."

With files from CTV News Vancouver's Mary Cranston