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Letter special: Richmond News readers vent over modular housing

Several readers are taking issue with the residents of Brighouse, many of whom don't want a housing project for the homeless in their neighbourhood
modular housing
Hundreds of residents in Brighouse area protesters showed up at the site currently being considered for a 40-unit complex to house homeless people. The residents wanted to express their opposition to the project. Daisy Xiong photo

Dear Editor,

Re: “Not welcome,” News, March 8.

It saddened me to read the reaction of some residents and realtors to the proposed homeless housing project.

How can people who have so much material wealth have so little human kindness?

Why do the privileged residents fear that their children and women would become targets if underprivileged people lived nearby?

Children don't instinctively fear or feel contempt for others. They learn to do so from adults.

If children are to grow up socially responsible and free of prejudice, the best way is to let them grow up with people from diverse backgrounds. Maybe we'd all benefit from a homeless housing project in our neighbourhood.

Sabine Eiche

Richmond

 

Dear Editor

Re: “No Welcome Wagon here,” Editor’s column, March 8.

Sad but true, and a shameless desire to pose for a photograph for posterity. Hopefully the photograph will enter the city museum under the caption, “By 2018, this is what we had become.”

Think back to Dec. 7 1941 and our haste to impose knee-jerk reactions, upon our neighbours of that day. It would appear we are doing no less today. Thankfully, in not such a heartless fashion but a demonstrative and vocal one.

 Yes, these proud citizens are being vocal, but what they are really saying is, “I got, you don’t, so to hell with you.”

Now these citizens expect our civic leaders to follow their dictates.  If our civic leaders follow their desired dictates it will display a level of spinelessness that should cause all of us to bow our heads in shame.  That does not appear to be the case and hopefully will remain so.

Ms. Edmonds article outlines the lack of the milk of human kindness that has soured this community, we can do better and we should do better.

The collective opportunity to do better will present itself this coming November when this cabal of civic leaders will present themselves to be endorsed for their ability to carry out their civic responsibilities.

Think my friends, think and be thankful your photograph does not grace the wall of shame that the museum will surely create.

Then do endorse the civil leaders whom you think has met his or her responsibility to our community and by extension to the less fortunate among us.

W. T. Dawe

Richmond

 

Dear Editor,

Re: “Not welcome,” News, March 8.

To the residents of Richmond who signed this petition and/or attended this rally, you should all be ashamed of yourselves!

Especially to those of you who have, or involved your children, you have just taught them a lesson of intolerance to others.

Canada is a place known to accept those from other countries, cultures, religions and circumstances.

But if you removed the word “homeless” from this situation and re-placed it with “black, Muslim, homosexual, etc” you have proven you are exclusive of those who live up to what you think are acceptable stand-ards.

I have spent countless hours helping to feed and clothe those that are homeless and in need and if you take the time to hear their stories, each one is unique and heart wrenching and include those who escape mental and physical abuse, the youth who are kicked out of their homes when their parents find out they are gay, those have un-treated mental health issues or those who have never had a fighting chance to flourish because of illness or disability.

Not all people that are homeless are drug or alcohol uses or criminals, and those that are usually using to mask the pain of situations they have never been given the help to deal with, and the crime is usually for sur-vival.

Above all, these people are human beings and what they need is a chance to recover, a place to call home and a chance to thrive and sur-vive without judgement and life on the streets.

What is needed is a change of attitude, acceptance and help. You all seem fine to say that someone should do something to help the home-less, as long as it isn’t in your neighborhood.

But they are already in your neighborhood, living behind dumpsters and in the woods.

At least this development would give them a place to call home, some-thing maybe you take for granted.

Those of you who live in your ivory tower, million-dollar homes need some perspective.

I suggest you take the time to actually meet some of those on the street, learn their name, see their faces, hear their story and practice tolerance and charity.

It’s perspective, something these people seem to be sadly lacking. And, yes, homelessness CAN happen to you.

Lyna Johnston

Richmond

 

Dear Editor,

Re: “Not welcome,” News, March 8.

Richmond City Council’s response to homelessness is commendable and in-keeping with the values that I believe should guide a healthy commu-nity.

One of those values is stated in the information sheet describing the pro-ject, namely that “the City of Richmond and BC Housing are committed to ensuring everyone has a place to call home.”

The fact sheet also lists the back up support for residents: life-skills train-ing, access to health care services, staffing onsite 24/7 by a well-respected non-profit operator as well as opportunities for open commu-nication between Richmond city and residents.

To me, the community reaction expressing opposition to the project as reported in the Richmond News, is one based on fear and stereotypes and not on a thoughtful approach to solving homelessness in Richmond.

This is a great opportunity to teach children that the social responsibility they learn about in school has a wider application in their neighbour-hoods and that fairness and compassion are values guiding decisions af-fecting the quality of all lives.

My hope is that Richmond public opinion becomes known for the atti-tude that “All lives matter” and that we apply that value to social prob-lem solving.

Dianne Milsom

Richmond

 

Dear Editor,

Re: “Not welcome,” News, March 8.

Has Richmond truly become such an unwelcoming and paranoid place, as evidenced by the regretful opinions and comments in the March 8 edition?

Once again we hear the heroic words, "of course homeless people need help, it's just the wrong location."

Somehow this project is "controversial," with the certainty that the people who may live there will be unstable alcoholics, drug addicts, child abusers, vandals and thieves.

There is no logic in this, no evidence, no compassion, no humanity. Nothing Canadian, nothing like the Richmond I have believed and seen to exist over a lifetime living here.

I feel some sorrow for these residents, in that they clearly have not found - or yet helped to build - a friendly neighborhood they feel safe in. They do however seem astute at organizing fear, uncertainty and doubt.

Perhaps their energy could be turned to the positive to help people less fortunate, not just to turn them away.

And, maybe, their expensive cars should be parked below their million-dollar condos and not on the street, and their pets should do their business on their own property.

City-owned land is a dwindling asset to be used for the most beneficial purpose. While our staff and council are wise to consult, they are hired and elected to act in the greater good of the city as a whole.

Homelessness and poverty has always existed here. This project will not eliminate it, but will be a small, important and generous step towards relieving it.

Having listened to council debate this topic for far too many years, I trust they will not be distracted, and will move ahead.

There is balance in the project being temporary, in that its long-term value or risk can be assessed on experience, and future decisions made with real insights.

Roy Oostergo

Richmond

 

Dear Editor,

Re: “Not welcome,” News. March 8.

I wonder if these people referring to 7300 Elmbridge as "the wrong place," realize that this is the very definition of NIMBYism.

You, I'm sorry to have to say, do not get the final say.

All Richmond does, via our democratically-elected council, which looks at all variables and how they'd affect all voters, and determined this was the appropriate home for Richmond's share of the modular housing builds in BC.

Let's just choose to put compassionate thinking first, realizing it's the human and moral thing to enthusiastically support housing for the poorest among us.

"The great equalizer is that we're all breathing the same oxygen."

"The measure of a society is in how it treats its weakest members."

George Pope

Richmond

 

Dear Editor,

Re: “Not welcome,” News. March 8.

Aside from the disappointing fact a number of people in Richmond appear to be more concerned about the welfare of their luxury automobiles and dogs than helping disadvantaged people improve their lives, I think those protesting the building of modular apartments for the homeless should take a drive through my neighbourhood.

Here, some blocks are almost entirely unoccupied mega houses, with 30,000 square foot mansions being built on ALR land.

Some of these are used to illegally launder suspect foreign money, facilitate the drug trade, house ‘vacation birthers’, or are used as illegal hotels.

These places are far more deleterious to the welfare of the citizens of this city than a few modular apartments.

Perhaps these protesters should consider widening their knowledge of what the real crises are in Richmond.

These “concerned” citizens remind me of that old British saying: “I’m all right, Jack,” which, translated, means “I have mine, and to hell with everyone else!”

Ray Arnold

Richmond