Dear Editor,
Re: “S.O.S. to city hall,” Feature, Sept. 16. “Harder than rocket science,” Voices, Sept. 16. “Church group puts politicians to shame,” Letters, Sept. 21
It’s heartening to see the Richmond News increasing coverage of the homelessness and underhousing crisis in Richmond.
Ms. Edmonds’ Sept. 16 editorial, “Harder than rocket science,” was especially on target. Perhaps this coverage helped contribute to the city’s first step — providing space for the Friday lunch formerly offered at St. Alban’s now-closed drop-in centre.
The difficult reality of homelessness is, like it or not, part of the culture in our city, and it’s important that we see it not as an abstract issue but as a daily reality lived by many of our fellow Richmondites.
As an outreach volunteer and St. Alban Extreme Weather Shelter staff, I’ve been inspired to write a series of poems about our more vulnerable neighbours, and will be sharing them, along with photos by outreach worker Hugh Freiberg, at Saturday’s Culture Days event, “Poems in the Pavement.”
In his Sept. 21 letter, Eric Hanson speaks of the need for leadership in meeting the challenge of homelessness in Richmond.
The above event, Oct. 1 at 2:30 p.m. at Brighouse Library will include time for attendees to voice their thoughts and offer possible solutions, and I’m excited to see my fellow citizens lead with their ideas for helping to address this very real but solvable crisis.
Anneliese Schultz
Richmond
