Samaritan
HouseHome of the Vancouver Catholic Worker
1143 E Pender St
Coast Salish Territories - Vancouver, BC
V6A 1W6
604-255-1555
info@vancouvercatholicworker.org
NEWS from here & there (but mostly here)
The DTES is not for Condo Developers
here's the text of our letter to the City regarding the development permit for the Sequel 138 project - for more info please go to http://dtesnotfordevelopers.wordpress.com/Mayor and Council,
We live, shop and socialize in the Downtown Eastside; it's our neighbourhood. We are writing to express our deep concern regarding Marc Williams’ project Sequel 138. This project will certainly have a variety of detrimental impacts on the neighborhood and its low-income residents. The well documented ripple effects of gentrification - increased property values, real estate speculation, rent inflation in surrounding buildings, renovictions, influx of new retail stores, enhanced surveillance, expanding zones of exclusion, dispossession and displacement of low-income residents – will spread out from the old Pantages site as they have from the new Woodward’s development to the west.
Sequel 138 has already had an overwhelmingly negative effect on the 100 block East Hastings. The demolition phase of the project has consistently failed to follow even the most basic of safety protocols, resulting in the injury and declining health of residents in the adjacent SRO hotels.
The effect of all of this on our friends and neighbours, as well as ourselves, is truly violent. The results of being constantly surveilled, questioned and judged as we go about our daily activities are tangible health problems and social isolation. We are already seeing a deepening divide between newer residents and us as the style of businesses coming into the neighbourhood are out of our economic league.
There is broad consensus in the DTES community that Sequel 138, once completed, will result in displacement and exclusion for low-income residents living nearby, and threaten the viability of businesses and services that support them. To date, over 2000 individuals and 45 organizations have signed a community resolution calling on Marc Williams to sell the property to the City for 100% community controlled social housing and amenity space.
If Sequel goes ahead, it will be impossible to implement the DTES Housing Plan in the Oppenheimer District. According to page 58 of the city's DTES Housing Plan: “If land values get to a point where market development is attractive despite having to incorporate a 20% social housing component, it is unlikely that 1 for 1 replacement of the existing 2000 SRO units will be possible in the DEOD." Sequel 138 is the thin edge of the wedge that will prevent the replacement of SROs with good housing.
In addition, the Sequel project does not fit with the DTES Housing Plan’s Action 9.4.1 which says the official development plan should be reviewed to “ensure the ability of the zoning to secure at least 1 for 1 replacement of at least 2000 existing SRO units with housing for low income singles with the capacity to make up the shortfall in 1 for 1 replacement elsewhere in the city.”
The negative impacts of Sequel 138 on the DTES low-income community must not be ignored. The Development Permit process focuses entirely on technical and legal matters, and eliminates from consideration the social implications of this project. The violence of displacement and the increase in human suffering that will spread throughout the neighbourhood as a result of this development can only be halted by stopping the project immediately.
We are asking you not to grant Sequel 138 a development permit.
Sincerely Yours,
Sarah Bjorknas & Victoria Marie
VATICAN II… The Church in dialogue
By Gregory Baumfrom the scarboromissions.ca - January/February 2012
the whole article is here - this is the final paragraqh...
The creative dialogue practiced at Vatican Council II has not been allowed to become the model for a renewed Church, as Paul VI had wanted in his Ecclesiam Suam. This is a great disappointment. Yet it reminds us that the Good News we have received is not the Church, but the Gospel. In the teaching of Jesus and in his life, death and resurrection, Christians find the newness of life, the forgiveness of sin, the rescue from despair and the power to love God and today’s deeply troubled humanity. Faith in the Gospel continues to produce vital movements in the Church, groups of Catholics committed to social justice, protecting the environment, practicing meditation, developing theological insights, working for peace, serving the weak and the sick, supporting community development—and in doing so, welcoming God’s kingdom coming into the world.
Protesters
Guide to the
Law of Civil Disobedience in B.C. - "Take Back Our Community" Edition - September 2011
Local lawyer Leo
McGrady has updated his work since the Olympics in 2010. He would
like acknowledgment for his work but the material is
available for posting, distributing and copying.Civil.Disobedience.Guide.September.2011
Be Radical, have Roots!Events & Community Connections
What's Happening at Samaritan House
Samaritan House Roundtable Discussion
no meetings April 20 & April 27 2012
Join us May 04 to listen to and discuss another inspiring podcast by the Jesus Radicals folks
Weekly at 7pm - Friday nights
All are welcome
Our newsletter has returned!
PDF copy of From the Well is here for download, sharing, printing ...Interested in contributing to another edition? Let us know what you'd like to share.
We support the Canadian Boat to Gaza
http://canadaboatgaza.org/cms/en/home.aspxFreedom Flotilla II will leave during the third week of June from various European ports. The Canadian Boat to Gaza has been named the "Tahrir" (Liberation in Arabic) and was chosen to honour the square in Cairo that was the focus of the democratic uprising that has spread hope across the Middle East.
White Poppies for Peace
We have white poppies available by donation. Stop by the house or give us a call. Or click the photo for link to the source, a great internet resource - The Peace Pledge Union in the UK.
Last updated on 15 April, 2012
