Welcome to Your Kamloops!

Really Hard to Believe the RCMP Did Not Consult...

After all the growing pains coordinated efforts have been through, it is really hard to believe the RCMP did not consult with social agencies after arresting sex trade workers this past weekend. I am hoping there is some piece of information that did not get included in the article in the newspaper this morning.

I've been very supportive of the proactive efforts of our local detachment. Simply put, they have done an amazing job reducing crime in Kamloops and have been working cooperatively with other community safety partners.

I gotta wonder what happened here. New officer in charge of the arrests? Liason people on holiday?

Adventures at Royal Inland Hospital...

It's actually my father, as mentioned below, who is on a hospital adventure with his knee replacement surgery. I have just been visiting. With all the brouhaha over our local and/versus regional health services, it has been interesting to visit Royal Inland over the past few days.

First, the physical structures in our hospital seem to be showing their age. I noticed  wear and tear in the wards, masking tape directioals arrows, and a lot of stuff parked in hallways. I am not sure how this impacts the quality of care, though, as the nurses and doctors seem excellent and caring.

The parking maching for the parkade is not winning a lot of friends. I am not sure how new the system is, but most of the people waiting in line with me were really grumbling. I personally found the machines not too bad but then I am a bit of a geek.

Very Promising Community Plan to End Homelessness....Forum Last Night

Volunteers at the 2008 Kamloops Homeless Count

A lot of great work has been put into a process to develop a plan to end homelessness in Kamloops. Sponsored by Changing the Face of Poverty  and coordinated through the United Way, the plan development involved many community representatives from virtually all areas. 

The plan can be viewed here (web viewer) and here (pdf link). At the end of this post, I will also quote a good summary of the 6 goals in the Kamloops Daily News article by Mike Youds.

A lot of people attended the forum on the plan last night. I was really heartened to see Jason Fawcett from the Kelson Group, the city's largest landlord, speak about the innovating programs and the challenges in housing people who are formely homeless and may have addiction and mental health issues. A great number of city councillors and staff attended, as well as representatives from our MLAs and MP.

It was also wonderful to see a recognition from social agencies that they should be cooperating more and better sharing information. I think this situation has improved over the 4 or 5 years I have been paying attention, so there already good partnerships upon which to build.

Kamloops Daily News summary of the plan:

1. Establish a local housing board to assess the problem, enhance the stock of acceptable housing and respond to market changes.

2. Provide greater housing stability and reduce evictions through housing support agreements and a homeless resident program.

3. Connect people with the help they need (improve outreach and adopt a network approach to support services).

4. Build basic skills needed to maintain housing and financial independence (improve access to life skills coaching).

5. Improve fairness, accessibility and responsiveness (create changes to laws, procedures, regulations and protocols).

6. Help people find and maintain employment.

Draft Detailed Agenda for the Sustainable Kamloop Plan Public Forum, April 17th 2010

Here is the draft agenda for the forum - in the Scribd viewer below.

My main question right now which I will ask this week: How much time will there be for questions and discussion? Is this more a presentation format type of forum?

Sustainable Kamloops Forum Draft Agenda - April 17th 2010

Changing Face of Poverty Meeting - Highlights

Last Wednesday, at the monthly Changing the Face of Poverty roundtable, many items of note were discussed, including:

• a new brochure created by a TRU social work student that provides a snapshot of "poverty at a glance" in Kamloops. It's a good accessible way to get a broad picture of the challenges low income people face.
• a public forum will be held on the homelessness action plan on April 11th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm at the United Church, downtown. (I should write a separate post on this)
• the TD bank offers banking services for low income people (without large fees, and lots of red tape, etc)
• income assistance will start to be cut off for people who have outstanding criminal warrants to deal with. Some exceptions might be made (eg. singles with children).

For more info on any of this stuff,

Call: 250.374.2119 ext. 200    Email: louise@kamloopsefry.com

Why has BC Government Stopped Worrying Out About Public Opinion on Gaming?

Given the financial contribution and social impact of local gaming facilities, Sean Holman's recent post is an important read.

Province Once Again Assists Kamloops Homeless. Thinking Through What Next..

Since I've been paying relatively close attention (4 years +/-), I've been pretty impressed with the provincial government's investments to help the homeless in Kamloops.

The latest news that BC Housing has purchased the former Rendezvous Hotel building and will turn into a 24 hour co-ed emergency shelter. Additionally, the province has awarded a contract to Kamloops based company Northern Trailer for the construction of modular homes targeted towards increasing the province's affordable rental housing stock.

The Rendezvous purchase raises some interesting opportunities and issues.

I wonder who will run the new shelter. There are many very qualified social agencies, but I am also thinking specifically of the almost entirely volunteer run Society of Vincent De Paul. Society volunteers have tirelessly, selflessly, and successfully served homeless people in Kamloops for some time. They run the extreme weather overnight shelter, "Out of the Cold", every year. I know there has been some interest from the Society in being involved in a 24 hour shelter. I hope there is an opportunity for them to partner with a social agency here.

There has been push by some to geographically centralize community services for homeless people. The Rendezvous is literally doors away from the New Life Mission and the Men's Christian Hostel. This may be a good thing in that people seeking services can find many in this one area of town. Alternatively, concentrating services also means people have to travel longer distances perhaps. The impact on one neighbourhood may also be quite large.

These thoughts are not comprehensive, just doing a little thinking out loud.

Podcast: A Conversation with Dr Tom Owen, Director of Environment and Sustainability at TRU

Early in 2009, Dr Tom Owen assumed a very important job in Kamloops. He became the first Director of Environment and Sustainability at Thompson Rivers University. I was really honoured when Tom agreed to an interview on Your Kamloops Radio. Under the player below, you will find an "audio map" of our conversation:

00:33 - how did he come to TRU
01:49- state of environment and sustainability of TRU when you arrived
03:41 - steps taken to carbon neutrality
05:15 - challenges and successes in measuring carbon footprint
06:48 -examples of new sustainability practices
07:48 - ways to provide feedback for TRU sustainability plan
08:55 - is it too late to stop climate change impacts?
10:21 - what the loss of species like salmon and grizzly bears could mean for humans
11:17 - what motivates you to work for sustainability and the environment
13:07 - does the economy in recession trump the environment? Political capital for core environmental value of environment
15:45 - environmental demographic change strategy
17:45 - climate change messaging, be positive, be pragmatic
19:47 - the green economy in Kamloops
21:58 - whats on deck in terms of TRU sustainability office activities in the near future
23:14 - sharing sustainability info with other BC Universities

Kamloops End Homelessness Update...

Last Wednesday, I again had the great honour of attending the monthly Changing of the Poverty committee meeting. The meeting's major topic: various activities to assist homeless folks in our community:

Homelessness Action Week: This coming week is Homelessness Action Week in Kamloops. Activities include a homeless count, a community breakfast at the Kamloops Spirit Square on October 16th, and a volunteer opportunity for youth who will be cooking a meal at the United Church Pit Stop. For more information on the homeless count, Ken Salter at the ASK Wellness centre is your man.

Homelessness Action Plan: Another quick update on this really exciting initiative, facilitated by the Kamloops Thompson United Way. There are 3 different issue specific subcommittees working on the issues of housing, support, and bridging to financial independence. These groups will make recommendations to the community towards the end of the year. People are energetic, but are grappling with scope of the problem.

Out of the Cold Extreme Weather Shelter: gearing up again for weekly Wed and Sun operation and also every day when mercury drops below -10. There is a strong likelihood of a second North Shore location.

Why isn't BC Lotteries Sharing Results Addressing Problem Gaming?

Sean Holman's story is troubling, especially the part of BCLC wheeling and dealing with public's right to know...