Homelessness in Langley being tackled by new task force

The City of Langley's newly minted homelessness task force says its first course of action is to find a consultant on the issue, with the mayor acknowledging that city staff are no experts when it comes to tackling homelessness.

The chair and co-chair of the new task force met for the first time Tuesday to discuss their mandate. The committee is inviting members of the business community, the faith sector, Fraser Health, BC Housing, and the Langley RCMP to join its board.

“We’re not here to say that we’re going to end homelessness because I don’t think that’s going to happen,” said chair Gayle Martin.

“If we could get out of this what they call the ACT Team—that’s called the Assertive Community Treatment Team and it’s made up of a psychiatrist, a clinical nurse and the RCMP. At the end of the day, if we can at least accomplish that, that is a step in the right direction.”

The task force wants to find a consultant with a broad knowledge of issues related to homelessness. That person will likely be hired after the city budget is passed next month.

“We’re not experts at it,” said Mayor Ted Schaffer. “We’re hopefully going to hire a professional. We realize these changes aren’t going to made overnight. Maybe it will take a couple of years, but at least we’re being proactive.”

Homelessness not just an issue in big cities

The majority of the Lower Mainland’s homeless population lives in Vancouver and Surrey, but homelessness is prevalent in Langley as well. According to last year’s homeless count, the number of homeless living in the city of Langley and Langley Township was 92. However, at the the Gateway of Hope homeless shelter, which is the community’s only emergency shelter, the number seems to be much higher.

“Our numbers show almost 800 people that have come through our emergency shelter and gone on to something,” said director of community resources Troy Gaglardi.

“That’s quite a turnaround of a number of people who have gone forward. So I guess what we’re seeing is almost a continuum, unfortunately, of people who are moving forward and those who are coming in that we didn’t expect to see.”

Youth homelessness causing concern in Langley

Youth outreach workers in Langley say youth homelessness continues to be a concern. Alison Cartier with the Aldergrove Neighbourhood Services Society says at any given time, she is helping anywhere from a dozen to 20 youths find a safe place to stay. She would like to see an emergency shelter for youths in Langley so that people don’t have to be transported to facilities in Abbotsford and Surrey.

“Sometimes they will make unsafe choices specifically for the purpose of staying in Langley,” Cartier said.

“It’s awful to watch that happen, but those are choices that they feel are the only options for them because going to another city isn’t an option that would work. It can lead to sexual exploitation, environments where drug use is prevalent. If they’re trying to make positive healthy choices, it’s difficult to do that when you’re surrounded by unsafe scenarios. Survival takes over, and survival is not always pretty.”