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City staff gave Veronica Crow Eagle (60) directions
to the emergency shelter after one hour’s notice.
Two nights later she was walking the streets without
a bed.
While helping a 60-year-old
First Nations' woman move to a new apartment with a
team of Pivot staff and volunteers, I had a "moment
of truth."
It was a realization that
Veronica Crow-Eagle was literally dumped on the street
and left to her own devices following the sudden closure
of her apartment block by City of Vancouver staff on
March 30.
It was now four days after
the closure and Pivot rented a van to help people returning
to pick up their belongings. A privately-run single
room occupancy (SRO) rental building, the Burns Block
had closed down after it failed a fire safety inspection
and amazingly residents were given one hour to get out
of their apartments.
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Some
of the residents ended up on the streets that night.
Others disappeared, no doubt to sleep on some friend
or family member's sofa. Those who had no where else
to go, including Crow Eagle, were directed by City officials
to Harbour Light, the Salvation Army shelter for drug
and alcohol rehabilitation a few blocks away in the
Downtown Eastside.
Crow Eagle, from the Blackfoot
First Nation in Alberta, had lived in the Burns Block
for eight years. She said that the hotel had gradually
run down after the previous owner died about five years
ago and the building was sold.
The closure came without
warning – her $375 monthly rent cheque was only
given to landlord Nick Bahrami the day before and it
was cashed the afternoon they were evicted. She is still
trying to get her deposit and the rent back from Bahrami
who is now trying to sell the building for $2.5 million,
up from the $550,000 he paid for it in 2003.
Following the eviction on
March 30, Crow Eagle said she had a hard night in the
emergency shelter. Scared of people recently released
from "penitentiaries," she moved to the Haven
Salvation Army emergency hostel in the Downtown Eastside
the next night.
Staying in the emergency
shelters does not guarantee a bed and on Saturday night
Veronica was told she was out of luck – the shelter
was full.
Continued...
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