Last month the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCPA) surveyed the hotels in the Downtown Eastside and found 486 privately owned empty housing units. They did not count the many empty government-owned that may be ready to open soon. CCPA has proposed that the city and BC Housing should get short term leases with private hotel owners to upgrade and manage these buildings as shelters for the homeless. Non-Partisan Association mayoral candidate Peter Ladner has rejected this proposal but Vision Vancouver candidate, Gregor Robertson expressed support for the CCAP proposal.

After more then twenty-five years the New York City municipal government has finally decided to settle a lawsuit filed by the Legal Aid Society to draw attention to homeless families. The lawsuit argued that the city failed to provide adequate shelter or develop standards of shelters for families and was based on previous litigation that had unusually, established the right to shelter in New York City. The New York based, Coalition for the Homeless applauded the decision but said that, "Over four years have passed since the mayor announced his ambitious Five Year Plan to end homelessness, and the numbers of families with children in New York City shelters has grown dramatically. Tonight, over 14,400 children are homeless, a 31% increase since Bloomberg took office. There are over 9,000 families in shelter tonight, fully twice the number the mayor had predicted in his plan."

During a press conference in Beijing, BC Premier Gordon Campbell was asked by international journalists about homelessness, addiction, poverty and protest during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Gordon Campbell claimed that the province has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into housing and that there will be significant improvments by 2010. But advocates in Vancouver such as the Citywide Housing Coalition, say that homelessness is only increasing and this has been proven by the most recent Greater Vancouver homeless count. Residents of the Downtown Eastside are afraid that addicts, the poor and homeless will be jailed or forced out of town during the 2010 Olympics.

For further reading check out the following news stories:

• CBC - "Critics question B.C. premier's promise to house homeless by 2010"
• CP - "Poverty, addiction won't be what world sees at 2010 Games, B.C. premier says"
• Globe and Mail - "Tables turn on Vancouver in 2010 Games grilling"
• Google News

Pivot Legal Society, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) and the United Native Nations have filed a human rights complaint against the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association and Geoff Plant, the former Attorney General of British Columbia and presently acting as the Civil City Commissioner in Vancouver. The complaint alleges that the Downtown Ambassadors run by the DVBIA under the guidance of Geoff Plant, discriminate against homeless people, particulary aboriginal people and people with disabilities. The complaint alleges that the Ambassadors rountinely tell homeless people to move along regardless of their location which denies them equal access to public space. Read more in a press release by Pivot, "Groups say DVBIA, Civil City actions discriminatory"

The Wellesley Institute has sponsored an innovative research report by the FTM Safer Shelter Project Research Team about the unique needs of homeless trans men (female to male (FTM)/ Transgender/Transsexual) in the Toronto shelter system. It was a collaborative, community-based research project led by and for our trans communities, with the aim to radically improve access to shelters and housing for trans men (female-to-male) in and around Toronto. Download the Full Report - Invisible Men: FTMs and Homelessness in Toronto.

Picture the Homeless, a New York based activist organization, are fighting a campaign to demand that the transit authority make a bus that travels to a homeless shelter on Ward's Island, free for homeless passengers. An estimated 90% of the riders are homeless men living in the shelter on the island. They are also protesting the NYPD's practice of using that bus as an easy spot to make arrests and meet their quotas. Read more in an article in the New York Times, "On a Bus for the Homeless, a Push to Forgive the Fare."

Picture the Homeless have also recently put New York City mayor, Michael Bloomberg, on trial in Homeless People's Court. The mayor launched a large affordable housing program called the Five Year Plan. To mark the four year anniversary, Picture the Homeless put the mayor on trial and found him guilty. Read more and view video of the trial on the Picture the Homeless blog.

The BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) and other Victoria lawyers are trying to challenge Victoria's bylaws which prevent homeless people from sleeping outside in tents and other shelters. BCLAA argues that the bylaws violate Charter rights of the homeless and Canada's international obligations. Read a CBC story about the court challenge,"Homeless have right to tent in parks, Victoria lawyer argues" and a press release from BCLAA, Civil Liberties Association granted leave to intervene in important homeless rights case (in PDF).

Listen to some interviews of people who live on the streets of Vancouver from CBC's Vancouver, The Early Edition - Homeless in Vancouver (audio).

On May 3rd, people around BC, from Prince George to Vancouver Island will be STANDing for housing. STANDs for Housing started in Vancouver over the closing of social housing in the Little Mountain neighbourhood of Vancouver. The Stands have spread around the province to reflect the growing crisis of homelessness and lack of affordable housing. For more information see the Community Advocates for Little Mountain (CALM) website.

In Toronto, three army reservists accused of killing a homeless man were allowed to plea guilty to reduced charges. The soldiers were originally charged with second degree murder in the beating death of a man in a Toronto park. One solider was apparently overheard saying that he hated homeless people. Read more in a CBC article, "Reservists plead guilty in fatal beating of man" and in the Toronto Star article, "Guilty pleas in homeless man's death".

While in Vancouver, according to the Tyee, at least 56 homeless people have died in the last two years. This is at least 19% higher than the general population. Read more, "BC's Homeless Death Toll: 56 or More in Two Years."

PIVOT Legal Society, the Carnegie Community Action Project, and the Impact of the Olympics on Community Coalition have launched a complaint to the UN about the living conditions of residents in Vancouver's single room occupancy hotels. The formal complaint letter, facts of the complaint and supporting documentation is on the no place like home website.

Watch a BBC news story, "Subprime -The 'new' homeless in the US" (Video), about tent cities that have sprung up outside Los Angeles as people lose their homes in the subprime mortgage crisis.

Metro Vancouver has released its preliminary numbers for the 2008 Homlessness Count and overall homlessness is on the rise. The count found 2592 people homeless across the region. This is a 19% increase from the 2005 count and a 131% increase from the 2002 count. On the Metro Vancouver Regional Homelessness website, you can find the 2008 Homeless Count - Preliminary numbers (in PDF), the questionnaires used by the counters and other information about the count, including reports from previous Homeless Counts. Read one the homeless counter's story on the Tyee, "We Tried to Count the Homeless" and why he sees the count as underestimating how many people are actually living on the streets. You can also read a CBC article about the count, "Homelessness on the rise in Metro Vancouver, says report."

The Alliance to End Homelessness in Ottawa has released its Fourth Report Card on Ending Homelessness. The Alliance found in 2007: more children in families were in shelters, on average there were longer shelter stays, average rents in Ottawa increased, the Action Ottawa program built 73 low income housing units, there was a decrease of households on wait lists for supportive housing, and 9567 households at risk of losing their housing were helped. Download the Fourth Report Card on Ending Homelessness - Highlights English, in Français (in PDF), the Full Report Card in English or Français (in PDF).

Activists stood on various street corners in different areas of Vancouver to protest the provincial and federal governments' lack of initiative toward housing and homelessness. Watch a video about the Stand for Housing on HomelessNation, and find out more about future events to protest the lack of affordable housing on the websites of the City Wide Housing Coalition, the Save Low Income Housing Coalition, and the Lower Mainland Network for Affordable Housing.

More and more anti-poverty organizations and coalitions are using the web to broadcast videos of their work. Housing not War, a campaign to demand the federal government spend money on housing instead of war and militarism organized by anti-war organizations and anti-poverty organizations in Toronto, has a short video on YouTube, "Housing not Bombs," of their most recent demonstration. The Kensington Welfare Rights Union, a multiracial organization of, by and for poor and homeless people, has a video on YouTube, "Homeless Hero," about homeless people organizing in the USA.

CKUT, a community radio station out of McGill University, is hosting a Winter 2008: Homeless Marathon The sixth annual Homelessness Marathon will serve up 14 hours of people-powered radio, broadcasting this year from outside of the Native Friendship Center. With the goal of the Marathon is to provide an opportunity for homeless people and their supporters to take to the airwaves, and allow a nationwide discussion on homelessness issues and possible solutions.

During the Governor General's tour of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside yesterday, women and residents blocked a local city councillor, Elizabeth Ball from entering the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre, a community centre and shelter for women, because of her party's inaction on affordable housing and policies on homelessness, poverty, and the Downtown Eastside. Read more on David Eby's blog, and in a CBC article, "Governor General, councillor heckled in Downtown Eastside".

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities has called for a national action plan to end homelessness and deliver affordable housing. Read more in a CBC article, "$3.35B needed each year for housing strategy, cities say".

Between the Lines is a weekly public affairs show broadcast from Connecticut that provides a platform for individuals and progressive organizations that are generally ignorned or marginalized by the mainstream media. Between the Lines hosts an audio archive as well as a blog. A recent program interviewed Michael Stoops, the acting executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. Listen to the radio show, "Report Finds Homelessness Rising Across the US" (Audio).