Advocates urge mutual aid as Vancouver’s unhoused face extreme weather

A Vancouver advocacy group for the unhoused is asking for help supporting the city’s most vulnerable in the face of recent extreme weather.

Kaylee with Stop the Sweeps says many shelters face overcrowding, and some have been forced to turn people away after an atmospheric river brought record-breaking rainfall this weekend. 

“So we want people to start doing more mutual aid stuff and creating more community with people who are their neighbours, who are unhoused,” she said.

She and Stop the Sweeps hope people can spring into action by checking in on the unhoused and donating tents, tarps, and clothes.

Likewise, she says speaking to park rangers and city staff on their behalf can make a difference.

“Saying, ‘I live here and I don’t mind that they’re here, and I want them to stay.’”

Kaylee says some people choose to shelter outside because they may not feel comfortable with the level of safety in shelters.

“Some shelters may have regular people that other unhoused people don’t feel comfortable being around, and that’s completely their decision to be able to judge that for themselves,” she explained. 

“The other issue is that some of these shelters are incredibly carceral. So there’s searches, there’s rules about how you can be, what you can bring in with you, and what sort of things you’re allowed to do while you’re in the shelter. And that just doesn’t work for a lot of people, and they want to be in community with people that they know will protect them and their belongings.”

Ultimately, Kaylee says Stop the Sweeps wants the city to rescind the policies that make it illegal for people to keep their tents up during the day and shelter as they want.

The three-day atmospheric river that pounded B.C.’s South Coast over the weekend and caused damaging flash floods also smashed a dozen daily rainfall records.