Archival File (City of Vancouver Archives)
Facebook Post (March 20, 2019)
Citation
City of Vancouver Archives: 1988-1990 Residential funding – Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program (RRAP) COV S62 Box 937-B1 fld 3
Description
On April 11, 1990, amidst the turmoil of deinstitutionalization (i.e. the transfer of care for people living with mental illness from institutions to communities), the Greater Vancouver Mental Health Service Society (GVMHSS) wrote to Mayor and Council. In their letter, they drew attention to the insufficient resources dedicated to residential housing for people living with mental illness, and implored the City to pressure senior levels of government regarding the clear need for more housing as a foundation for people’s wellness.
Particularly in light of recent events surrounding the inhumane “living” conditions at Oppenheimer Park, the foresight of the GVMHSS almost 20 years ago is notable—and curious. What do we make of these crises of housing, homelessness, mental health, and overdose, if in some ways, they were predictable, even predicted? How is stable and habitable housing connected to mental health, historically and now?
See Gabrielle Plonka’s (March 15, 2019) article about the situation in Oppenheimer Park in The Tyee here: https://thetyee.ca/…/Jean-Swanson-Housing-Homeless-Shot-Do…/