The Downtown Eastside is turning inside out, with record numbers of hotels and low-rent buildings kicking all of their tenants out.

Recent closures include:

• Star Beach Haven, 19 rooms at 658 Alexander Street (today evicting all tenants as precondition of sale);
• Backpacker’s Inn, 42 rooms at 7 West Hastings at Carrall (closed today by owners as precondition of sale, power and gas shut off, same owners as Star Beach Haven);
• 334 Carrall Street, 30 apartments (closed in February by owner Robert Wilson for renovations);
• Marie Gomez Place, 76 apartments at 590 Alexander Street (closed in January by the province, condemned due to mold);
• Dominion Hotel, 67 rooms at 210 Abbott Street (closed in January for renovations);
• Columbia Hotel, 69 rooms at 303 Columbia Street (Carnegie discovered it was illegally converted to tourist accommodation in December, reported to City of Vancouver, no apparent response);
• Phoenix Apartments 18 units at 514 Alexander Street (closed as precondition of sale in February); and,
• Colonial Residence, 144 units at 122 Water Street (54 rooms empty since at least March 20, unknown why management is emptying the hotel).

Total lost since December 2007 (last 4 months): 375 units in 8 buildings.

Posted: April 10th, 2008 under Downtown Eastside, Homelessness, Housing, News, Poverty, Social Issues, Social Justice, Women's Issues.
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“Shelters, transition houses and safe houses in Vancouver?s Downtown Eastside (DTES) turn away about 200 people each night, leaving many on the streets without access to basic amenities.”

Read the full article here.

Posted: August 3rd, 2007 under DEWC in the News, Homelessness, Housing, Women's Issues.
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“Activists are raising an alarm about the future of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre’s new role as an emergency shelter.”

Read the full article here.

Posted: March 19th, 2007 under Activism, DEWC in the News, Funding, Homelessness, Social Justice.
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On Sunday November 19, 2006 at 5:00pm when the Centre closed, over 30 women refused to leave insisting that the Centre remain open for 24 hours a day. This protest was led by the Elders who have been walking through ourstreets in the evenings caring for women.

“We have been telling them (staff) for years that we need this. Every night we see women sleeping on the streets and men abusing them on the streets. Last week a woman was raped in front of the bottle depot on Hastings. We need a place for our women to go at night. The Centre must stay open!” Bernie Williams, Elders Helper. Read more »

Posted: November 19th, 2006 under Homelessness, Women's Issues.
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