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.

Read the full article here.

Read the full article here.

Read the full article here.

“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.

On the night of the 19th over 40 homeless women used the Centre for shelter and over 120 used the Centre as a respite from the cold and wet weather. The following night over 50 homeless women needed a safe dry place to sleep. Women who used the Centre were not the same ones who use the Drop In during the day – they are young and very very sick.

The Centre prides itself as a member driven organization, we have known that there is a need for womens only 24/7 place and have been asking government to fund such a place. The funders have been supportive of the Drop In over the years, the conditions are changing rapidly and the support for a 24/7 space has not materialized for various reasons. It is time for the Centre to take action and to stop making excuses and take responsibility to do what is needed to keep women safe and healthy.
As of 10 am on Friday November 24, 2006 the Downtown Eastside Womens’ Centre will be open 24/7 for as long as we can. Each night up to 60 women will have a safe and dry place to go. This is exciting and at the same time distressing because no-one should have to sleep on the floor at the Centre. It is exciting because women of the downtown eastside rose up, spoke up and refuse to accept any less. They have supported each other in so manyways, they brought blankets from their own homes, helped the women who were extremely ill, cooked and cleaned. While it is not clear how long we can sustain this action we have no doubt that this is the right thing to do.