New Pilot Project in New Westminster to Tackle Homelessness, Opioid Addiction and Mental Health Issues

New Westminster's October 30th city council meeting saw the announcement of a major new pilot program. It proposes to tackle the triple crises of homelessness, opioid addiction and rising mental health issues. The pilot will begin as an experience based local initiative with plans to have the program evolve into one handled at the provincial and federal level by the end of its two-year course.

As reported in Part One of this two part look at New Westminster's new pilot project, the council opened with a report on the homeless count in March of 2023. The count is the first one to reflect changes brought by the pandemic as the last count was in the spring of 2020. While the 65% increase in the homeless count is far less than surrounding cities, council agreed that something needed to be done, and now.

City staff presented to council proven best practices from other cities. They demonstrated a clear picture of not only the current crises, but what solutions have worked. The development of three inter-departmental teams and how they will transition their program to higher levels of government was presented at the council meeting for implementation.

The three teams will be a Crises Response Team, an Operations Support Team and a Policy Development and Advocacy Team. Teams will be made up of some existing staff and some new hires, bringing in fresh approaches and skill sets. This people centric approach will engage the community and include First Nations and Indigenous organizations as well as people with lived experience.

The goals are both wide-spread and specific. They will include an extreme weather response shelter, a 24/7 shelter with more beds, a health and resource center, more supportive housing development, expanded outreach to all three crises groups, and a 24/7 sanitation trailer for the unsheltered. 

This organizational structure will include advocating to federal and provincial government. The proposal was passed at the end of a two-hour presentation by the majority of council. "This is the work our community has been asking us to do," said Mayor Patrick Johnstone. "We have great partners in New West, and this approach will assure we are leveraging those supports to get better outcomes for everyone."