Homelessness Action Week 2025 Statement to City Council

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In Delegation at CNW City Council

Good evening. My name is Jack York, and I am here as the Board Chair of the New Westminster Homelessness Coalition Society. On behalf of the New Westminster Homelessness Coalition, I am honoured to express our sincere gratitude to Mayor Johnstone, and the New Westminster city councilors, for releasing this proclamation to mark Homelessness Action week 2025.

Homelessness Action Week is our annual opportunity to bring the experience of the unhoused population into focus, to raise public awareness, and to challenge stigma.

We want to take this opportunity to highlight that there are many reasons why people become unhoused, including unaffordable and inaccessible housing, poverty, disability, mental health and substance use challenges, trauma, and stigma and discrimination, whether because people are Indigenous, or because of their race, gender, or any number of other, sometimes intersecting aspects of their identity. The judgment and discrimination unhoused people often face as a result of this stigma compounds the struggles that they already experience in trying to get their basic needs met.

As we have highlighted at Council before, there are many organizations, many of them members of our Coalition, that are filled with dedicated individuals, who work each day to address the needs of the unhoused population, including the underlying reasons why people became unhoused, and to mitigate risks to their wellbeing and survival, including the toxic drug supply. Their commitment to doing this difficult work not only addresses the needs of the unhoused population, but also contributes to the safety and well-being of all residents of New Westminster.

That said, there is much more work to be done. The ever-worsening housing crisis, combined with an ever more toxic drug supply, make this work increasingly challenging. The answer to these problems is to focus on addressing the underlying reasons why people become unhoused, through a reinvestment in mental health, substance use, and other supportive services, like safe consumptions sites and daytime programming for those who are unhoused, all while building a broad continuum of housing, including affordable social housing, and low-barrier supportive housing, for those trying to move out of homelessness.

The answer to making our community a safer place is not to pull back on services and to stigmatize and misrepresent unhoused people, it is to redouble our efforts, to be more innovative and bold, and to be led by compassion and a commitment to doing the work that will actually make a difference.

As part of making this difference, over recent months, we have begun to launch our new Advocacy Network, which is an opportunity for you to get involved in advocating for the changes that will address homelessness in our city and our region, through information, letter templates, and other opportunities to be a part of the solution.

Homelessness Action Week is an opportunity to come together as a city, to inform, educate and learn about homelessness, its causes and its potential solutions, to identify and challenge misconceptions about and stigma toward those community members who are unhoused, to connect with and welcome everyone in our community, and to reflect on and celebrate the values of inclusion, equity, community, and compassion that form our identity as a city, and make New Westminster the incredible city that it is.

This year, we are particularly excited to announce a new headlining event called Voices in Action, which was developed with significant support from the City of New West, and will feature storytelling from people with lived experience, a panel discussion exploring solutions to homelessness, tables with non-profit organizations and government to explore the work being done to address the issue, as well as entertainment and a free lunch! The event takes place on Saturday, October 18th, from 11 am to 3 pm at 502 Columbia Street, the old location of the Army and Navy store. We hope you’ll be able to swing by and join us!

We encourage each of you to take a moment and explore this event, and the schedule of other events for Homelessness Action Week at nwhomeless.ca — that’s nwhomeless.ca. Together, let’s show up, get involved, and be a part of the change our community needs. Every action counts, and your presence matters.

Thank you,
Jack York