The CRAB Park homeless encampment has come to an end.
Vancouver park board crews, park rangers and police moved in to the camp Thursday morning to dismantle the remaining tents, which were occupied by five people.
As of late Thursday afternoon, three tents remained, with outreach workers helping occupants to secure housing, health services and income supports as part of the transition from the waterfront community.
“Our intent is to get everyone in compliance by the end of day today,” Steve Jackson, the park board’s general manager, told reporters. “Obviously, we're taking our time with this to just make sure that we're giving folks the time they need to pack down [their tents].”
Overnight sheltering
The people were living in what Jackson described as “the designated area” of the park. The area was established in April 2022 at the discretion of a previous general manager, and it was to enable daytime sheltering for a select number of longtime camp residents.
The space will continue to be available for overnight sheltering for those who wish to use it, which is allowed under current bylaws. People will not be allowed to keep tents up during the day.
Sandra Singh, a deputy city manager, said the remaining camp residents all had “responsive, thoughtful housing income and support plans.” Singh anticipated the majority would move into housing by Thursday night.
“If there's anyone remaining, it's not because there weren't choices available to them,” she said.
'It's tough'
John, who declined to provide his surname, left his tent behind Thursday after securing housing at what he described as a newer apartment building in the Downtown Eastside. It is equipped with a shower and kitchenette, he said.
“It’s pretty good, but the rules kind of suck though,” he said, noting the landlord’s rules limit overnight guests to seven days per month.
The 64-year-old said he last paid rent several years ago at an apartment in Agassiz. A metal fabricator worker, he hasn’t been able to find a job since the pandemic was declared in 2020.
“It’s tough, and I ended up here,” he said, noting he was worried about what was going to happen to his neighbours from the encampment.
Sacha Christiano, 38, is one of those neighbours.
Glacier Media spoke to him as he was packing up his belongings to consider an offer for housing. He wasn’t sure of all the details, but said he would take the housing if it suited his needs.
'Systematically planned joke'
Otherwise, he said, he intended to provide it to another member of the encampment.
“I'm hopeful,” he said. “I guess that's the whole point of this is to get housing. We're not trying to do anything else by being here. We're just trying to get proper housing, not a [single-room-occupancy] place, but proper housing.”
Christiano wanted to make it clear that dismantling the encampment, which was once home to more than 100 people, does not end the city’s homelessness crisis. Other parks, streets and various areas throughout Vancouver are filled with homeless people, he said.
“If this gets closed down and they pat themselves on the back saying they did a good job, and they're going to open this up for [community use], it's a joke — it’s really a systematically planned joke,” he said.
'For the near future'
At one point in the camp’s three-year history on the peninsula, up to 150 people lived in the park. That population decreased to about 40 people just before city crews began a major cleanup in March and April.
The city and park board then identified a select list of longtime camp residents to remain in the designated area of the park.
Park rangers will monitor the park regularly “for the near future” to ensure another encampment isn’t established, Jackson said.
