‘I’m Really Scared’

On Friday, the line for a free dinner at Vancouver’s Union Gospel Mission stretched completely around the block — hundreds of hungry people waiting with tickets in hand. A handful of them wore protective face masks.

“This is completely unprecedented,” said Jeremy Hunka, UGM’s communications director as he walked down the line.

Lines like these usually happen, maybe, once a year at Christmas. He’s never seen the line so long on an otherwise typical Friday evening.

It’s been like this all week, Hunka said.

As Vancouver — and the country — grapples with the spreading COVID-19 pandemic, fears are growing in one of the city’s most vulnerable communities that not enough is being done to protect homeless and marginalized people.

On Thursday the City of Vancouver declared a state of emergency. The city has begun to give help to the Downtown Eastside, adding wash stations to a neighbourhood lacking in public washrooms and educating SRO operators and tenants about sanitation in their buildings. The city has also formed a Downtown Eastside Task Force with Vancouver Coastal Health, BC Housing and community groups. (A map of available services can be viewed here.)

Over the last 10 days, efforts have been made to step up the response. As well as the new hand washing stations — some of which have already been vandalized — more signage and information on COVID-19 prevention is appearing in business windows and public spaces.

But at the same time, some services have been cut back or closed to help promote social distancing. That’s led to increased pressure on providers like Union Gospel Mission to help pick up the slack.

Service providers have stepped up their efforts as well, creating social distancing policies and switching meal delivery from sit-down communal dinners to handing out meals for people to take away.

This is what the response looks like on the ground in the Downtown Eastside.