Resources

On October 19, 2024, British Columbians will head to the polls for the upcoming provincial election. British Columbians are facing a multitude of issues, some of which we see exacerbated amongst the community FIRST serves in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. We need government action now, and together we have an excellent opportunity to organize and leverage collective action. Ahead of election day, we invite you to join us in advocacy action on two key issues: vacancy control and safe supply. By focusing on these issues, we can collectively prevent people from becoming homeless, and prevent people from dying from overdoses caused by a tainted supply of drugs.

Our Invitation

We are organizing an advocacy campaign directed at each of the four primary BC political party leaders (Premier David Eby, BC NDP; Kevin Falcon, BC United; John Rustad, Conservative Party of BC; Sonia Furstenau, Green Party of BC), encouraging them to act on housing and drug policy.

Collective action has the power to influence political change. We invite you to sign our online pledge forms:

BC Needs Vacancy Control
BC Needs Safe Supply

About the Issues:

Housing Policy: Vacancy Control
BC tops two undesirable lists: the eviction capital of Canada and the most unaffordable housing in Canada. Rent is out of control, but it doesn’t have to be. FIRST UNITED is a provincial leader in housing justice. Through our extensive research and expertise we have developed a comprehensive law reform platform that protects tenants, reduces community displacement, and prevents homelessness. Earlier in 2024, the provincial government adopted several of FIRST UNITED’s recommendations. However, one recommendation that has not yet been accepted is vacancy control. Vacancy control has the potential to make the greatest impact for the most people in BC.

Vacancy control is when the allowable annual rent increases apply to the rental unit, regardless of a change of landlord or tenant. Right now, landlords are strongly incentivized to evade rent control by forcing tenant turnover through bad-faith evictions. Through evictions, landlords can increase rent by unlimited amounts. We see this happen across the province. Seniors, people of colour, LGBTQ2S+, and low-income people are at highest risk of homelessness and displacement through these bad-faith evictions, but people of all walks of life and incomes are negatively impacted.

Vacancy control will disincentivize that. It will stabilize rents and prevent people from all walks of life from becoming homeless. This is what’s needed.

Drug Policy: Safe Supply
Since 2016, over 14,000 people in British Columbia have died from toxic drug poisoning. They are friends and family members, students and parents, lawyers and construction workers, those with stable and high-paying jobs and people experiencing homelessness. The overdose crisis is not limited to the Downtown Eastside—although 2-3 people in this small community die from overdose daily—it is not limited to those experiencing addiction. The overdose crisis is at high risk of worsening if action is not taken now.

The reason so many are dying from overdose is because the supply of drugs is unregulated and tainted. The issue is further compounded by a lack of resources and harmful policies: there are not enough safe consumption sites, recriminalization puts people at heightened risk, and immediate access to detox and treatment are not currently available.

However, the bottom line is that deaths occur because people do not have access to a safe and regulated supply of drugs.

Disinformation and fear mongering have taken over the public narrative and have dire consequences. Safe supply is an evidence-based approach that will allow people to survive, stabilize their lives, and be alive until they can or want to access treatment. Safe supply is the courageous policy needed to end the overdose crisis.

Digital Assets

Feel free to use and share these assets widely, and tag us at @FirstUnitedDTES on Facebook, Instagram, and X (Twitter).

Facebook Frames
Download customized Facebook frames to add to your Facebook profile photo.

Instructions:

1. Go to https://www.twibbonize.com/u/firstuniteddtes.
2. Click on the #VacancyControlforBC or #SafeSupplyforBC campaign.
3. Close any pop-up ads
4. Click “Choose Photo” button.
5. Select the photo you want to use for your Facebook photo.
6. Click the “Download” button.
7. Click “Download” button again.
8. Upload as your Facebook profile photo.

Social Media Graphics
Vacancy Control:

Safe Supply:

Online Panel Discussion

We’re also partnering with the Pacific Mountain Regional Council for an online panel discussion on Wednesday, October 2 about these issues. We encourage you to share this information with your community and attend the discussion to learn more about the issues. Learn more on Pacific Mountain Regional Council’s Anti-Poverty Fall Webinar Series.

What you need to know about your rights and access to cooling under BC Hydro’s program providing free portable air conditioners to tenants.

Am I eligible for a free air conditioner from BC Hydro?
If you are a low-income renter, you may be able to get a free air conditioner
from BC Hydro.

What are the income limits to qualify for the BC Hydro free air conditioner program?

Number of people in household (including children)	Maximum household income before taxes
1 person	$39,700
2 people	$49,500
3 people	$60,800
4 people	$73,800
5 people	$83,700
6 people	$94,400
7 or more people	$105,100

How do I apply for the BC Hydro air conditioner program?
You can apply online at https://app.bchydro.com/powersmart/residential/ps_low_income/energy_saving_kits/esk/home

What information do I need to provide to apply?

• Your BC Hydro account number
• Proof of income (your Notice of assessment from the CRA, confirmation of income assistance/welfare, SAFER or BC Housing documents, Child Benefits documents, or Guaranteed Income Supplement documents)
• Landlord consent form, filled out by your landlord
• You can upload these documents through the online portal, or send them by mail.

How do I get consent from my landlord?
You will need to ask your landlord to fill out a short consent form.

What if my landlord does not want to sign the consent form?
A FIRST UNITED legal advocate can help ask your landlord to sign the form.

Can my landlord stop me from putting in an air conditioner?
Heat waves pose a health risk and it is essential to have adequate cooling in your home.

• If your rental agreement does not mention air conditioners or if you do not have a written agreement, your landlord cannot stop you from installing one as long as it is done safely.
• If your rental agreement says “no air conditioners” but there is no good reason for it, you may still be allowed to have one air conditioner. Unfair or unreasonable rules may not be enforceable. If this is your situation, seek help from a legal advocate.
• If your rental agreement has limits such as: only one air conditioner allowed, air conditioners not allowed in certain windows for safety reasons, or limiting the BTU (cooling power) of allowed air conditioners due to energy use, these will likely be acceptable limits.

Where can I find a legal advocate?
You can access FIRST UNITED’s legal advocacy program during our intake times:

FIRST UNITED Legal Advocacy Office
542 E Hastings St, Vancouver

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: 9:30 – 11:30 AM
Tuesday, Thursday: 1:00 – 3:00 PM

What is FIRST UNITED doing for tenants’ rights to cooling in their homes?
We are advocating for tenants’ rights to cooling in their homes with
provincial stakeholders. To learn more about our policy work on this issue
follow us on social media @FirstUnitedDTES and sign up for our email
updates here.

More information about your rights to adequate cooling and air conditioners:

• RTB Info Sheet on Air Conditioners: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/housing-and-tenancy/residentialtenancies/information-sheets/rtb-acunits.pdf
• RTB Guideline 8: Unconscionable, Unlawful, and Material Terms: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/housing-and-tenancy/residential-tenancies/policy-guidelines/gl8.pdf

Download the pdf to print or share:

https://admin.firstunited.ca/app/uploads/2024/07/AC-Program-Infosheet-4pg.pdf

On April 26, Premier David Eby announced his plans to recriminalize substance use in BC. This is a deadly step backward. We are disturbed to see this shift in policy that will keep people in cycles of criminalization, and without question lead to more people dying because they will use alone and in non-visible spaces.

Criminalization also does not direct or support people toward treatment, should they seek it.

This is a deadly choice.

Write to Premier Eby to tell him and the provincial government that you object to policy that will kill. Tell the BC Government that decriminalization and safe supply are the path forward to saving lives and supporting people who use drugs.

Tell Eby that you unequivocally do not agree or support this change.

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This letter writing campaign is now closed. As of July 2024, a total of 237 letters were sent to Premier David Eby. Below are the contents of the original letter:

Dear Premier Eby,

I’m writing to tell you that I strongly object to your announcement on April 26 2024 that you will be recriminalizing substance use in BC. Recriminalization will kill more British Columbians. So many years into a public health emergency, having lost over 10,000 of our neighbours, this is the wrong choice to make.. BC needs decriminalization, it needs safe supply, and it needs its leaders like you to stand up for evidence-based drug policy.

I am concerned that placing substance use back in to the hands of law enforcement will only deepen existing stigma and keep people trapped in a cycle of criminalization for which they can never escape. I am concerned that people will use alone and in hidden areas, and that they will die. I am concerned that people who use drugs will not have any of their needs met through this policy and that it will actively create more harm.

I strongly call on you to reconsider this change, and to stand up for the safety and wellbeing of people who use drugs in BC.

Sincerely,

[Name]

Lent is a time of prayer and fasting and a time to explore new spiritual practices. One of the most basic spiritual practices that humanity has is our feelings and emotions.

To help us explore and work through complex emotions that accompany grief, Lauren Sanders, Indigenous Spiritual Care Chaplain, is hosting an art challenge for the Lenten season.

You’re invited to join in this weekly practice as Lauren shares her own painting process and guides us through some “wondering questions” around grief. Feel free to comment your answers to the questions. You can also share your painting on social media with the hashtag #PourOutGrief.

All videos will be posted here. Check back every Wednesday to see the latest one!

Week 1: Grief

Week 2: Denial, Shock, Numbness

Week 3: Pain, Guilt and Shame

Week 5: Isolation, Loneliness and Processing

Week 6: Testing

Week 7: Acceptance

Calendar

This Christmas season, you’re invited to join us for a justice-themed Advent. The Spiritual Care team has put together an Advent Calendar to help us start the work of Call for Justice 18.17 from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Call 18.17 states: “We call upon all governments, service providers, and educators to fund and support the re-education of communities and individuals who have learned to reject 2SLGBTQQIA people, or who deny their important history and contemporary place within communities and in ceremony, and to address transphobia and homophobia in communities (for example, with anti-transphobia and anti homophobia programs), to ensure cultural access for 2SLGBTQQIA people.”

Advent and Christmas Calendar 2023:

Advent and Christmas Calendar 2023

The calendar runs from December 3 to January 5 and features daily actions to help us along the journey to fulfilling Call 18.17. This important work is part of our commitment to putting reconciliation into action and advocating for justice for MMIWG and 2SLGBTQQIA.

Please join us by participating in these daily actions. Each Friday, Lauren Sanders, Indigenous Spiritual Care Chaplain (Prairie Band Potawatomi/mshkodeni bodéwadminwen, Kickapoo Nation of Kansas/kiikaapoa, African American/Black), will host a Zoom session (link in the calendar) to provide a safe space for deeper discussions.

Learn more about why this Call for Justice is important.

You may also want to download our Advent and Christmas Liturgy for this year.

Candle Lighting Liturgy

This year’s Advent and Christmas Candle Lighting Liturgy is available for download below. The liturgies were prepared by Lauren Sanders, Indigenous Spiritual Care Chaplain for FIRST UNITED (Prairie Band Potawatomi/mshkodeni bodéwadminwen, Kickapoo Nation of Kansas/kiikaapoa, African American/Black), and Rev. Peter Sanders, Pastoral Advisor.

Advent and Christmas Candle Lighting Liturgy 2023:

https://admin.firstunited.ca/app/uploads/2023/10/2023-Advent-and-Christmas-Candle-Lighting-Liturgy.pdf

You may also want to download our Advent and Christmas calendar for this year.

Toast Talks are a series of information sessions during which members of the FIRST UNITED team offer updates, insights, and information about our work to our communities of faith, volunteers, donors, stakeholders, and friends. To make sure you never miss out on invitations to Toast Talks, subscribe to our emails.

Here is the digital version of the summer edition of our First Things First newsletter below:

In this edition of Toast Talks, we celebrate everything we’ve achieved together as a community by going over the contents of our 2023 Annual Report. We hear from Dr. Heather F. Clarke, Board Chair, and Amanda Burrows, Executive Director, who share some of the highlights and accomplishments of the last fiscal year.

Thank you for joining us!

Toast Talks are a series of information sessions during which members of the FIRST UNITED team offer updates, insights, and information about our work to our communities of faith, volunteers, donors, stakeholders, and friends. To make sure you never miss out on invitations to Toast Talks, subscribe to our emails.

For this Fall 2023 edition of Toast Talks, we shared FIRST UNITED news and redevelopment updates, including the newest First Forward PSA and a demolition time-lapse video. We also had more time to share stories and memories from our old building at 320 East Hastings. Watch the video to hear all of the special memories!

Thank you to everyone who shared their memories of the building with us!

We’ve also included the digital version of the fall edition of our First Things First newsletter below:

“There’s no limits to what could happen with the money,” said a City Councillor recently.

Oh goodness, don’t we know it.

The City is exploring the idea of selling naming rights of parks and public spaces to corporations in an effort to reduce a $500 million infrastructure deficit.

In a world where we’re constantly bombarded with advertising and branding, and massive corporations are constantly vying for our eyes, do we really need to let that infiltrate BC’s natural beauty and public spaces?

But more than that, this initiative appears to be at odds with reconciliation…The City is proposing further profiting from the possession of stolen lands. The City was designated a “City of Reconciliation” in 2014. We invite staff, Councillors, and the Mayor alike to reflect on what selling naming rights for stolen lands means in this context. Is selling the naming rights to stolen lands based in reconciliation?

Look, we understand the need to pay for things. And we understand the benefits to partnering with the corporate sector to achieve goals. And as such, we’d like to offer some insight and constructive feedback to our public sector colleagues on the issue.

We’re currently redeveloping our site into an 11-storey purpose-built facility with four floors of community services and seven floors of affordable housing for Indigenous people (operated by Lu’ma Native Housing Society). The price tag for our four floors of services: a whopping $37 million, of $92 million for the whole building.

FIRST UNITED isn’t a massive organization; our operating budget just crept over $5 million this year. We’re well underway with our fundraising efforts for our new building, but that doesn’t detract from how ambitious it is for an organization of our size.

But we made a deliberate choice when we launched our capital campaign: We chose to not sell naming rights to rooms, spaces, or the building itself. This is actually highly unusual in the fundraising and philanthropic space.

All of the spaces in our new building will be named after Indigenous and spiritual roots of the land and Indigenous leaders rather than donors. And because we know that recognition can be meaningful, instead of naming rights, donors have the opportunity to offer dedications for the spaces they help to fund. But those rooms will be known by their Indigenous-based name first, not by the dedication. And that makes a big difference.

For us, this dedication policy is a core component to putting reconciliation in action.

The neighbourhood we serve is comprised of about 30-40% Indigenous People. The soil we’ve built into is stolen, never-ceded, ancestral land that is not ours. To create a space that is grounded in dignity, belonging, and justice, we decided that it was more important to recognize and honour the history of the land than the names of corporations or wealthy donors.

Our relationship with Indigenous Peoples and our journey through and to reconciliation are more important than money. These are our values, and we’re choosing to live them, regardless of the expense. We believe it is possible to have your actions align with your values, especially when it comes to managing your pocketbook.

We invite the City to reflect on their values regarding the allocation of existing funds. We continue to see the Mayor’s office and Vancouver Police Department’s budgets climb without issue or much in the way of “creative” fundraising. It just happens. It’s dismaying that our public spaces—and opportunities for righting wrongs of colonialism—not given the same type of prioritization for a City of Reconciliation.

Be brave, City of Vancouver. Take a note out of our playbook. Live the values you say you have. And if nothing else, it might not be a great look for your sponsors as you evict houseless residents from these newly-renamed parks.

June 21 marks National Indigenous People’s Day, when we celebrate the history and culture of First Nations, Inuit, and Metis people across Canada. To mark the day, we’ve compiled a number of resources and activities to get involved with to celebrate and for you to advance your own learning about Indigenous people.

Events

• National Indigenous People’s Day Celebration at Grandview Park
  June 21, 12:00 – 4:00 pm
  FIRST UNITED will have a booth set up, stop by to say hello and hear what we’re up to!
  
• Block Party on Main Street, between East Hastings and East Pender
  June 21, 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm
  Pop up performances from J.B. the First Lady, Mannix, Haida Dance Group, and more
  
• DTES Powwow at Oppenheimer Park
  June 23, 12:00 – 5:00 pm

Reading

FIRST UNITED staff have been encouraged to read the following books by First Nations authors to understand the history and context of colonization in Canada. We highly encourage you to read these important texts:

Five Little Indians by Michelle Good

21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act by Robert P.C. Joseph

Unbroken: My Fight for Survival, Hope, and Justice for Indigenous Women and Girls, by Angela Sterritt

Local Businesses

Support local Indigenous-owned businesses today and every day.

Massy Books, https://www.massybooks.com/, 229 E Georgia St, Vancouver
All of the above books are available at Massy Books

Decolonial Clothing, https://decolonialclothing.com/, 269 E Georgia St, Vancouver

Talaysay Tours, https://www.talaysay.com/, various tour locations in Vancouver, Sunshine Coast, and Squamish

The families of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran are calling on the Manitoba government to search the Prairie Green landfill for the remains of their murdered loved ones. FIRST UNITED echoes their calls, and stands in solidarity with Indigenous families, activists, and leaders asking for justice for all missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG).

One of our core values is social justice and we strive to put reconciliation into action as an organization—this is why we’re joining the calls for government action, even provinces away. Justice and reconciliation have no borders. Taking action against injustice is all of our responsibility, whether in our backyard or across the country.

We invite you to be an advocate too, to speak out and apply pressure to the Manitoba and federal governments to look for Morgan and Marcedes and return them to their families.

How you can take action:

Read Manitoba, do the right thing. Search the landfills by Tanya Talaga: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-manitoba-do-the-right-thing-search-the-landfills/

Read Reclaiming Power and Place: the Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/

Write to Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson, asking her government to action a search at the Prairie Green landfill: https://www.gov.mb.ca/minister/premier/index.html

Visit the United Church of Canada Facebook and Instagram to download and share social media graphics including Facebook page banners, and profile pictures. https://www.facebook.com/UnitedChurchCda