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United Gospel Missions’ thirty third annual Easter meal wasn’t as upbeat as earlier years on Saturday, coming simply days after town of Vancouver compelled folks out of a longtime tent metropolis in East Hastings.

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It is just a bit extra somber, stated Dean Kurpjuweit, president of Union Gospel Missions. It isn’t fairly as joyful as you’d prefer it to be.

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Kurpjuweit stated the Missions shelter is overcapacity from displacement, just like different shelters within the space.

We put up further mats, however you recognize, it isn’t nice, he stated.

The Missions thrift retailer, which generally provides neighborhood residents with garments and different items, additionally noticed a spike in requests after the displacement.

“Many individuals got here in on Thursday saying that every part I owned was thrown within the trash,” Kurpjuweit stated. They begin from scratch.

The sensation on Thursday was a bit down, he added.

Exterior the Mission, a line of individuals waited within the pouring rain to get inside for the annual Easter meal of ham, mashed potatoes and greens, served with espresso, juice and apple pie. Dozens of volunteers organized, served and cleaned the meals for a full home.

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Carrying sandals regardless of the pouring rain, Todd Rimtala, who moved from Victoria within the ’90s and lives a couple of blocks away from the Mission, praised the meals.

It is native meals, he stated. They make it with love.

Rimtala wasn’t certain the latest displacement had a lot of an influence on the Easter dinner, however he appreciated that the sidewalks alongside East Hastings have been clear once more.

It is good to have the ability to stroll on the sidewalk now and never must squeeze round anymore, he stated.

Exterior at Hastings and Carrall, a rubbish truck and a police van, presumably a part of town’s so-called fast response groups, have been parked subsequent to a number of tents and several other piles of private belongings wrapped in a tarp. No effort seems to have been made by the police or metropolis workers to take away both the tents or the property.

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A number of neighborhood organizations, together with the Downtown Eastside Womens Middle, Battered Womens Help Providers and the Klala Lelum Indigenous Well being Cooperative, launched statements criticizing town and the VPD’s eviction efforts in latest days.

Klala Lelum stated in a press release that their frontline workers witnessed quite a few circumstances of bodily violence, arrests, unprovoked escalation, intimidation and verbal abuse by cops.

Had we identified about this upfront, we might have raised issues and on the very least made plans to make sure ladies have been secure, Alice Kendall, DEWS govt director, wrote in a press release.

Talking in Victoria on Thursday, BC Liberal Chief Kevin Falcon praised the management of Vancouver’s mayor and council and Vancouver’s police and firefighters.

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I assumed that they dealt with themselves in that troublesome scenario in an distinctive approach, he stated.

He stated BC Premier David Eby has did not preserve his promise that there can be steady housing for individuals who have been evicted from the camps.

Though they’ve promised to search out shelters (for displaced folks), I can virtually assure that the tent camp will simply transfer and find yourself in one other neighborhood or park and proceed to create challenges for the residents.

@njgriffiths
ngriffiths@postmedia.com

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