https://ourhomescantwait.com our homes can't wait Mon, 25 Aug 2025 17:19:40 +0000 https://ourhomescantwait.com en https://ourhomescantwait.com/Front-page Thu, 01 Dec 2022 02:01:04 +0000 our homes can't wait https://ourhomescantwait.com/Front-page Our Mandate <img width="648" height="964" width_o="648" height_o="964" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a0c73179343f0dccfdbf59515c07b28f37024f249035e9e7295f099d2ef9b599/C353E19A-E58A-4FF6-889D-AA81D9E33C9E1.png" data-mid="161083510" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/648/i/a0c73179343f0dccfdbf59515c07b28f37024f249035e9e7295f099d2ef9b599/C353E19A-E58A-4FF6-889D-AA81D9E33C9E1.png" /> Our Homes Can’t Wait is a coalition of Downtown Eastside organizations and allies that struggle for universal and decommodified housing, free from unjust surveillance and management. We centre human dignity and interests over private property and profit. We fight to create a world where all people have safe, dignified and permanent accommodation, regardless of their income or status in society. <img width="960" height="540" width_o="960" height_o="540" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1d78b58faed7a716459bdde93d18da6fc87150c2a011de71d8bfdb7ec6871c34/2018-07-20-Days_Rage-Town_Hall1.jpg" data-mid="160678523" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/960/i/1d78b58faed7a716459bdde93d18da6fc87150c2a011de71d8bfdb7ec6871c34/2018-07-20-Days_Rage-Town_Hall1.jpg" /> <img width="1024" height="678" width_o="1024" height_o="678" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c11ad12b26c375077c6551ad377a4255f8204b26d9f18a801ffac5d18a594d50/20181017_58WHastings_2-1024x678.jpg" data-mid="160867028" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c11ad12b26c375077c6551ad377a4255f8204b26d9f18a801ffac5d18a594d50/20181017_58WHastings_2-1024x678.jpg" /> <img width="1184" height="666" width_o="1184" height_o="666" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/68ecdb9261a1f662eaa77c362255b9829cfe257d9a3407f76bcfb53d1ec48ef0/Social-Housing-Community-Painting.jpg" data-mid="161083181" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/68ecdb9261a1f662eaa77c362255b9829cfe257d9a3407f76bcfb53d1ec48ef0/Social-Housing-Community-Painting.jpg" /> <img width="780" height="433" width_o="780" height_o="433" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8d6be002581e4330f572ef796cd4a33dbe84482680e49736cecbfd7cd318c46e/58-pic-4-cbc.jpg" data-mid="160866954" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/780/i/8d6be002581e4330f572ef796cd4a33dbe84482680e49736cecbfd7cd318c46e/58-pic-4-cbc.jpg" /> <img width="960" height="720" width_o="960" height_o="720" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/13e5c81922f094a90afdc2e8253d21d43ed03deabd8e2993ce7c59ca661eff90/58-pic-3-stefania-seccia.jpg" data-mid="160866951" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/960/i/13e5c81922f094a90afdc2e8253d21d43ed03deabd8e2993ce7c59ca661eff90/58-pic-3-stefania-seccia.jpg" /> Report: “It’s Like Jail”: Housing, Homelessness and Carcerality in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (Part 1: Outside) <img width="606" height="802" width_o="606" height_o="802" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bbe2461ff2253f7214b2c461deb0867ddc68f0f7317941b997a2add82d6db011/Screenshot-2025-08-26-at-13-12-06-Its-like-jail-housing-homeless-and-carcerality-summary-part-1---OUTSIDE.pdf.png" data-mid="237511483" border="0" data-scale="24" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/606/i/bbe2461ff2253f7214b2c461deb0867ddc68f0f7317941b997a2add82d6db011/Screenshot-2025-08-26-at-13-12-06-Its-like-jail-housing-homeless-and-carcerality-summary-part-1---OUTSIDE.pdf.png" /> Part 1: Outside: “It’s Like Jail” Summary Part 2: Inside: “It’s Like Jail” Summary <img width="677" height="544" width_o="677" height_o="544" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ab96e0077eb896dc142152ff80d67c589358fec0be83e2e13c1dc23a45c65f1/Screenshot-2025-08-26-at-13-05-38-Its-like-jail-housing-homeless-and-carcerality-summary-part-2.pdf.png" data-mid="237511393" border="0" data-scale="24" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/677/i/2ab96e0077eb896dc142152ff80d67c589358fec0be83e2e13c1dc23a45c65f1/Screenshot-2025-08-26-at-13-05-38-Its-like-jail-housing-homeless-and-carcerality-summary-part-2.pdf.png" /> <img width="1351" height="399" width_o="1351" height_o="399" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/93a0d774da2f62353bd34e300e5e4da0e490db5d4e0cb852d7a203a78e79f1ad/OHCW.png" data-mid="160674259" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/93a0d774da2f62353bd34e300e5e4da0e490db5d4e0cb852d7a203a78e79f1ad/OHCW.png" /> &nbsp;&nbsp; Get in touch with us: ourhomes@vandu.org︎︎︎ https://ourhomescantwait.com/Our-History Thu, 01 Dec 2022 02:01:05 +0000 our homes can't wait https://ourhomescantwait.com/Our-History Our History <img width="1184" height="666" width_o="1184" height_o="666" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dffc1c4c4a2dbbe8b46ede57ae18c23e2950766cf9ed3406ab2f1a84a926e4c7/Social-Housing-Community-Painting.jpg" data-mid="161081864" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dffc1c4c4a2dbbe8b46ede57ae18c23e2950766cf9ed3406ab2f1a84a926e4c7/Social-Housing-Community-Painting.jpg" /> Our coalition formed in response to Carnegie Community Action Project’s 2015 Hotel Survey and Action Report︎︎︎.&nbsp;The Our Homes Can’t Wait (OHCW) campaign and coalition were formed in 2015 by the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU︎︎︎) after CCAP’s annual Hotel Survey &amp; Action Report in 2015 (read the report︎︎︎). OHCW then broadened into a large DTES housing coalition following a series of town halls. The town halls identified three key areas for the campaign: &nbsp; &nbsp; 1. Build 10 new sites of social housing in the DTES &nbsp; &nbsp; 2. Save and upgrade the SROs &nbsp; &nbsp; 3. Province-wide rent control 10 New Sites of Social Housing <img width="928px;" height="453px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/iQH6T4RP9qr01zV1iOyz4crJK1m202nLswSTVTSySbL4dXjpNPqc-GWYlhWZnNFiQH-u7m1pv4oIt4JsvZJgwgZKBcjlLe_oxiTCK614Qkwbs9y1S0E99Dr7ZPcoPpf5LFUma85VV-Fhh5-Whmsl5YKHKw" style="width: 601.312px; height: 293.528px;">In response to the first need identified by the town halls, OHCW came up with a list of 6 possible city owned sites that could be used to meet the urgent need for housing and be converted/developed into 100% social housing sites.*&nbsp; We posed that the remaining 4 sites should be sourced by the city.&nbsp; *What does 100% social housing mean? ︎︎︎︎︎︎ &nbsp;100% welfare/pension rate housing Housing governed by and for the tenants, not by&nbsp;supportive housing providers&nbsp; Find more resources about social housing here.︎︎︎ The Battle for 58 W HastingsWhy 58? <img width="960px;" height="540px;" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/1FKHH4ls82jIYamw6qWdP2RcoHhPx1z3QGml31rkqX75E6fSm1XtDg-AjjXA8-4cMNrs21EdM7RFdk8_koHc66wfNZ8d1IY8eWTP3RuNaS21rraznm_7T2qOlLHkd9vBIBzSNvhQ05APSDuf9uvOFfao_0I_pFdROoH7V4AHSVbyvHu3Vc4amQGeeDnTSJIK" style="width: 601.312px; height: 338.238px;"> For years, an empty lot at 58 West Hastings has been at the centre of a fight for social housing in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). Since 2007, it has been the place of numerous actions including the 2010 Olympic Tent Village, when women- and Indigenous-led tent city︎︎︎ forced Concord Pacific to abandon its condo plans for the site. Based on its location and significance in the DTES, the OHCW coalition, organizers and homeless residents identified 58 as the most important and plausible sites for developing 100% social housing for the community.&nbsp; Summer 2016 During the summer of 2016, OHCW organizers and homeless residents marched to 58 W Hastings, held a press conference, and initiated a four-month long encampment. <img width="780" height="433" width_o="780" height_o="433" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/35aff7a07a8efc31e7d910492231c2fb6ad4a67f9f1bfb02240dba09f30112aa/58-pic-4-cbc.jpg" data-mid="160867130" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/780/i/35aff7a07a8efc31e7d910492231c2fb6ad4a67f9f1bfb02240dba09f30112aa/58-pic-4-cbc.jpg" /> <img width="732" height="549" src="https://themainlander.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/12928222_541342772704742_6828623764091883688_n-732x549.jpg"> In August, community members met with then mayor Gregor Robertson, and demanded he agree to creating 100% social housing at 58 W Hastings. On the steps of the Carnegie Comunity Center, he publicly signed a contract stating he would commit to 100% welfare/pension rate, community controlled social housing at 58 W Hastings, working with the community to develop a rezoning application to proceed to council by the end of June 2017.<img width="540px;" height="540px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/LrhL6-ubvyxpDo63f02RRMayy2Z0zzzF6vSahoVtxZ29p4WMVdc0hatmQ1SrzHAW9d840d85UdXgyeD0tGljntdzNR1uWUh5gDutbDBrlsCEsV9ju2pB-VNBtaqNx2QmGOqlXdpCPO1c2eydny5yK6maZzTWQ_y-KXJFqQOCkERzIK3F1YVfsiMIiUOAUGr8" style="width: 540px; height: 540px;"> But by January of 2017, it was clear that the mayor intended to break his promise. OHCW pulled out of negotiations with the city, citing a few major reasons why the city’s refusal to accomodate a community vision for the site would mean a refusal to work with them: 100% Social Housing, Not Social MixHousing Not Clinics: Responding to VCH PartnershipCommunity Controlled Social Housing, Not Supportive HousingWe Want Justice, Not Charity! Read the full statement here.︎︎︎ From 2018 - 2020, Our Homes Can’t Wait took an active role in working with residents of Oppenheimer Park to push the City and Province for basic services at Oppenheimer. We were active in the successful fightback against an injunction by the City and Province in 2018-19, as well as a successful resistance against a government scheme to freeze under-repaired SROs as a way of clearing the squat while refusing to build or renovate any new housing.&nbsp; https://ourhomescantwait.com/Who-We-Are Thu, 01 Dec 2022 02:01:07 +0000 our homes can't wait https://ourhomescantwait.com/Who-We-Are Our Homes Can't Wait (OHCW) organizes on the stolen and unsurrendered territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). As an organization that struggles for secure homes for all people living on unceded First Nations’ territories, we recognize and honour the inherent rights of Indigenous people to govern their lands and resources. OHCW is a coalition of Downtown Eastside organizations and allies that struggle for universal and decommodified housing, free from unjust surveillance and management. We centre human dignity and interests over private property and profit. We fight to create a world where all people have safe, dignified and permanent accommodation, regardless of their income or status in society. https://ourhomescantwait.com/Town-Halls Thu, 01 Dec 2022 02:01:05 +0000 our homes can't wait https://ourhomescantwait.com/Town-Halls Town Halls When the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, we halted our regular Town Hall events due to limitations on public gatherings. We recently held the first of a new series of town hall events in the fall of 2022.&nbsp;For the first of our town halls in this series, we focused on fires. The DTES has seen a massive increase in the amount of residential building fires in 2022. During the summer of 2022, the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services weaponized these fires against people who were tenting on Hastings street, saying that tents pose a fatal fire risk to those in buildings and sheltering outside. But fire safety is just one of many competing safety concerns for people sheltering outside, and when people are together and trained on how to use fire extinguishers, fires get put out before they can escalate.&nbsp; Yet according to the VFRS’ own annual report, the biggest cause of fatal fires in residential buildings is broken sprinklers and alarms. And according to their own data, 40% of SRO Hotels have outstanding fire code violations.&nbsp; <img width="1014" height="1308" width_o="1014" height_o="1308" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/035b4e4b458bc128c09899c257bda23ff40ce67954b9bfd8692206297e4faf17/Screen-Shot-2023-02-02-at-12.26.29-PM.png" data-mid="167059063" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/035b4e4b458bc128c09899c257bda23ff40ce67954b9bfd8692206297e4faf17/Screen-Shot-2023-02-02-at-12.26.29-PM.png" /> <img width="1536" height="2048" width_o="1536" height_o="2048" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4cb7f35b040a09e4e60c2f50ee81b24e815f9aef5777d4adafbac99d4299e47c/Townhall.jpeg" data-mid="167058859" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4cb7f35b040a09e4e60c2f50ee81b24e815f9aef5777d4adafbac99d4299e47c/Townhall.jpeg" /> <img width="662" height="1024" width_o="662" height_o="1024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/512ca7e3bd14920ce4c94ae2930a29849bea683de610633a82dfdefbc7d4070c/2018-POSTER-58-LQ.jpg" data-mid="167058867" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/662/i/512ca7e3bd14920ce4c94ae2930a29849bea683de610633a82dfdefbc7d4070c/2018-POSTER-58-LQ.jpg" /><img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/c37701f76abb27f27bb10546fc1ac96ceb6634025471e0dfd0811a9ee4c6bc3f/Townhall2.jpeg" data-mid="167058861" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/c37701f76abb27f27bb10546fc1ac96ceb6634025471e0dfd0811a9ee4c6bc3f/Townhall2.jpeg" /> https://ourhomescantwait.com/Media Thu, 02 Feb 2023 22:36:50 +0000 our homes can't wait https://ourhomescantwait.com/Media Media Our Homes Can’t Wait in the media Homes For All -- Our Homes Can’t Wait (OHCW) Works for DTES Housing Activists disrupt Vancouver city council meeting to protest homelessnessCanada Post to briefly resume mail service in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside"Anti-poor discrimination": Downtown Eastside group calls out Canada PostVancouver doesn’t know how many homeless people there are in the cityProposed class-action lawsuit filed over deadly Winters Hotel fire in Downtown Eastside https://ourhomescantwait.com/Resources Mon, 25 Aug 2025 17:19:40 +0000 our homes can't wait https://ourhomescantwait.com/Resources Resources&nbsp; Mapping the Carceral Housing Assemblage From 2023-2025, Dr. A J Withers and Our Homes Can’t Wait conducted a research study. Our study has generated a two-part report titled: “It’s Like Jail”: Housing Homelessness &amp; Carcerality in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.&nbsp; <img width="2120" height="1825" width_o="2120" height_o="1825" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/22786d09a71cb9b480f532ed474e5cfd1b5b58e0e05854bc1c6d6bfc0cfc907e/carceral-cover-white-copy.png" data-mid="237510957" border="0" data-scale="30" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/22786d09a71cb9b480f532ed474e5cfd1b5b58e0e05854bc1c6d6bfc0cfc907e/carceral-cover-white-copy.png" /> Report: “It’s Like Jail”: Housing, Homelessness and Carcerality in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (Part 1: Outside) <img width="606" height="802" width_o="606" height_o="802" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/bbe2461ff2253f7214b2c461deb0867ddc68f0f7317941b997a2add82d6db011/Screenshot-2025-08-26-at-13-12-06-Its-like-jail-housing-homeless-and-carcerality-summary-part-1---OUTSIDE.pdf.png" data-mid="237511543" border="0" data-scale="24" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/606/i/bbe2461ff2253f7214b2c461deb0867ddc68f0f7317941b997a2add82d6db011/Screenshot-2025-08-26-at-13-12-06-Its-like-jail-housing-homeless-and-carcerality-summary-part-1---OUTSIDE.pdf.png" /> Part 1: Outside: “It’s Like Jail” Summary Part 2: Inside: “It’s Like Jail” Summary <img width="677" height="544" width_o="677" height_o="544" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/2ab96e0077eb896dc142152ff80d67c589358fec0be83e2e13c1dc23a45c65f1/Screenshot-2025-08-26-at-13-05-38-Its-like-jail-housing-homeless-and-carcerality-summary-part-2.pdf.png" data-mid="237511542" border="0" data-scale="24" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/677/i/2ab96e0077eb896dc142152ff80d67c589358fec0be83e2e13c1dc23a45c65f1/Screenshot-2025-08-26-at-13-05-38-Its-like-jail-housing-homeless-and-carcerality-summary-part-2.pdf.png" /> Full Report Part Two: Inside - Forthcoming fall 2025