Campaign builds to end B.C. homelessness: minister

A Vancouver church leader says an effort is building to help end homelessness in B.C. by using the momentum from both the 2010 Olympics and the drive to help earthquake victims in Haiti.

"I think that the Olympics tells us we have the resources and capability," said Rev. Ric Matthews of First United Church on the city's Downtown Eastside.

"[And] the response to Haiti tells us we have the heart and the spirit. The issue of homelessness tells us we have a real issue in front of us that needs both of those things."

Matthew's church offers shelter to about 300 homeless people every night. People sleep in bunk beds that have been set up in the building and on the church's pews.

Social groups in the city say they have the support of Mayor Gregor Robertson for a new initiative called Share The Gold, said Matthews.

Olympic clock could be re-purposed

A major announcement was planned within weeks that will call on the city, provincial and federal government to create, in effect, a new VANOC, with a mandate to end homelessness, he said.

Matthews suggested the Olympic clock outside Vancouver's art gallery could be the rallyingpoint.

Share The Gold organizers want to re-set the clock after the Games to start a new countdown to end homelessness within the next few years.

Matthews said the $135 million pledged by the federal government for Haitian earthquake relief and the further $40 million pledged by Canadians privately are evidence that eliminating homelessness is possible with sufficient motivation.

"I think it tells us we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It tells us that we have far more access to wealth than we choose to think we have."