'A matter of life and death': City speeds up patio help to restaurants, not DTES women's shelter

It is one thing for restaurants to have fewer people allowed inside – but for a major women's shelter the Downtown Eastside, it's a matter of life and death.

That’s according to board member Andrea Glickman of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC), who is calling upon the City of Vancouver to readily establish outdoor patios and heated tents for women in the neighborhood.

“In the last two weeks, a young woman died outside the street market, and her dead body was there for hours until someone noticed,” mourned board president Summer Bentham.

“We are increasingly angry that already vulnerable women don’t have enough safe spaces to gather during COVID, while many quickly-erected restaurant patios sit empty," she added.

The drop-in shelter, which operates at 302 Columbia St., has tried for months to offer an outdoor area for clients to access basic respite services including victim services, advocacy, housing supports, meals, and clothing.

But it’s been thwarted by red tape in its efforts to see more women provided with free services, said Glickman.

Women who used to enjoy a meal together in a safe and supportive environment, now have to leave the premises and find elsewhere to eat.

Restaurants, on the other hand, have been provided ample support through the city's fast-tracked Temporary Expedited Patio Program permits, the organization said in a news release Oct. 1.

NEWS RELEASE: The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre calls on City of Vancouver to increase and expedite safe spaces in the DTES during COVID-19. "The City of Vancouver must consciously and urgently address this using every power it has available.” https://t.co/bIhqudwfl9 pic.twitter.com/cav8K11FKk

— DEWC (@DEWCVancouver) October 1, 2020

As of Aug. 14, 361 permits had already been issued to restaurants, including 291 patios in public spaces and 70 patios on privately-owned areas.

The outdoor patios expanded the Vancouver businesses’ capacity to host paying patrons.

But what about Downtown Eastside residents whom have no means to pay?

Glickman said their most basic needs are becoming increasingly harder to fulfill amid a pandemic – with homelessness, a poisoned drug supply, and violence perpetrated against women.

"By not providing them with safe spaces we are literally cutting off their access to external supports," she said, which includes the ability to see a counsellor and use the internet to book medical appointments.

The city previously identified a street lane outside the shelter for an outdoor patio space.

Except, the area was so narrow not even a mobility scooter could pass through, Glickman explained.

Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre board members are now worried the second wave of COVID-19 will bring more harm to women in the community.

A City of Vancouver spokesperson told Vancouver Is Awesome the municipality is currently working with the non-profit and others in the area "to identify solutions that will support residents in the DTES and Downtown South."