On July 25, 2022, the Vancouver Fire Service issued an order to decamp the newly-formed tent city of people sheltering outside on Hastings Street. Every year the tent cities continue to grow as the housing crisis worsens. Unhoused people and low-income SRO tenants are now creating an alternative community of survival and mutual support on Hastings Street. Earlier this week the City and VPD began enforcing the Fire Order, with events on Tuesday (August 9) that can only be described as a police riot.
Our Homes Can’t Wait Coalition
What lies ahead for 58 and the people of the Downtown Eastside? If history has been any lesson, the vision of 58 West Hastings was born and fought for in the streets. Its future cannot be won otherwise.
Organizers from the Our Homes Can’t Wait Coalition (OHCW) and homeless residents of the Downtown Eastside have occupied the empty lot at 58 West Hastings. The occupiers at 58 West Hastings will hold a press conference at 4PM. The Coalition has issued the following statement: