Homeless suggest solutions; downtown rally set for this afternoon

“We’re not going anywhere,” said Dallas Calliou, 24, a man who has been living on the streets of downtown Prince George for the last five years.

Calliou and four others were gathered together early Thursday morning at the front of the empty lot on George Street across from the courthouse to warm up in the sunshine at their camp.

Calliou is proud to say he’s got the biggest tent around and even built an inukshuk at its door to let people know he’s there.

It won’t last long though.

Jimmy Santos, 54, said they’ve got 24 hours and then city bylaw officers will force them to move - again.

Right around the corner on Third Avenue is the Fire Pit, a Positive Living North drop-in centre, where more people who use cardboard and blankets to protect themselves from the elements gather to spend the night.

Things have got to change, Santos said.

Tent cities and tiny homes were mentioned as solutions but some people’s dreams aren’t so grandiose.

“Laundry and bathrooms with showers,” is on 30-year-old Jacqueline John’s wish list. She’s been homeless for the last two years.

Storage is also an issue. There are small storage lockers available but they don’t hold a lot of stuff.

“And some of us have got a lot of stuff,” John said. “It would be nice to hang onto it.”

As for essentials, there are plenty of places to get food in the downtown core, John added.

St. Vincent de Paul Society offers three meals a day and an afternoon snack, along with the Fire Pit that provides home-cooked meals, she said.

Calliou discovered the empty city lot behind The Citizen at the end of Fourth Avenue and thought that would be the best location for a tent city right now.

He suggested for the future a combination of tents and tiny homes in that location because some people don't want the responsibility of any type of home.

“That’s my idea,” Calliou said.

Is it too far from downtown services?

“No,” came the chorus from Calliou, Santos and John.

“It’s only three blocks away,” Santos said. “And we’ve got resources for food and we’ve got resources to resources.”

He talked about AWAC and the Central Interior Native Health Society Clinic that helps point people in the right direction to access the resources they need.

“It would be better if we were over there,” Calliou said.

“We’d be tucked away nicely,” Santos said, who has been homeless for four years.

Santos sees the big picture benefits of having a permanent home.

“The tiny homes don’t cost a lot and once you have a stable home, you could access skills training and get a life,” he said. “We want to help ourselves, right? The world ain’t gettin’ any smaller and we’re not going to be here in any less numbers.”

There’s a rally set for today at 1 p.m. at the empty lot across from the courthouse on George Street to demand some action to be taken towards a permanent spot for the homeless. The city has set aside the lot for a community garden.