Seeing is Believing Tour Explores Innovative Solutions to Homelessness in Lower Mainland

"A powerful, personal experience for Vancouver's business leaders"

On June 30, 2009 BC Hydro President & CEO Bob Elton and Streetohome President Jae Kim led local business leaders on a Seeing is Believing tour, organized by Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR).

The tour visited the Potluck Café, RainCity Housing, Covenant House and Coast Mental Health.  Through the unique Seeing is Believing program, senior executives spent the morning learning first-hand about organizations that provide a continuum of solutions to homelessness – from supportive housing projects, to social enterprise and employment training initiatives.

Twenty-eight business leaders, spoke with individuals who use the services of these agencies with the goal of deepening their understanding of the complex roots of poverty and homelessness that these people live with every day. At the end of the tour, delegates explored ways to leverage day-to-day business operations and resources to support homelessness and housing strategies.

”The Seeing is Believing tour offers a powerful, personal experience for Vancouver’s business leaders to learn about one of our city’s most prevalent issue,” says Jae Kim, President, Streetohome Foundation. “By engaging key business executives in a tour of this nature, we also had an opportunity to discuss solutions, such as our upcoming Six Year Homelessness Plan and how they can play a key role.”

Estimates place Metro Vancouver’s homeless population at approximately 3,200 individuals.  More than half of the homeless people in Vancouver have been on the streets for over a year and that number is growing.  Studies have estimated the cost of leaving an individual on the streets from $55,000 to $135,000 a year in public services. Comparatively, the cost of providing housing with support services for that person would cost about $37,000 a year.

Wendy Campbell, Director of Programs, CBSR, says business has a key role to play in finding

solutions to Vancouver’s homelessness crisis. Seeing is Believing is based on a simple principle: you can’t solve a problem without seeing it. The program provides business executives with an opportunity to engage the community first-hand, better understand social issues, and look at new and expanded solutions.

“Business has the skill and resources to make a real contribution to alleviate homelessness,” says Campbell. “The direct interaction between business leaders and community members fostered by the Seeing is Believing program has inspired organizations to leverage their resources towards creative solutions.”