Homelessness will be the topic of the final presentation in the Spring Saturday Speaker Series hosted by Mid Island Elder College on May 3.
Dave Witty, an urban planner/designer, will speak about the root causes of homelessness from 10 a.m. to noon at Nanoose Place Community Centre, located at 2925 Northwest Bay Rd.
“If you ask a homeless person what they need, 90 per cent will say access to housing,” said guest speaker Witty, in a news release by Elder College.
Witty has combined academia and practice much of his career. Since the early 1970s, Witty has practised community planning and urban design across Western Canada and internationally. He is the former Provost and Vice-President Academic Vancouver Island University; Dean, Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba; and has received widespread recognition and honours for his work.
“There is no question that there are people on the street and it's not because they want to be. And they are our fellow citizens.” said Witty. “One of the misconceptions about this subject is that people come here from across Canada, because of the climate, but when there is a point-in-time survey we find that three quarters of the people are originally from Nanaimo. People tend to stay where they grew up, where they have lived and where they are close to their social network. And the notion that people want to be on the street is a total myth.”
Witty has statistics that show homelessness is a growing community problem.
“We counted 174 homeless people in Nanaimo in 2008 and today it’s 1,000 people. That's an increase of 30 per cent a year, over the last four years," he added.
Witty says it's also a myth people are on the street because of drugs. He quoted a man who used to be on the street who said “you do drugs because you are on the street, because you are soaking wet and it's zero degrees. And then someone says 'do you want a hit of this?' and you say 'yes'."
All are welcome and membership in Mid Island Elder College is not required. Admission is $10 at the door or people can pre-pay at https://eldercollege.org/.
Planning is underway for the 2025 fall semester of Mid island Elder College; there have been 61 proposals submitted for a broad range of courses on topics in academic, scientific and artistic subjects.
In-person courses have been held in various locations from Qualicum Beach to Duncan. There are also many courses offered by Zoom. Course registration information is available at https://eldercollege.org/
Mid Island Elder College is almost entirely run by volunteers – from the instructors to the board members. There is also limited assistance available on the telephone, from a part-time employee, who can be reached at 250-797-9055 or by email at info@eldercollege.org
