2017 marks the 10th anniversary of the Surrey Homelessness and Housing Society (SHHS). Over the past ten years the Society has provided over $3.5 million in funding to Surrey organizations that assist people experiencing homelessness. The Society has supported 55 projects with more than 50 partners assisting over 500 individuals, including children, who were homelessness or at imminent risk of homelessness.

At just 19 years old, youth in the BC foster care system “age out” of eligibility for services and supports and are assumed to become fully independent. The effects of this loss of support are devastating. Former youth in care are over represented in homelessness, poverty and the mental health and justice systems.

BC has had one of the highest poverty rates in Canada for the last 15 years. There are almost 600,000 people in our province desperately trying to make ends meet and keep their heads above water. The We Can’t Afford Poverty campaign is a community art-driven campaign to eradicate poverty from British Columbia, starting with raising social assistance rates.