From Anger to Action: We Need More Than One Solution

On August 25, 2026, I attended the town hall on homelessness and seniors housing with MP Aaron Gunn, MLA Randene Neill and Mayor Ron Woznow.

I left feeling heavy-hearted, disappointed, hopeless and angry.

I was angry because I knew that the next morning, many things would be exactly the same.

I would go to work at a grocery store where we now have a full-time security guard. A grocery store, for goodness' sake.

A friend would head out for her morning run and avoid trails she once loved because she no longer feels comfortable using them alone.

People struggling with homelessness, mental illness and addiction will wake up facing many of the same circumstances they faced the day before.

But I have come to understand something about myself: I am not my best self when I am angry.

So I gave myself some time and asked a different question.

Is my anger helping us find a solution?

My conclusion was no.

Instead, I began thinking about the people I have known whose lives have been profoundly affected by mental illness and addiction.

A high school friend. Smart. Artistic. Creative. Dynamic. She struggled with her mental health, developed an addiction to alcohol and eventually overcame it, but her family still struggled to reach her as her mental illness deepened.

At one point, she lived in supportive housing. Her experience there was frightening and overwhelming for her. For someone already struggling with serious mental-health challenges and trying to find stability, the environment around her mattered. Her story has stayed with me.

Then there is a young woman my daughters knew, once part of the circle of kids who called me "Mother Hen" — a play on my name, Henrietta. I used to see her around town.

Now I don't. I find myself wondering what has become of her.

And currently, there is a family member, deeply loved, now visibly struggling with addiction on our streets.

There are many more stories like these in our community.

That is when my anger began to change.

This issue is complicated. Addiction, untreated mental illness, homelessness, poverty, trauma, crime and the toxic-drug crisis overlap, but they are not the same thing. If we treat them as though they have one cause and therefore one solution, we will continue to struggle.

We need more than one response because people need different things.

Housing is necessary, but housing alone is not enough.

There will be circumstances where a person's condition has deteriorated so seriously that appropriate involuntary care must be considered within the protections and requirements of the law.

Some people actively struggling with addiction may need low-barrier housing, harm-reduction services and intensive wraparound support directed towards recovery

Someone choosing recovery may need something very different: a safe, structured, substance-free home where their journey is supported rather than constantly challenged.

Others may need intensive mental-health care.

None of those options should be expected to meet every person's needs.

We cannot simply say, "We housed someone," and assume the problem has been solved.

We need to ask a better question:

Did we place that person in the kind of housing and provide the kind of support that gives them the best chance to become healthy, safe and stable?

We need accountability.

Compassion does not require us to accept violence, theft, intimidation, dangerous behaviour or the loss of public spaces that everyone should be able to enjoy. Incarceration or involuntary care should be the exercised.

We also need treatment available when someone is ready to accept it.

Detox, residential treatment, recovery programs, counselling, mental-health services and supportive housing need to connect. A person reaching out for help should not be told to wait weeks or months at the very moment they are ready to change their life.

Harm reduction has a role in keeping people alive. But keeping someone alive today must be connected to opportunities for treatment, recovery and a healthier life tomorrow.

We also need prevention and early intervention.

Keeping someone housed before they become homeless is better than trying to house them afterward.

Supporting a family before it reaches crisis is better than responding after the family has broken apart.

Responding earlier to mental-health and addiction concerns is better for individuals, families, taxpayers and our entire community.

Children, seniors and residents deserve to use our parks, trails and public spaces safely. Business owners and employees deserve to feel safe at work. Families deserve support. People struggling with addiction deserve dignity. People experiencing homelessness deserve dignity.

Those ideas are not mutually exclusive.

We can care deeply about people who are struggling while also protecting the safety and quality of life of the broader community.

We should also be willing to learn from communities that have tried different approaches.

Medicine Hat, Alberta, received national attention when it reached "functional zero" chronic homelessness in 2021 through a coordinated, data-driven approach. It has subsequently experienced a significant rise in homelessness again.

There is an important lesson in both parts of that story.

Progress is possible. But progress must also be sustained, measured and adjusted when circumstances change.

Success cannot simply be measured by how much money we spend, how many programs we create or how many housing units we open.

We need to ask:

Are our neighbourhoods, businesses, parks and public spaces becoming safer? Are fewer people becoming homeless? Are people spending less time homeless?

Are people remaining safely housed? Can people access treatment when they are ready? Are people successfully moving into recovery? Do people choosing sobriety have safe, substance-free housing available to them? Are fewer people dying from toxic drugs?

And if the answers are no, what are we prepared to do differently?

The size of our community can actually be one of our greatest advantages.

We know one another.

Our organizations know one another.

We should be able to bring the City, provincial and federal governments, Vancouver Coastal Health, BC Housing, housing providers, police, treatment and recovery organizations, nonprofits, neighbourhoods, businesses and — importantly — people with lived experience around the same table.

Why shouldn't Powell River set a clear goal? Make homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring.

• Establish clear expectations around community safety.

• Know our numbers.

• Understand the people and individual needs behind those numbers.

• Provide different housing options for different needs.

• Make treatment available when people are ready.

• Create safe, substance-free recovery housing for people choosing sobriety.

• Invest in prevention and early intervention.

• Provide intensive care for people with the most complex needs.

• Measure our outcomes publicly.

• Learn from communities that are making progress.

• And have the courage to change course when something isn't working.

This issue is complex. But complex does not mean unsolvable. It means we need more than one solution.

Community safety. The right housing. Treatment. Recovery. Prevention. Accountability. Compassion.

And perhaps most importantly, the willingness to stop pointing fingers and start rolling up our sleeves and working together.

Henrietta Johnson

Listen. Learn. Lead.