Two Abbotsford rest areas, as well as several park\u002Dand\u002Drides and truck parking lots, have become trailer parks for people without a home.
Glen Henderson at the Cole Road rest area in Abbotsford.“The driver is housing,” said Jesse Wegenast, coordinator of the city’s homeless count. “It used to be that to end up homeless, people had a combination of vulnerabilities — mental health, addiction, childhood trauma. Now, they just don’t have enough money.”
Some of the most vulnerable find their way to the Lonzo park-and-ride near the Sumas Way exit, where people live in broken vehicles and tents among piles of garbage. Like the rest areas, the camp is on provincial land, creating challenges for the city because its bylaws don’t apply, specifically one that requires people camping in city parks to take down their tents and move on by 9 a.m.Abbotsford Mayor Ross Siemens said there is a variety of reasons people find themselves homeless, with more mental health and addictions issues at the Lonzo camp.
“We have to wrap our minds around how to provide proper mental health care, rather than leaving people to live on the side of the road,” he said.Article content
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