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Neelam Sahota (left), CEO of DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society, joined Mental Health and Addictions Minister Judy Darcy, NISA Helpline CEO Tanweer
Ebrahim and Surrey-Green Timbers NDP MLA Rachna Singh discuss the importance of lifting women up at the City Centre Branch of the Surrey Public Library

Feb. 29. Missy JOHNSON PHOTO

A battle with loneliness

Activists encourage support to help bolster community-feel

By MISSYJOHNSON

n light of International

Women’s Day, activists in

Surrey are encouraging more

people to support women who
have arrived in the city from a foreign
country and are vulnerable to social
issues such as loneliness.

Sonia Andhi, founder of the Shakti
Society, hosted an Awards Gala on
March 7 to honour women in the city
who are doing inspiring work.

The Shakti Society hosts wellness
days and community cafes. Andhi
says they want to bring women
together who might otherwise be
isolated and give them community.

“When women are feeling like
they are a part of the community,
they will contribute more,” she said.

“If they feel that what they're
saying matters, of course, they'll
speak up more, so for us it's really
about creating those safe spaces and
showing women that what you say
really matters.”

Andhi knows first-hand how
immigrating to a new country can
cause loneliness.

“I was one of them, where you
come here, you don't know anyone,
you just know your husband,” she
said. “It can be very intimidating.”

Neelam Sahota, CEO of DIVER-

SEcity Community Resources Soci-

ety, was one of the Shakti awards
recipients. She said Surrey benefits
from women being lifted up in many
different ways.

“Once they feel like they have a
sense of belonging that anchors them,
that encourages them to be individu-
als that can contribute in many ways
from their areas of strength.”

Founded more than 40 years ago,
DIVERSEcity was one of the first
organizations of its kind in Surrey
to offer immigrant and refugee
women support to become integrated
members of society.

‘Tanweer Ebrahim, CEO of NISA
Helpline, which women can call to
talk about their issues and seek

support, immigrated to Canada over
10 years ago.

She says although there have been
changes, women in Surrey are still
facing isolation.

“We have one woman who called
the helpline every day just because
she's lonely,” she said. “That proves
that this platform is needed.”

Between 2011 and 2016, Surrey
welcomed over 36,000 immigrants
and is home to 25 per cent of Metro
Vancouver's recent immigrants.

“We each have our part to play,
and from the government, to the
city and in our local communities,
we complete each other by doing our

share,” Ebrahim said.

COVID UPDATE, continues from page 7

He said over 90 per cent of these
cases were in four countries, two of
which have “significantly declining
epidemics.”

“We have never before seen a
pandemic sparked by a coronavi-
tus,” Ghebreyesus said in his state-
ment. “All countries can still change
the course of this pandemic.”

As of The Voice’s publication
time, there were 46 confirmed cases
of COVID-19 in British Columbia.
Four individuals had recovered.

One person, an 80-year-old man
with existing health challenges, has
died from the disease. The Lynn
Valley Care Centre resident in North
Vancouver died March 8.

In a March 11 press conference,
Dr. Bonnie Henry, B.C.’s provin-
cial health officer, confirmed she
has been talking to post-secondary
institutions about the importance
of taking “community distancing
measures.” Henry said she would
be having more detailed discussions
with post-secondary institutions
over the coming days.

“We must all at this time step up
our social distancing. This is not
forever, but for the coming weeks,”
Henry said.

In an emailed statement to The
Voice, the Ministry of Advanced
Education, Skills and Training said
the ministry remains in close contact
with post-secondary institutions to
monitor the impact of the outbreak.

“Institutions are advised to follow
their own emergency response plan-
ning and remain in communication
with their students, staff, faculty and
community,” said the ministry state-
ment.

Langara’s latest COVID-19
website update, posted March 10,
advised all students, faculty, staff,
and visitors to have been to Hubei,
China, or Iran to stay home or self-
isolate for 14 days.

During the first week of March,
Langara’s Food Services began stor-
ing single-use cutlery in a box at each
cashier's workstation, only available
upon request. Patrick Villarama,
assistant director of food services
for Chartwells, said the decision was
made because of COVID-19.

Asa temporary measure to prevent
virus spread, Tim Hortons and
Starbucks on campus have stopped
accepting re-useable cups.

More cars, but city unclear when

Street parking in
New West over-
flowing due to

laneway houses

By TAESA HODEL

s the City of New West-
minster encourages the
construction of new lane-

way houses, unregulated street park-
ing from increased density poses a
threat to the safety of the already-
crowded streets of the West End,
some residents say.

They say that after regular work
hours, it is common to see cars
parked solidly down both sides of the
residential roads, impacting visibility
for drivers.

“You have to look ahead to the
end of the block to see if there’s
another vehicle coming because you
can't pass each other,” said Elmer
Rudolph, president of the West End
Residents Association.

“There’s only one lane down the

centre.”

The congested streets become
more dangerous in the mornings,
said resident Norbert Bisek, who
lives near Lord Tweedsmuir elemen-
tary school and has noticed drivers
speeding through his neighbourhood
early in the day.

“They cut through to avoid the 30
km/h school zone,” said Bisek. “I’ve
got a young son, most of this street is
full of young kids ... It’s scary.”

As part of an initiative to create
more rental housing in the city, the
laneway and carriage house program
was launched in New Westminster in
2017 to encourage property owners
to develop small rental homes on
their lots.

According to the zoning bylaws,
laneway houses must provide a park-
ing space on the property to avoid a
traffic build-up from the new renters.

But the bylaw has little to no
effect in the West End where there
is almost no residential permit park-
ing. Without permits regulating
which vehicles are or aren't allowed
to stay parked on the street, parking
is difficult to enforce.

If unregulated street parking

were to cause a hazard for drivers,
it would then become a bylaw issue,
said Michael Nguyen, engineering
technologist in transportation for the
City of New Westminster.

“We'd have to ... get a complaint
in and our bylaw officer would
either move it or tow it if it's block-
ing access.”

According to the city, 32 per cent
of development permit applications
for laneway houses are from the West
End, the largest amount by district in
the New Westminster.

It is unknown what effect this
influx of residents could have on
the neighbourhood, yet the city has
stopped monitoring the process,
stating on its website that it will be
“put on hold [...] until 2022.”

Without active investigations
into the implementation of the new
laneway houses, the city is relying
on residents to send any feedback
through an online survey.

Whether emergency vehicle access
could also be impacted by the rows of
parked cars is uncertain.

The New Westminster Building
Division and Fire Protection Divi-
sion require a clear access width —

between cars on either side — of 24
feet for a firetruck.

Vehicles parked on either side of
the roads in the West End can use
up to 10 feet of that access width,
taking streets from the required 24

West End residents in New Westminster say their streets have become dan-

to ban

feet down to 14 feet.

Assistant Deputy Fire Chief Rob
Dick of the New Westminster Fire
Department says firetrucks are 10
feet wide and can fit between parked
cars.

gerously crowded thanks to laneway homes increasing density and more cars
parking in unregulated areas. 74&S4 HODEL PHOTO