Sister Elizabeth Kelleher speaks about the moral need to build social housing

Conscious Landscapes

This interview aired in 2011 and is still relevant today, Sister Kelleher passed on Aug 16 2013 and her life continues to be an inspiration to all***Gives us all something to think about at this time of year**

We speak to Sister Elizabeth Kelleher, an 85 year old nun with the Franciscan Sisters of the Atonement, we talk about her efforts to stop more gentrification in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside the poorest postal code in Canada.

Sister Elizabeth is a pillar in the Downtown Eastside where she tirelessly gives of her time and continues to be a source of inspiration for many, many people. She operates a soup kitchen that feeds between 300 and 500 of the city’s most poverty stricken each day.

It is estimated that there are over 10,000 homeless people in BC , of which 32 percent are aboriginal, and amongst women, 50 percent. A homeless person dies every 12 days in B.C. Conservative Estimates put the national homeless numbers at close to 300,000. The annual cost of homelessness in Canada in 2007 was approximately $4.5 to $6 billion in emergency services, community organizations, and non-profits. The cost both financially and morally of doing nothing is tremendous. Canada is the only G8 country without a national housing plan or poverty reduction strategy.