Oppenheimer Park residents ordered to leave by Wednesday evening

6pm Wednesday - that's the deadline the General Manager of the Vancouver Park Board has given the 200 homeless people camping out in Oppenheimer Park on the Downtown Eastside, to get out.

BC Housing says it has more than 100 units of safe, stable housing available.

In a news release, the City says the safety of those in the park is key, and there have been 17 fires there since February.

Our Claire Allen has been speaking to a couple named Jennifer and Eric - they’ve been living in Oppenheimer Park for about four months. They previously were in an SRO and say it wasn’t very nice. 

CKNW Contributors Claire and Eric have been down at Oppenheimer Park today speaking to the residents who have been served eviction notices from the park board. One person they spoke to was  Will, a young man living in a tent in Oppenheimer Park. 

While sitting in his tent, he spoke with them about his current struggles with substance abuse, mainly fentanyl, and how he ended up living in a tent in Oppenheimer Park. 

While speaking with Will, the scene at Oppenheimer Park was quite active, but calm. There was a police presence in the park, but it seemed like everyone was taking the eviction notice in stride. However, Will told Claire and Eric that the park can be anything but calm at night…

6pm Wednesday - that's the deadline the General Manager of the Vancouver Park Board has given the 200 homeless people camping out in Oppenheimer Park on the Downtown Eastside, to get out.

BC Housing says it has more than 100 units of safe, stable housing available.

In a news release, the City says the safety of those in the park is key, and there have been 17 fires there since February.

Our Claire Allen has been speaking to a couple named Jennifer and Eric - they’ve been living in Oppenheimer Park for about four months. They previously were in an SRO and say it wasn’t very nice. 

CKNW Contributors Claire and Eric have been down at Oppenheimer Park today speaking to the residents who have been served eviction notices from the park board. One person they spoke to was  Will, a young man living in a tent in Oppenheimer Park. 

While sitting in his tent, he spoke with them about his current struggles with substance abuse, mainly fentanyl, and how he ended up living in a tent in Oppenheimer Park. 

While speaking with Will, the scene at Oppenheimer Park was quite active, but calm. There was a police presence in the park, but it seemed like everyone was taking the eviction notice in stride. However, Will told Claire and Eric that the park can be anything but calm at night…