This morning I was at the opening of Downtown Eastside Connect, the new media centre at Woodwards aimed at press visiting Vancouver for the Olympics. Information about various local not-for-profit housing groups, including St. James is on display, with the goal of highlighting all the work being undertaken to address homelessness and revitalize the neighbourhood.

The immediate impact of the 26 new women's emergency housing beds in the Downtown Eastside is aleady being felt. The number of recorded "turnaways" (requests for service we cannot meet because of lack of space) at our main Powell Street women's facility droppped by 50% in December, the month after the opening.

Yesterday was the official opening of "The Umbrella", our new 26-bed emergency housing facility for women in the Downtown Eastside, located at 625 Powell Street . Minister Coleman and Mayor Robertson toured the building and spoke enthusiastically about the achievement of pulling the project together so quickly...in under two months! They also made a point of acknowledging that the building was owned by private supporters, and that all the renovations had been paid for through donations.

Best of all, last night we welcomed our first women into the program.

St. James is profiled in the current issue of Worksafe BC's magazine. The article (on page 16) looks at the work of agencies in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside and how we promote safer workplaces for our staff. Here's a great quote: "For Harkness (a Worksafe BC officer), employers like Insite and St. James do heroic work."