The Downtown Eastside Residents Association (DERA) was a non-profit society in the

Downtown Eastside The Downtown Eastside (DTES) is a neighbourhood in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. One of the city's oldest neighbourhoods, the DTES is the site of a complex set of social issues including disproportionately high levels of drug use, homele ...

area of

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, operating from 1973 until 2010. The association was founded by Bruce Eriksen,

Libby Davies Libby Davies (born February 27, 1953) is a Canadian politician from British Columbia. She was the member of Parliament for Vancouver East from 1997 to 2015, House Leader for the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2003 to 2011, and Deputy Leade ...

Jean Swanson Jean Swanson (born ) is a Canadian politician, anti-poverty activist, and writer in Vancouver, British Columbia. She represented the left-wing Coalition of Progressive Electors on Vancouver City Council as one of Vancouver's 10 at-large city co ...

, University of Victoria professor Calvin Sandborm and other residents of the Downtown Eastside. Membership was restricted to those who live within the neighbourhood's boundaries. The association's original aims are outlined in its Mission Statement. The group was actively involved with opposition to the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

, and was accused of possessing the Olympic Flag stolen from

Vancouver City Hall Vancouver City Hall is home to Vancouver City Council in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located at 453 West 12th Avenue, the building was ordered by the Vancouver Civic Building Committee, designed by architect Fred Townley and Matheson, and ...

on March 16, 2007. The association has close ties with the Anti-Poverty Committee, with many APC members having worked for the DERA, and live in DERA subsidized housing. In March 2010, the association was accused of mishandling public money, and failing to pay $500,000 in property taxes and rents from three government-owned social housing buildings that they manage. Since the suit, the three government-owned social housing buildings were handed over to a court-appointed receiver, and an undisclosed settlement was reached between the DERA and BC Housing. BC Housing issued a proposal call in the summer of 2010 to find nonprofit housing societies to manage the buildings in the long term. Former supporters of the DERA, such as Jim Green, a former Vancouver city councillor who led DERA in the 1980s, stated that this settlement likely means the end of the DERA as a housing provider for the poor. After the settlement, DERA disbanded without an official announcement.

References

External links

*http://www.vcn.bc.ca/dera/ Organizations based in Vancouver Downtown Eastside {{Vancouver-stub