Safety concerns on Vancouver Downtown Eastside Growing up like the elderly who live in the community say they have seen an increase in attacks recently.
Gabriella Molnar is 93 years old and returned home to Alexander Street last month when she says that a man struck her in the head in an uninsured attack.
“There is, no one was on the street,” she told Global News. “Not a single person. So then he was perhaps between the cars, I hadn’t seen. »»
Molnar said that she had been able to continue walking, but the suspect followed her until some people heard her scream and came out and helped chase him.
“I shouted and cried and perhaps shouted the Hungarian,” she said. “Swear in Hungarian a little.”
Molnar has lived in the region for 35 years and says it is still going out, but the neighborhood has changed and it is more worried about going out alone now.
“I don’t know what should be done, you know?”
Molnar reported the police incident, but she doesn’t need medical care.
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Jenny Konkin, president and co -founder of Whole Way House Society where Molnar lives, told Global News that, unfortunately, it is not a punctual incident.
“We now have several seniors who have told us to be attacked who have lived here for decades,” she said.
“It’s their house, and they really feel that they can no longer go out.”
Konkin said seniors like Molnar liked to go out and walk every day and since the attack, she has not been comfortable going out alone.
“At home entirely, our goal is to help active people, engaged in the community, independent,” said Konkin.
“When you can’t even get out of your home, it is beating the whole goal.”
Konkin added that recently a 98 -year -old woman was randomly attacked when someone came and struck her on the arm several times.
“When she got home, we wanted to report it to the police. We would help him. She was embarrassed, ”added Konkin.
“She didn’t want to have a problem, and she felt that she felt like she had to prove her case to the police. And so I think that with seniors in particular, we must defend them. We have to speak on their behalf and defend it. »»
There is a large elderly population in the city center of Eastside, because this is where there are many affordable housing.
“I would say that the elderly become our most vulnerable population in this neighborhood,” said Konkin.
She said that many elderly people do not feel safe to do full -fledged things, the room has therefore organized group trips to the food bank, the bank and other places so that the elderly May feel independent.
“When we discovered that they are intended for retirement day outside the bank, we started driving them,” said Konkin.
Const. Tania Visintin of the Vancouver police department said that what had happened to Molnar was a huge concern.
“There are a lot of people in the city center of Eastside that you don’t hear about because they get lost in chaos,” she said.
“But it is a perfect example of retiree, someone who does no crime that lives in the community. And that doesn’t feel safe.
Visintin said that this is why they launched the working group dam last week to help get more police in downtown Easttisde.
“The main objective of the project dam is to obtain additional officers, to create more physical presence, to investigate the serious crimes that take place there and to hold these responsible offenders.”
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