Security issues on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside are rising as seniors who reside locally say they’ve seen a rise in assaults not too long ago.
Gabriella Molnar is 93 years previous and was strolling again to her house on Alexander Avenue final month when she says a person struck her on the top in an unprovoked assault.
“There’s, no person was on the road,” she instructed World Information. “Not a single individual. So then he simply possibly he was between the automobiles, I hadn’t seen.”
Molnar stated she was capable of preserve strolling however the suspect adopted her till some folks heard her screaming and so they got here out and helped chase him away.
“I used to be screaming and crying and possibly screaming Hungarian,” she stated. “Swearing a bit in Hungarian.”
Molnar has lived within the space for 35 years and says she nonetheless goes out however the neighbourhood has modified and she or he worries extra about going out on her personal now.
“I don’t know what ought to be accomplished, ?”
Molnar reported the incident to police however she didn’t require medical consideration.
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Jenny Konkin, president and co-founder of Complete Approach Home Society the place Molnar lives, instructed World Information that sadly, this isn’t a one-off incident.
“We’ve now had a number of seniors come ahead telling us about being assaulted who’ve lived right here for many years,” she stated.
“That is their house, and so they actually really feel that they’ll not go exterior.”
Konkin stated that seniors like Molnar wish to go exterior and stroll day-after-day and because the assault, she has not been comfy going exterior by herself.
“At Complete Approach Home, our total function is to assist preserve folks energetic, engaged locally, impartial,” Konkin stated.
“When you possibly can’t even go exterior of your private home, that defeats the complete function.”
Konkin added that not too long ago a 98-year-old girl was randomly attacked when somebody got here up and hit her within the arm with a stick a number of occasions.
“When she got here house, we needed to report it to the police. We might assist her. She was embarrassed,” Konkin added.
“She didn’t wish to be any bother, and she or he felt she felt like she must show to the police her case. And so I believe with seniors particularly, we have to rise up for them. We have to communicate on their behalf and advocate for them.”
There’s a large senior inhabitants within the Downtown Eastside as a result of that’s the place plenty of inexpensive housing is positioned.
“I might say seniors have gotten our most weak inhabitants on this neighbourhood,” Konkin stated.
She stated that many seniors don’t really feel secure doing issues on their very own so Complete Approach Home has organized group journeys to the meals financial institution, the financial institution and different locations so seniors can really feel impartial.
“Once we discovered that they’re being focused on pension day exterior of the financial institution, we began driving them,” Konkin stated.
Const. Tania Visintin with the Vancouver Police Division stated what occurred to Molnar is a large concern.
“There are lots of people within the Downtown Eastside that you simply don’t hear about as a result of they get misplaced within the chaos,” she stated.
“However it is a excellent instance of a pensioner, somebody who doesn’t in any crime that lives locally. And that’s not feeling secure.”
Visintin stated that’s the reason they launched Activity Drive Barrage final week to assist get extra law enforcement officials on the Downtown Eastisde.
“The principle purpose of Venture Barrage is to get further officers, create extra of a bodily presence, examine the intense crimes that go on there and maintain these offenders accountable.”
© 2025 World Information, a division of Corus Leisure Inc.
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