Crystal wants to be working – she’s a meat cutter and a house painter. But even with Elizabeth Fry Society taking care of re-registering her every six months with BC Housing (if you don’t do that, you’re removed from the wait list), it’s been almost three years now without a bite. Supportive housing isn’t an option because she wants to be able to have her children visit, and that’s not allowed. The bylaw and police enforcement of people living homeless continues to be intense, says Crystal, who now sleeps with her backpack on in hopes of making it less likely it will be taken. “If you look like you’re in any comfort, they’re going to take whatever is helping with that. We had new blankets and they threw them on the ground so they could say they were wet and dirty and take them from us.”