Victoria is a beautiful place to live, but the cost of living in B.C.’s capital is an ongoing concern, says Victoria’s latest Vital Signs report.

Cost of living moved to the top of the list of issues this year, a spot that had been previously held by homelessness, which came second this year. Third to fifth place on the list were occupied by addictions, housing and mental illness. Clearly affordability is pushing people into instability.

Surinder Kumar is exchanging his tie and chief executive title for a night to become an executive chef in the name of famine relief.

Kumar, CEO of Vecima Networks - Victoria's most valuable public company - will be putting his culinary skills to the test Oct. 1 as he both cooks and hosts a fundraising dinner to raise money for the Horn of Africa Famine Relief through Save the Children Canada.

'Iwant to go to the Louvre," said Richard Clemens, perched on the wall beside the Vic High soccer field.

A few months ago, the 37-year-old might as well have said he wanted to go to Mars.

Or even to Metchosin. For some of the players on Victoria's street soccer team, just getting out of downtown, out of a life circumscribed by social-service agencies, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, substance abuse and poverty, is like a trip to Paris - which is where Clemens is headed today as a member of Canada's entry in the 2011 Homeless World Cup of Soccer.

Advocate Rose Henry knows all too well the dangers of the streets

You’ve likely seen her standing outside the Bay Centre on Douglas Street. She might have greeted you with a smile and an offer to buy a copy of Victoria Street Newz. Her face is a road map of a rough life on the streets, but there’s something in her eyes, a twinkle that says here is a woman worth knowing. Her name is Rose Henry and this is her story.

Victoria’s favourite homeless advocate and First Nations activist Rose Henry has some big news coming up in a few weeks, but she’s still looking for community help to make it happen.

Henry, 54, has been nominated — and placed in the finals — for a prestigious award for homeless advocacy through an article she wrote on economic violence in Victoria Street Newz last December.

The United Way of Greater Victoria (UWGV) continues to have an enormous impact in our community in its 75th year of operations, by connecting people and resources throughout our community to identify and address our most challenging social issues.

Read more about how UWGV is supporting the Coalition's work...