Homeless in Abbotsford, BC

Gratitude

I read an article once that postulated that one reason so many think society is deteriorating is that to many people either lack or fail to use basic civility. Now citing such simple things as “Excuse Me”, “Thank You”, “Please” for some of society’s ills may sound trite, but the use of these words reflects an attitude of consideration for others. You bump into someone and say “excuse me” and the incident can end there. How often have you seen people bump and their reaction is to start screaming and things go downhill from there. The use of “please and thank you” seems to be a dying art-form.

I was/am appalled at the discourtesy some, no scratch some, most of my fellow homeless have been displaying on Saturdays. There are several Korean bible students (Jacob, Stephen et al) who have reached the point in their studies that they need to do a little practice preaching with real people. Now these brave folks could undoubtedly have found a nice safe and easy place/group for this practice, but have chosen instead to go where there is a real need. I admire their bravery and faith, but I have serious reservations about their sanity. They use the Street Hope premises for their ministry, serving a delicious and healthy meal. Then they ask for our attention for a few minutes so that they can have a chance to work with a live audience. They keep the message short and simple (as befits the audience they have) and choose appropriate (to the audiences situation) passages.

The homeless know that these brave folks just want the opportunity to share a short message and gain experience in the real (very real) world. Many homeless rush in, gobble the food and rush out before they ‘have to listen’. Worse still are those who sit around and talk or in other ways disrupt the reading and ideas they wish to share. Now I could get technical here and cite ‘implied contracts’ feed us/we listen but I won’t. What I will cite is the lack of manners and consideration this behaviour shows. They take the time to prepare and serve a meal. More importantly they take the time to choose and prepare a bible passage and their thoughts on this passage, choosing messages that we all could benefit from keeping in mind. And then many of my fellow homeless cannot find it in their hearts to do them the courtesy of listening. Yet, if these people decided to stop coming down to Street Hope, the homeless would be bitching about how inconsiderate they were to stop coming. The homeless have also have missed the positive thoughts and ideas that the last two passages and sharings have contained. Myself, I could use all the positive mental images and ideas I could get. So I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to these brave folk and their friends and spouses who help out. THANK YOU.

Of course these are not the only people that many fail to extent basic courtesy to. There are those who cannot be bothered to take their trays over to stack dishes and trays for easier washing or to put their garbage in the garbage. They leave it for the volunteers to do, these people who have done us the kindness to come down, prepare the meal, serve the meal, wash the dishes and clean up after we leave. And those slobs cannot even bother to help out to the extent of a simple task of putting ones tray and dishes in a place that makes the volunteers’ job easier. I once saw someone turn up after lunch was finished. One of the volunteers went out of her way to get him some buttered buns (all that was left) so that he would not have nothing. He screamed at her, through the buns at her and kept swearing at the top of his lungs. She had gone out of her way to help and because it was not what he wanted, when he wanted he felt free to heap abuse on her. To often many homeless forget that these people do not have to be there, that they are there out of the goodness of their hearts. Then there are those who feel hard done by because the bag lunches only contain a cheese sandwich, a peanut butter sandwich, apiece of fruit and some cookies. They also have no hesitation in complaining to the people who have provided that it should be better. They have provided the food out of their own pockets, made up the bags and brought them to the hungry. They do this every week it is needed without fail and choose to err on the side of providing us with a lunch to have as supper rather than chance us not getting anything to eat at all. And these ungrateful wretches complain, when they should be thanking their lucky stars that people with this kindness in them exist.

I have seen all too many examples of this lack of appreciation for all the hard work and effort that some caring people go to helping out the homeless and the poor. Failing to give thanks or worse giving abuse where thanks are due. They feel hard done by when they cannot even say a simple thank you. I apologize for those ignoramuses and assure you that I certainly appreciate your hard work and efforts.

THANK YOU

An Unsightly Sight?

I agree, probably for different reasons, but I do find the sight objectionable. I considered seeing how far into this blog I could get before I needed to reveal just what I was talking about. I thought of different ways to play back and forth between the public-at-large and my point of view without defining exactly what we were speaking of, since that is what happens so often in the area of homelessness. But as noted, I (we) get enough of that in our day-to-day existence, so what we are discussing is the homeless sleeping in public at night.

This came to mind as I was speaking to several of my fellow homeless last night. It seems that the brick producer by the welfare office has decided to clean out those homeless that were camping in the bush by their facility. At least they were semi-reasonable in the way they went about this. They trotted out a front-end loader, ran it around the edge of the bush to attract attention and issued a warning that they would return in 24 hours to level everything. The reason for saying ‘semi-reasonable’ is that they apparently could not do this without running over and destroying at least a few things. On the other hand all too often others who want to move the homeless along have given no warning, no chance to retrieve their property, just destroyed it. And at this time of year losing what little shelter and bedding is a big deal. As I said at least they were semi-reasonable.

One regularly hears of camps and campsites around the city being destroyed to move the homeless along. The question is why does any rational person think this is going to accomplish anything? As noted, I was speaking to one of the people who had retrieved his stuff (now in a cart). Now I grant you he was not going to be spending his night camping out in the bush near the brick producers – he was now going to be spending the night on the street wherever he could find cover from the rain. At least until he can find another patch of bush to pitch his tent in – until he is rousted from the new location…… and so on, and so on, and so on. He was in the company of one of those the city chose to displace in their argument with the owners of the Fraser Valley Inn. As a result of the city being happy to throw the residents onto the streets but not to stand up and accept their responsibility for helping the people relocate, he has been sleeping on the streets since that time. Now he finds some sheltered spot to try to get some sleep, until the police come along and wake him up to move. After all it is an unsightly and thus not to be allowed. So he moves to the nearest sheltered place and goes to sleep, until the police come along…… and so on, and so on, and so on. Last night he was joined by the fellow rendered camp-less.

**Shake my head** The question is where else do they go? They are homeless with no other choices. One of the other people I know from the Fraser Inn displacement has been desperately seeking shelter since then. When I talked to her yesterday she was ‘distraught’, although that does not really convey how close she is to the end of her rope. I have encouraged her – both to keep plugging away and to get her story down so I can post it. Where do you expect them to go? She was displaced from the Fraser Inn by the city months ago, displaced from a campsite in the bush by the city, currently has a shelter that I would live on the street before I used and is struggling to find a place, but in Abbotsford a $325 shelter allowance makes that a long, difficult task –if you are lucky.

Of course there is the question of what else is going on when the police have to spend their time chasing the homeless from spot to spot instead of other duties. The question of, as all the camping spots in the bush are leveled, having more and more people wandering the streets at night and sleeping where they can – until woken to move on ... and so on, and so on, and so on. Of course there are laws against this, so they can be arrested and jailed if you want to pay all the costs associated with this choice. But these costs are hidden as part of something the public likes, increased police spending and more people in jail. It appears the public would rather fool itself and pay these much higher hidden costs rather than examining the question in a rational way. Only by looking at the underlying reality of the situation (as opposed to what people think the situation is) and at the actual real costs of dealing with the situation (as opposed to only seeing the plainly visible costs and ignoring the ‘hidden’ costs) can we begin to make rational choices.

Reality is that the homeless do not just cease to exist when displaced they just have to find another spot, then another ... and so on, and so on, and so on. You can displace and move them along all you want, but until you begin to deal with the underlying causes and they have housing of some form they are going to be an Unsightly Sight.

The Paradox of the Screw-up
OR
If I had only known: I could have embraced screwing up

I have observed that in having a screw-up enter your life it is preferable to have it happen early, the earlier the better. This makes sense to me. The younger you are the more options you have in getting back on your feet. You can take 8 hours of physical labour or stand on your feet for an 8 hour shift, both of which I have done when I was so much younger. I have found, through my recent experiences, that employers are not willing to hire you full time one you are a ‘mature’ worker. I can certainly understand and except this behaviour, even if I do not like it. Although to be honest, I have serious doubts about my ability to be on my feet for 8 hours straight at this point of my life, a fact that tends to make me much more understanding. I suspect that the WCB also contributes to their caution, they see a walking claim caused by a lifetime of wear and tear on my body. So if you life tanks at an earlier age you have more options in the job market, which makes sense.

A small paradox I found was that I was and am surprised at how much of a liability experience can have. You would think that experience would be an asset in ones job search. My experience has been that it in fact works against you in the job market. There are numerous jobs out there that I have applied for that had I just been starting or only had a few years of experience I would have gotten. I have heard the statement “you’re overqualified for the position” so often I have fond thoughts of throttling the next person you issues that statement. When I tell this to people they say “Oh, they just do not want to pay you”. I certainly hope this is not true, since it does suggest some negative things about employer – employee relations. I also hope it is not true as I certainly would not expect to be paid at the level of my experience but at the level of the position – OK maybe at the higher end of the range but still in relation to the job I was doing. Still, reality is that I would have been better to be in my current state of unemployment and homelessness earlier in my career.

Sue? It just occurred to me that maybe I should sue the federal government for age discrimination. There are many programs for training or schooling those under 30, but once you are over thirty you are out of luck. That’s ageism! I should sue! Actually, this is an area that needs a little though and review. In the old economy, older workers were usually situated in a job or company and finished out their working career with that company. In our current economy, more and more older workers are finding themselves out of work late in their working lives and finding they cannot get a position in their old career/job. Unfortunately for them finding retraining or education programs is difficult. This is another argument for messing up early in life.

But the BIG paradox is that you are far better off to be a royal screw-up than you are to run into one problem later in your working life. There are programs out there that will help you is you have been on and off UI or in and out of work. For these programs it does not matter if you were laid off or fired, just that you cannot hold a job. They will pay to send you back to school for up to two years – at their expense. Now it is not easy to access these programs, not in the sense that they are trying to turn you down, but in the sense that they want to make sure you are serious and willing to do the work. Which is a good idea and a legitimate screening tool. However, there are no similar programs for people who have been good workers throughout their working life, until they ran into whatever difficulty it was that rendered them in their current circumstances. This is aggravated by the fact that as noted above, experience can be a significant barrier to finding a job. There are courses of study that I would love to pursue that, together with my background and experience, would allow me to find employment in an interesting, challenging and creative position. But sadly, as I have found ou,t there are not programs for those of us who were good workers. Sadly I failed to realize, before reaching this point in my career, that it would be far more advantageous to regularly screw-up than to do a good job.

So, as I reflect upon the Paradox of the Screw-up I can only regret that I didn’t appreciate the advantages of being a poor employee vs. the disadvantages of being a good employee. At least for purposes of getting help for schooling and career change for the purpose of becoming a sought after employee.

par·a·dox n. :

1. One exhibiting inexplicable or contradictory aspects


2. That which is apparently, though not actually, inconsistent with or opposed to the known facts in any case


3. A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true


4. An assertion that is essentially self-contradictory, though based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises

Government Whitewash

I read about the politicians’ hasty reconsideration of their bellying up to gorge at the public trough. They just were not sneaky enough in this case to pull the wool over the publics eyes. There were no labels or somebody else they could point at to distract the public attention from the real issues, nobody to blame or absolve them of responsibility. So they had to stand naked before the public with their actions and the consequences of those actions in plain view. In pondering the question of how to force the effects of the government’s actions on the poor, homeless and those needing help I realized the bizarre fact that one of the side effects of charity is to aid in whitewashing these actions and effects.

So why do I say that a side effect of charity is aiding in a government whitewash?

Whitewash: n. Concealment or palliation of flaws or failures; tr.v. To conceal
or gloss over (wrongdoing, for example).

Palliate: tr.v. 1. To make (an
offense or crime) seem less serious; extenuate. 2. To make less severe or
intense; mitigate:

In taking on the feeding of the poor, those on social assistance and the homeless charities have allowed the government to conceal the flaws in and the failure of its social policies AND its fiscal policies. It is those fiscal policies that have given rise to a large class of working poor who struggle to keep a roof over their heads and rely on the food bank and other charities for food, clothing and luxuries such as shampoo. These same fiscal policies result in those struggling to get off welfare and onto their own two feet facing an uphill struggle in finding employment in their search for independence. This is not the place to list all the failures of its social policies, since such a listing would distract from the topic under discussion – although the government itself employs many forms of distraction in concealing its actions and the consequences for those in need of a helping hand.

I had to look up the word palliate when I decided to use the definition for the term whitewash. It seems very, very appropriate here. ‘To make less severe or intense; mitigate’. Imagine if you will (OK I stole that from Rod Serling, but I often feel I have entered the Twilight Zone) a world in which no charities undertook to feed the hungry. People would start dying from starvation. The pictures of children suffering from hunger and starvation would no long be from Africa but from the streets of BC. It would certainly strip away the concealment of just what the true effect of the governments policies are, pushing them before the public eye in the same way that the pay raises were.

I am glad there are people out there with generous hearts since I am currently one of those who (I had to go back to put in the word currently, if you let the system beat you down to the point where you become ‘one of’ this mindset can turn you into a permanent inhabitant of the system) depends upon their humanity for survival. I have now truly come to understand why those who work and strive so hard to help feed, shelter and clothe the needy are driven to do this. Still I am forced to acknowledge that their acts of basic human decency and kindness help sanitize the policies and actions of the government.

Sanitize: tr.v. To make more acceptable by removing unpleasant or offensive
features from

I do mean sanitize. Or I certainly hope I do. I fervently hope that hungry, starving people would be viewed as an offensive feature of current policies. I shudder to think what kind of society we have if we find it acceptable to have those in need of help, suffering and dying for lack of help. I mentioned this theory about the ‘whitewash effect of charity’ to a friend at lunch and he agreed with the logic. He just was not as sure that society would require action even if people started dying of starvation – “You hope” he said repeatedly. Frighteningly, I could understand his skepticism and had no way to refute it, which probably speaks volumes about the type of society we have allowed to grow. Where people drive by or step over those in need of assistance and when it hits the news (being a BIG story) we all shake our heads and say how terrible those bystanders were – but I wonder just how many of those head-shakers would have been driving by or stepping over the needy if they had been there themselves? Maybe, instead of pointing fingers at television, movies, magazines etc and bemoaning them as the cause for the direction society is headed, we should step up to the mirror and point at ourselves.

A society is a reflection of all its’ citizens behaviour. If you think society is corroding away, reflect upon your own actions – or inactions.

People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.
James Baldwin

The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all the people.
Noam Chomsky

When solving problems, dig at the roots instead of just hacking at the leaves.
Anthony D’Angelo

GIME!! GIME!! GIME!! Screams Gord! In Sneak Attack on Public Purse

Bad for other public servants BUT GOOD for us! Behind closed doors, in hiding from public scrutiny, the Liberal Party and Leader Gordon Campbell (with the NDP aiding and abetting) in effect told his fellow British Columbians that the rules are for everybody else, NOT them. Claiming no money is available for those in need or other badly needed program expenditures and beating up and contracting out jobs of those seeking raises, the government gave itself a 31% raise. Apparently the idea of holding the line on monies paid from the public purse is good only until it affects his pocketbook. With more and more citizens homeless, on welfare, living below the poverty line or struggling to make ends meet the government decided that exorbitant raises were the best use of the taxes taken from hard-press, hard-working taxpayers.

I am truly disappointed in Carole James deciding to sell out. Anyone who cared for their fellow citizens who have, and continue to, sufferer at the hands of this government would not have gone along with this heist from the public purse. Principle is a concept that obviously the politicians in this province are totally lacking any understanding of, much less having any principles. Despite their claims, the current Ideologues in government have no sense of fiscal responsibility.

If leadership is creating a state of mind in others, what kind of state of mind are Gordon Campbell and his cronies creating in BC? Do we really want to be living in a province where ‘Greed is Good – at least for ME’ and ‘Special Classes/Cases’ exist? Can we afford these overpriced, overpaid, under-working, underperforming and morally bankrupt politicos?

With their inability so clearly demonstrated these politicians should be paying us!

For Gord and his posse: A challenge

So you think the $510 is adequate?

Then demonstrate this to me …… please! For just six months you live on that amount – and only that amount. Then we will talk. I am sure you all can, and will find reasons not to accept this challenge. A variety of reasons that sound good and hide the truth: you cannot. No one can without help from food banks and others of good will.

Either demonstrate how it is done to live on $510 a month, for just six short months (I expect the press, the opposition and advocates for all your and Liberal party’s victims will be willing/happy to act as observers/judges/referees in this matter) or admit that $510 in not adequate and do something about it (not to mention all the other reforms required).

I had to delete any references to leadership after the sneaky money grab Gord and his posse made. However I think that so he can get a real feel for the people of the province that:

Gordon Campbell should get his chance to live on $510 per month

I will live on his salary, but in a demonstration of leadership I will only accept the pre 31% raise salary.

Crime Wave coming to your neighbourhood!

-courtesy of the downtown Business Association and
your City Government


One of Newton's Laws of Motion is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. With objects or bodies in motion or at rest this lets you calculate what reaction you will get from your actions. With people it is not so nice and neat when it comes to the reaction you will get from your actions. But, should you choose to use your brain for more than a spacer to keep your ears apart, knowing you are dealing with people permits you to anticipate the kind of effects you will get from your actions. Assuming you care about what effects you will get from your actions. If you are concerned only about yourself, you need only consider the effect the actions will have for you and not about the effect they will have on your fellow citizens and business people.

This point was brought strongly to mind at the Global Harvest pancake breakfast for the homeless and hungry on Saturday January 21, 2006. Usually it is packed but on that day the crowd was sparse. The continuing efforts of the downtown business people and the city to drive the homeless elsewhere is beginning to have an effect - dispersing the homeless to other parts of the city. Looking around the emptiness of the breakfast I could see these actions were having an effect. It is now to far for some homeless to travel to make it to the breakfast - especially given our poor weather of late.

So what? The charities are set up to feed the homeless and hungry centered around the downtown area. When you disperse the people and close down places like Street Hope you are creating hungry people. These hungry people are going to need – food. In dispersing them or closing down/driving away the charities that feed the hungry you are in fact denying them access to their regular food sources. Can you honestly say that YOU would just sit there and starve? Neither will they. They will steal the food or they will steal items they can sell for cash to buy food. Resulting in a crime wave spread throughout the city. If those responsible for these policies of denying food to the hungry/homeless claim any crime wave was as an unexpected consequence of the efforts to clean up downtown – all I can say is that being brain dead is required not to be able to see the kinds of problems creating all those hungry/desperate people would have.

So, if at some future point you find yourself standing and surveying the direct effect these policies had on you through the theft of you property (TV, computer, jewelry etc.) remember to thank your city government and the Downtown Business Association. Make your thanks appropriate: voting in competent, intelligent representatives and boycotting downtown businesses.

Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
Aristotle

Liberal Party’s Homeless Creation - Part 1

I have acknowledged that it was mental illness that led me here. I have no words that would express just how thankful I am that I had started on the road to mental health and had built up a support system that helps me through the rough patches. If I had to depend on the so called ‘assistance’ system for help I shudder to consider how badly I would be doing or how ill I would have been driven to be. While the pettiness and stupidity of having to RE-register and RE-file may be driving my crazy; it currently remains just the craziness of any (semi)sane person coping with insane demands.

Far too many others are not so lucky. When you close mental institutions, facilities and programs the people do not cease to exist. Transferring them onto welfare may sound as if you are not abandoning them, it may permit the government to claim they were being cared for, but that is not reality. I have found what could only be termed ‘disgraceful numbers’ of the mentally ill trapped at the mercy of the system without any of the help they really need or driven onto the streets as homeless.

Some of those addicts that so many look down upon, were created by the Liberal policies. They are those in need of Mental Health aid abandoned by society. To escape the demons in their heads they turn to self-medication, for they have been denied any other help. The Liberals can claim what they want, their actions have denied these people adequate aid and in leaving them alone and without help the Liberals must accept responsibility for their homelessness, self-medication and addictions.

Some of the abandoned end up in the ‘care’ of the justice system, lacking the mental health help they so badly need, their illness plays itself out in their acting out and leads to incarceration. I suspect it would be far cheaper to provide mental health care as opposed to jailing them. I know it would definitely be more productive in providing help to these lost souls and far more ‘just’.

Some drop into the ranks of the homeless and onto the streets. They struggle to survive, day to day, but without the mental health resources they need they are condemned to continue this day to day struggle for survival without any chance of recovery and getting out of the ranks of the homeless and back into life.

Some live a twilight life. They exist in the system; shelter of some type, food enough and minimum basic needs met. They exist; they live, but are denied life.

We are our brothers’ keeper.

Volunteering

I volunteer. My time is the only asset I have to donate right now, but that is exactly what so many worth while groups need. The ingredients for meals would just lie there without those who give of their time to cook, deliver and serve the food. It matters not how much money is in the bank account of Big Brothers, Big Sisters, without people willing to be big brothers and sisters – giving their time – there is no one to pair with little brothers and sisters.

Hmmmm. Here is a challenge for those who so casually apply the labels addicts, bums or your label of choice. Volunteer. Somewhere you will have repeated contact with those in need. Serve lunch at the Salvation Army or give your time to one of the groups that feed the hungry. For those who are seeking a real challenge: Street Hope. No group has come forward to provide food and open up on Tuesdays to provide warmth and a chance to dry out (literally not figuratively). Get a group together, talk to Dave about what is needed (604-832-8884) and spend time on Tuesdays helping out. That way you get the opportunity to get to know them as people, not labels. Those with closed minds can find those who fit their labels. But those willing to approach with patience and open minds may find themselves surprised at who they will meet. They may also find that even those who their labels fit (i.e. drunk) are still real people, people with problems, who need help and support if ever they are to overcome their problems.

Are you someone who knows everyone? Knows who is looking for workers and what they are looking for in employees? Can hook anyone up with a job? Drop by Street Hope some Friday evening. Someone there will be able to get together with you to see about helping those who, for whatever reason, have trouble finding work. Perhaps, should I be there you will even be able to help me.

Volunteer. You may just find out, as I did, what you get back is so much more than you give.

Laundry – living in the lap of luxury.

We take so many things for granted and often make judgements based on what we have taken for granted. Have you ever found yourself beside someone and thinking to yourself “stinking bum ... take a bath, wash your clothes!”? I had. We take for granted the ability to bath ourselves and wash our clothes. Because of this we assume that those who need wash themselves are in that condition by choice. It is not until you find yourself homeless (or without money for luxuries such as laundry) that you appreciate just what a luxury access to laundry and the ability to shower/bath is.

The true surprise is not that many of the people in these circumstances are grubby, but how many of them are clean, neat, tidy and the great efforts they must make to be presentable. Think about it! If you are homeless were do you wash your clothes? Laundromat, I hear you say. You need cash for the washers, dryers and for laundry soap. Even for those who receive money from welfare, spending money on laundry means doing without something else.

On of the ironies of living homeless (or in poverty) is that it is easier to find clean donated clothing than it is for you to wash your clothes. When first I fell into this state I did not understand this fact of life as I watched people scramble for clean used clothing. I thought it was about building up their wardrobes (still had the attitude of one spoiled by the luxury of laundry). I have come to see that it is about having clean clothes – and developed an appreciation for the Luxury of Laundry.

And if you think that throwing dirty clothes away and using donations to obtain clean clothing is wasteful – it is. But for the homeless there is no choice. They cannot do laundry. Those on welfare are reduced to this level as well. Clean donated clothing means you have saved money that you can spend on luxuries such as shelter, personal hygiene products or even the ultimate luxury – your job search. When you are forced to deal with the system you quickly learn it is about rules and political ideology and not about assistance.

Washing yourself is another luxury to be treasured. Have you ever seen someone go into the washroom at a grocery store or gas station and when they spent a long time in the washroom, assumed they were in there doing drugs? Did you even consider an alternative explanation? Next time pay attention to whether their clothes had changed or if their hands and faces were cleaner when they emerged. For many of the homeless a long stay in a washroom has nothing to do with drugs and everything to do with bathing. Those spoiled by easy access to personal cleanliness then to forget about the wash in public washroom. The homeless learn the art of taking a bath in the sink of a public washroom. Washing anything at this time of year presents extra difficulties. For the cold you need more layers and heavier clothing but wet clothes in these climate conditions and temperatures are an invitation to illnesses such as colds, fevers and pneumonia. Having your person wet presents even more of a danger of becoming ill.
So the next time you find yourself thinking ‘dirty bum’ stop and think about just how hard it is for the homeless and the poor to be clean. And for those who firmly believe that cleanliness is important, you can choose to take action to assist these in need to have access to the luxury of cleanliness.

Street Hope, Abbotsford

Ah, yes. Dave and his merry band of volunteers. A ministry to the streets, preaching without words. A growing ministry because there are so in need and their ranks are being added to by the government and its’ ministry all the time.

It is a place to go on a cold night for a hot coffee and a chance to warm up. For those who hunger a place to get a bite to eat to ease the hunger pains. A place for blankets, gloves, hats and coats to survive the cold. A place just to sit and relax with people who are not judgmental, who listen and who lend support and assistance.

When someone come in less than sober, they get their coffee not lectures. They are accepted for who they are and given a place, knowing that they must be permitted to work out their own fate. But also knowing that while you have to let them find their own way, this does not mean you need to turn your back on them and abandon them to the elements and the streets. You can ( and to a certain extent must) help and support them until they reach the point at which they can begin to change themselves. And when people reach the point where they come to accept their powerlessness, are ready and comfortable enough to ask for help. They are there with help and to help.

There is only one glaring problem with Street Hope. Far, far to much need on the Street for the limited resources they have available. There are so many mores that this refuge needs. More space, more food for the cold and hungry, more volunteers, more people willing to take on the challenges of helping or offering employment, more, more, more …

So many mores and only one Dave. I have heard the worry expressed that Dave may burn himself out striving to fill so many mores, of seeking to help all those in need, of caring for those society has abandoned.

If you, your friends, church, company, or organization would care to join and
HELP SAVE DAVE!!
604-832-8884
website: www.churcharmy.com

Truth in Labeling.

You may have noticed my use of the term welfare. Partly this is because I always found the trend to rename things just to make them sound better annoying, very annoying. A Sanitary Engineer is still a garbage man (woman). And ‘social assistance’ is still welfare. I concede the point that welfare as a label has its own baggage. Still any baggage would, over time, be transferred to the label ‘social assistance’. My real objection is that this term is truly misleading. Using ‘assistance’ implies that the system seeks to and does provide assistance (v. & n. 1. Help 2. NAmer: the act of helping). Based on my experiences and observations, applying the word assistance to the way the system currently functions is akin to saying that a guillotine is of assistance in curing a headache. Using the term assistance is of useful value to the ideologues of the current government since the word assistance carries with it the impression of helping. Applying the term assistance to the program suggests that the program is about helping people. Laughable. I question that even a group of ideologues , such as comprise the current government, could set out to design a system to assist people and end up with a system that hinders and raises obstacles as well as the current system. Or maybe I am hasty in ruling out incompetence.

The Liberal party has consistently excelled at the use of misleading labeling. When they first took office they enacted ‘tax reform’ and ‘lower taxes’, this being the labels they applied to their fiscal programs. Of course as part of lowering the tax rates fees and service charges rose or came into being. As a result of these ‘tax reforms’ and ‘lower taxes’ the working poor and middle class were out of pocket additional $$$, which flowed into the pockets of the wealthy. But labeling the changes what they truly were ‘Assistance to the Rich and Powerful’ (the rich got assistance by transferring their burden onto the poorest taxpayers) would have made it impossible to sell to the public. And politics and ideology is about selling and has nothing to do with truth.

So the public has to decide what it wants the system to Be or Do. If the purpose is merely to salve the publics conscience by convincing themselves they are rendering assistance to those in need, it can be left alone. The current government has demonstrated its ability to say things that sound good and apply misleading labels to soothe the public into inaction. It could be renamed “Guilty Feeling Relief System”, shortened to Relief System so as to sound like it is to provide relief to those in need – almost as good as the current use of assistance to suggest the system provides help.

In the event that the public decides that the system should in fact be of help and not full of hindrances, changes are needed. No just to the system but to other programs that can an impact in providing help. Mental health, education, training, transportation, treatment centers – and numerous other programs that impact on helping those in need. The system itself needs to be overhaul so as to provide less hindrance more assistance. Posting the definition of assist/assistance in plain view of those in charge and the workers would serve as a reminder of what the Purpose is. Perhaps the biggest change of all is in the attitudes of the public. Throw out the derogatory labels. These are people who need our help, we want to help them, NO we will help them.

We Can make the system render ‘Assistance’.

Thanks to the bag lunch people.

There are many ironies that you find yourself involved in when homeless or on welfare. Some are just amusing, some are small inconveniences, but some are large difficulties and hugely ironic. Getting something to eat on Sunday is one such large irony. While the (warm, dry) churches are full of people exclaiming their Christianity and love of their god, the streets are full of their fellow man exposed to the elements and struggling to find something to eat.

When you are warm, dry, healthy and well fed missing a meal or not eating for a day has no consequences outside of you feeling hungry. It is a minor inconvenience and so you tend to think of one day of no food as ‘no big deal’. But for the homeless and the poor that one day of nothing to eat can be a Big Deal, especially at this time of year (winter0. It is cold, wet and windy in the outdoors where reside the homeless and the poorest of the poor. They are cold and wet, the wind stealing their body heat. Food becomes not something to be tasted and enjoyed but FUEL to feed the body’s fires and keep the body’s core temperature up. Not only to avoid severe discomfort but for survival. Yes I do mean survival. Those unfortunates we hear of frozen to death in Ottawa, Toronto or Edmonton are the ones you hear about because corpse-sicles make such good headlines. Those who die in less headline grabbing ways are just as dead but become just overlooked and forgotten obituaries. No, I am not being overly dramatic. Already this wither several have been in hospital with pneumonia. They could have died 9and some undoubtedly will) of pneumonia. But the true cause of death will be Homelessness. And what does it say about us that they emerged from a bout of pneumonia and their time in the hospital looking better than they had in months? There are many other adverse health effects that can be caused by hunger when that hunger is complicated by exposure to the elements and the many other health issues facing the homeless.

Thus, you develop a real appreciation for those who take it upon themselves to step up and fill a desperate need. There is the couple who have been handing out bags of edibles out of their own pockets. They have become treasured treats, giving joy and pleasure to those who have far to little of either. Then there is the church group who on the first Sunday of the month has been providing warm food often real and tasty chili on a cold windy day. Mmmmm chili! And they on occasion bring those luxuries: toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, deodorant etc. Lately another group has take on responsibility for the second Sunday of the month.

To me the real heroes of this tale are the Bag Lunch People. A cheese sandwich, a peanut butter sandwich, a piece of fruit and cookies in a brown lunch bag. It may not sound like much, but on a wet, cold windy day is manna from above to the hungry. This church, these people took it upon themselves to fill the huge void that Sunday represented. Three out of four Sundays they were there without fail to relive that hollow feeling of hunger. They cover the Sundays no one else does and should one of the other groups falter they would undoubtedly step in an fill the need. So while I extend thanks to the couple, to the first Sunday folks and to the second Sunday people who have stepped up to provide help to those in need, I reserve and extra large THANKS for the lunch bag gang who stepped in to fill a large, real need. Addendum: This past Sunday the lunch bag gang rode once more. They arrived later than they normally would, so that if the first group did serve lunch as scheduled, their bagged lunches would serve hungry stomachs as dinner. Should this sound like a group you would like to hang around with you should look for them more properly named: The Open Door; Pastor Bill 604-897-4826.

Special thanks to the young people who accompany and assist their parents on Sunday’s. There is a lift to one’s spirit in seeing the zest and joy for life in the young.

I want to learn to love long weekends again!!

You know you really need to find work when you begin to view long weekends as terrible imposititions since they interrupt your job search as all the resources you use are closed an extra day.

I desperately NEED work so I can learn to love long weekends again!