A Nation for the Homeless
A Nation for the Homeless
Article by Benjamin Traeger
Friday June 26, 2009.
There's nothing that can be done about it now with 2010 so close at hand, but why host the Olympics at this time when Vancouver has a homeless crisis on its hands? It seems like there are more homeless appearing every day and something has to be done about it or the crisis will just get worse. Where are the homes for the homeless?
With most of Vancouver's money being filtered into the Olympics with the construction of the Olympic Village, the new Convention Center, the new Skytrain line leading to the airport, the reconstruction of Granville Street because of the new Skytrain line funding for the homeless has nearly been eliminated.
Olympic advertising helps to blind the people from the fact that there is homelessness in Vancouver. People have been conditioned by the main-stream media to think that the Olympics will brighten people’s lives; the Olympics may also put Vancouver into serious debt and Vancouver might have to raise taxes to compensate. Then there will be two major citywide problems. Do you want that? I don't.
With all of the preparation for the Olympics happening where is the funding to solve the homeless crisis? It's nearly been squeezed out. It seems like there's too much money being used for city beautification and no money is being spent on the homeless crisis. Vancouver needs to focus on real issues rather than let themselves become ignorant because of Olympic enterprise and the Olympic media's shallow images and words. This Olympic advertising diverts eyes away from the real issue of homelessness that Vancouver is currently facing.
After the Olympics is over and done with and everyone vacates, is it a possibility they'll donate the Olympic Village to the homeless? Maybe about fifty to sixty units out of the thousand plus units being built will go to the homeless. How many units did they end up giving to the crisis in the Woodward’s site? Fifty-nine units versus twenty-six hundred plus homeless people at the time of the Woodward’s' tent city; the homeless crisis has multiplied since then.
The homeless crisis is the one issue that our city of Vancouver should be focussing upon in positive and creative ways instead of worrying about the Olympic deadline of 2010. What'll the world think when they see the homeless here in Vancouver BC? That's the reason why the police are cracking down on the homeless right now and throwing them in jail as a backwards political way of dealing with the homeless here in Vancouver's DTES and the surrounding areas.
Many homeless shelters are being opened which seems to ease the riddling problem of homelessness in Vancouver. There are some churches in the city that spend some of their time feeding and housing the homeless. Other organizations like Catholic Charities have dorm rooms or the Salvation Army which have a homeless shelter with SRO units. These are just a few examples of how to help the homeless, however, it's not enough to solve the crisis, we need more, we need assisted social housing for the homeless and we need it now!
It makes me sad to see such a thing like homelessness happen in such a rich city like Vancouver. Many citizens of Vancouver seem to taking the 'Not In My Back Yard' (NIMBY) approach to the homeless crisis and want local shelters shut down which will add to the crisis.
Instead of having negative reactions to the homeless presence such as various businesses and residences caging off or having security guards placed to watch many parts of Vancouver where the homeless tend to congregate give the homeless assisted social housing and teach them to be responsible and to care for themselves and their homes.
Instead of hurting the homeless again and again with the set social and political standards help them become productive members of society. This is a desperate cry to help the homeless of Vancouver! And please don't shut down any existing shelters because if you do you're creating the homeless problem instead of solving it and, like a puzzle, homelessness needs to be solved.
Why is Vancouver kicking people out of their SRO's to turn them into social housing? I can see the need for social housing, but why kick people out onto the streets to do it? That is just feeding the homeless crisis and we need to find a solution to it. The other side of this coin is tourist hotels; why add to the homeless crisis over some tourists? Maybe because the hotels are able to hike up their rents by three times to accommodate the tourists. The building owners only care about the money, not the people that currently reside in the DTES.
I had a dream once of Vancouver in the future and it was awesome. My dream was of a desolate empty Vancouver, a Vancouver that was all mine. Mwahahaha! It could happen.
www.homelessnation.org is a site which promotes communication of thoughts and ideas with in-depth blogs, pictures and involved videos revolving around subjects like shelter, friends, education and others between people around the homeless nation of Canada. Open an account and take your time viewing and interacting with this site; check out all the different features, read the blogs and watch the videos and you'll see why it's an award winning web site.
On Mondays from 11am to 1pm I attend a small www.homelessnation.org meeting called 'Bruised Apple' located at the Carnegie Center Cafeteria; this is a project that is dedicated to showing many redeeming qualities about the DTES. The videos consist of documentaries of the DTES and its social landmarks and its places of beauty. There are interviews of homeless people around many parts of Vancouver and videos of some of the new homeless shelters which provide not only a bed, but also meals, clothing and areas for homeless pets to stay as well.
On Fridays from 3pm to 5pm I attend a large www.homelessnation.org meeting held at the Gathering Place Learning Center where we discuss issues concerning the Vancouver homeless crisis and its rippling effect. The surrounding businesses and the actions they take to rid themselves of the homeless problem is alienating and ignorant. What about the police who harass and imprison the homeless for trying to survive in a desperate struggle to sustain themselves. We have produced many videos concerning Vancouver's issue of homelessness.
When the world sees the homeless problem here, Vancouver will have no choice but to resolve the issues regarding the crisis in one way or another. Here are some ideas on how to help; we need far more assisted social housing with live-in homecare and healthcare workers, home economics classes for the previously homeless, we need more food banks and free food sources, larger welfare cheques, and serious employment programs that will help people move smoothly into society. Anything else you can think of would be greatly appreciated because the homeless in Vancouver are in need of serious help.
Hopefully, the ones who make the final decision on how to help the homeless choose wisely because the homeless are real people in need of real help in their struggle to survive. If the help that is so desperately needed isn't given then Vancouver's homeless crisis will become a far more overbearing burden in the future.
Please keep our naturally beautiful city of Vancouver in the realm of greatness by helping the homeless in any way you can think of. Thank-you for your help in this important matter of homelessness, because a nation full of homeless people truly does need help.
