Over the years the DI has been criticized for many things. The irony is in being criticized for the very problems we are responding to. It’s one of those which-came-first-the-chicken-or-the-egg things. We built a large homeless shelter some years ago in response to a need we saw coming. Other systems were failing. People were falling through the cracks. A storm was brewing. And as it turns out, we were right. Our large homeless shelter is now full. Overfull, actually. We’re the largest one in Canada. But somehow, through all of this, and after responding to so many problems, many people have come to believe that we’ve actually created the problems. There’s a prevalent attitude out there that believes that because we built a large homeless shelter, more people became homeless. The thinking is archaic. Many years ago, because they didn’t know any better, people believed that rats were spontaneously created by leaving piles of rags in barns. They were wrong then, too.
Homelessness is a symptom of a problem, not the actual problem. The myriad of problems that cause people to become homeless are vast.
If people were rain it might look something like this: As they fall – and we all fall – most are caught in the caring hands of family. Some are caught by friends. Others continue to fall. It’s a lot of rain. For many, their fall is broken by safety nets – buckets, if you will – created by social systems. There’s a lot of buckets out there. The welfare bucket. The justice bucket. The health care bucket. Faith communities. Treatment centres. Group homes. Shelters. And so on. And so most of the rain is caught before it drains down the gutter. It’s not always the best, but it does work for most.
There are, however, a lot of gaps between buckets. More buckets would help, to be sure, but there’s so much rain! These gaps in the system – the cracks – are often created by rules and criteria that limit admission to the buckets. You need to be between 24 and 30 years of age for this one. This other one is only for women. No addictions in this one. This one is for immigrants only. No criminal convictions. Only for seniors. No mental health issues. Sober only. No hygiene problems. Only for youth. And so on…
The DI’s philosophy of care arose out of this. Because it’s not rain. It’s people. And we were sick of watching them fall through the cracks.
So, what do you do?
Well, first off, you need a really big bucket. You hold your bucket above the gutter to catch whoever falls through the cracks. You try to catch as many as you can because you know that no one else will. You loosen your policies to allow people with chronic addictions to stay. You allow people with extreme behavioral problems because no one else will. You allow people with raging schizophrenia because if you don’t, you know they will die outside in the storm. You flex and you bend and you do the best you can because it’s a bad storm and you can’t bear to watch any more people go down the drain.
Of course, like everyone else, we have rules and criteria, but our philosophy is that our people are more important than our rules. It may not sound like much, but it’s a big deal. It means that to the best of our ability, no one falls through the cracks. We do our best to accommodate whoever comes our way. Mind you, our big bucket, overflowing as it is, has become very heavy. Often it’s all we can do just to hold it up. We don’t always have the resources to give people the help they truly need. We try so hard, but we do fall short. It was a big storm.
And so we get criticized. That’s okay. Holding up this heavy bucket all these years has given us broad shoulders. We get criticized for enabling people. Sure, that happens with us as it does elsewhere. We get criticized for caring for people that no one else will. The police don’t want them. The hospitals don’t want them. The other shelters don’t want them. The 10 Year Plan doesn’t even want them. But we do. And if you believe that all people are of value and that suffering from things like mental illness and addictions should not be a death sentence, then you should understand why we do what we do. Imagine if we didn’t. More than twelve-thousand different people stayed at the DI last year.
Granted, it’s not the best situation. We know that. The fact that we take all comers creates all kinds of challenges. We wish things were different and that we didn’t need to do what we do. We wish more rain would be caught by the buckets that precede us. But until people stop falling through the cracks, we’ll keep catching them.
And you know what? It’s really not so bad. We like these people.
I strongly believe that this should go into the Calgary Sun and Herald Louise! Well done Tim!
Diana
I have never heard it put so exactly right!!! It made me tear up, awesome Tim.
Renee
Amazing Tim. Often it is difficult to explain to others what we do, why we do it and how we do it. Thanks for putting it into words for us all. And you're right, it's not so bad, we DO like these people.
Tim…I realise this is an “old” article now but I am proud of your words.
There is no one good way of putting into words how special these “rain drops” are to those of us who are there on a daily or monthly basis to help them and this was a very nice way to send the message.
Well said!
i agree but i dont think we should allow the natives due to they dont pay taxes
Edrick, I’m not sure I understand. You don’t think we should allow “the natives” to what? To use our services? A sense of history would serve you well, I think.
And what do taxes have to do with anything anyway? What are you trying to say? I think you may be missing the whole point of the article, which is about eliminating the many barriers to helping people. All people. But still, thanks for your opinion.
they get 80,000 when they turn 18 and they get money every month and your giving them shelter when they get education paid for and everything handed to them cause the european settlers decided to copy the americans every other command and conquer campain we wouldve killed them all but we give them money and you still accept them into the shelter when they get money constantly from the government…
Wow. I thought for a while about whether or not to post your comments (also see the one below) as they’re quite offensive, but I think debate is healthy and I’m sure that some others share your sentiments. But first of all, please, you really need to check your facts. Really. They’re wrong. And like I said before, a sense of history would serve you well. Your argument is pretty weak.
And I suppose it goes without saying that you entirely miss the point of our shelter and the article you’re commenting on, but I’ll say it anyway. And the point is this: we care for everyone who comes through our doors. It’s pretty simple. That’s what we do.
And isn’t “acid rain” more of a “white people” thing?
so, my teacher made us read this for a project on bias, and i really like this, and i totlay agree we need to stop being bias so that we can help the people that need it
i love the poetry and everything its a beautiful poem and gets the message across but think of natives as acid rain they will put more holes in your bucket
well considering im a war veteran from WWII i have my own history and the natives didnt fight by my side they get free land and picturing your typical homeless you got a drunk native in the gutter chugging listerine, its good what your doing but you have to limit it to the people who need it they get money every month and they have there own reserves to live in but theres no free food there so prioirtise on those who need it
Edrick, in response:
- You said, “the natives didnt fight by my side [in WWII].” About 20,000 First Nations people served Canada in the armed forces in WWII.
- You said, “they get free land.” C’mon. Really. I’m pretty sure how it played out was that we stole their land. We got the free land. (I actually rent, but you get the idea.)
- You said, “picturing your typical homeless you got a drunk native in the gutter chugging listerine.” And that, my friend, is a big part of the problem. Your picture of the “typical homeless” is quite wrong. Here’s a breakdown of our clientele: 79% are white, 11.8% are First Nations and 9.2% are non-white/non-native. So, I guess, if you were making generalizations, you could say that the typical homeless person is white. And as far as the Listerine thing goes, sure that happens, but in truth, a very, very small percentage of our population drinks Listerine. (I’m not certain what the race breakdown of that one is.)
Here’s a link to a book that helped me to understand things a little better. It explains a few things about cultural evolution and the environmental reasons why European societies dominated other societies for so long. It’s a good read. Won the Pulitzer. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. It was also made into a documentary (I haven’t seen it, but you can also watch it online in small segments.) Google Video results for Guns, Germs, Steel
Hope that helps.
id have to say i agree with Edrick although he may be a little rude and arrogant about it you cant just keep giving them fish and the natives have been given alot of fish. Recently getting a 2 billion dollar compansation for Residential schools and the CBE has cut back spending at my school we no longer have written in science or math. You cant just keep giving them more and more things and expect them to get better everything is handed to them they need to see the real world. There Education is paid for yet how many of them do you see as an expert in the field? How many Doctors, nurses, or teachers do you see and if you see them how many of them are funding your program to help others? If they get 60,000 a year they GET 60,000 a year if i were to make 60,000 a year id get like 40,000 a year after taxes, and now we will compensate them again. In social i learned about the riot they had in quebec and when a police officer was shot and killed they werent charged because its in there rights… we need to stop giving them fish.
Jason, do you really think there’s a connection between the Residential School compensations and cut backs at your school? Did you consider the recent recession? The massive federal budget for the recent Olympics? A conservative government? There’s a lot of things to consider.
And have you heard the stories about the Residential Schools? I’m very happy that our government did something at least as a form of apology, but no amount of monetary compensation can undo the damage that was done. Horrifying stuff. Here’s a link that explains some of the history: Residential Schools FAQ
As far as aboriginal experts, I personally know quite a few in many fields. I consider a few of my aboriginal co-workers here at the DI to be experts in their fields as well.
Your argument about aboriginal bias during the Quebec riots (I think you’re referring to Oka?) doesn’t really add up, especially considering the disproportionate amount of aboriginal people in Canadian jails. It’s as high as 69% in one Canadian province. I think the bias is probably the other way.
As for giving them fish, didn’t our pollution kill all their fish and dramatically change their way of life? The fish are all gone. Maybe we should stop giving them buffalo, too. Oh yeah, we killed all those as well.
Anyway, thanks for your input. (These opinions are my own and may not represent that of the DI.)
by fish im reffering to the expression give a man a fish feed him for a day give him a fishing rod and you feed him for a life time. and i know the Native wasnt charged because my teacher highlighted and stated the point the person who shot the police officer in the neck was never charged due to some right they had when they stood down and yes i believe it was Oka
Yeah, I was just giving you a bit of a hard time.
But thanks again for your interaction, Jason. I really believe it’s important to discuss these things. Debate is healthy. Defending your position is healthy, too. It makes us think about what we believe. And putting it into words helps us to understand why we believe it (and if we really do believe it). It challenges us. It helps us to grow.
I wish more people would share their opinions. Thanks.