(cont.)
ENDING HOMELESSNESS
The push to end homelessness never ends as planned.
Our plans do not end homelessness in another person’s life. Plans can of course facilitate development of systems to coordinate service delivery between agencies and the people they serve, eliminating where necessary duplication of efforts. Plans can reduce wait times, hurdles and bottlenecks in service delivery. But plans cannot end homelessness, just as the best laid plans do not end abuse, or addiction or divorce or a host of other social and economic ills that plague our society and contribute to someone beginning a journey into homelessness.
People change their own lives. They need help. They need resources. They need a place to belong. Ending homelessness can begin anywhere, depending upon the person. And for those experiencing it, the shelter is often the first place they find respect, compassion, understanding and the resources to start making a difference in their lives.
“My family disowned me early on in my youth because I am gay. As a result I started out my adult life with precious few life skills, no support and no self esteem. Worked and traveled around our country and ended up in Calgary. I was depressed and lonely, a young man (a male prostitute) that I met introduced me to crack, he said things would be better that way, more exciting. Anyway you know the story all too well – instantly my life changed and for the worst.
After years of “functioning” with a drug habit my life started to unravel – shifting my values on what was important and the clear winner always was the drug. I lost all my friends, what few family members I was in contact with, my job, my home. Everything.
I had nothing.
I walked through your doors seven years ago. I was frightened, humiliated and alone.
I was welcomed, I got something to eat and was safe for the evening. From that first day I started to rebuild my life with all the resources that your facility had to offer. I volunteered in the kitchen, cleaned my clothes, got a hair cut and made new resumes.
I got a job and moved up in the building to a permanent bunk and a storage locker. Got information on rehab and went.
Today I am living in a ski resort, I have been painting for years now and have an art show coming up next month. I now have the set of life skills that I need to look after myself and a sense of self worth and importance that I never had and was never given as a child or youth by my parents.”
M.S. (45)
DI Client 2003
For those for whom home has never been a clearly articulated idea, the shelter becomes a place to experience something they’ve never had. For example, Carl is a thirty-four year old client who spent his teens in and out of juvenile detention after spending his childhood in ten different foster families by the age of 12. As an adult, the longest Carl had spent out of prison was his two years at the shelter. When asked if he planned on leaving, Carl said, “No. I like it here. I like being institutionalized. I’m used to it.” Carl never wanted to go back to jail, but the shelter was a safe and familiar place for him. “I have more freedom here than in jail, which I like, but I’ve also got rules and I like that I know where I fit in.” Two years later, Carl lives in a rooming house away from the shelter. His fear of leaving abated as he found himself free to explore what it meant to have a place to call home where he fit in until he was ready to change himself.
Always interesting to hear the different perspecitves of homelessness.
Thanks for giving me a well written description of how life is on the cold and wet streets of Calgary. It took me a long time to finally find an organisation who is doing exactly what our organisation is doing for the past 12 years
If you wish to compare organisations, please do not hesitate and check out the streetlife in the heart of Europe; namely Luxembourg.
I am a canadian who has resided in Luxembourg since 1980 and am an active volunteer in the redaction since the year 2000.
Keep up the good work you are doing in Calgary and try not to give another bald headed man a comb or a toothless man a nice juicy steak. You can help some people, some of the time, but you can’t help everybody, all of the time.
Heads up and I hope to hear from you in the near future.
Yours Truly,
George E. Nixon
Thank you George for your encouraging words! And thank you for what you do. I shall definitely check out the work in Luxembourg.
so true — you can help some of the people, some of the time, but you can’t help everybody, all of the time.
Cheers!
Louise