Living in gastown a street away from addicts
I live in gastown and love nearly everything about it.
The buildings have character, it's evolving weekly, and gastown has some of the coolest indie shops in the city. I also get to walk nearly everywhere.
What's not so easy is being confronted on a daily basis with the homeless and host of addicted people.
Some days, it's pretty easy to be judgemental - like when I walk outside and discover human excrement. Yes, really.
Some days, it's a little un-nerving, like wondering if I should cross the street when someone is lurching around and making gutteral sounds.
Some days, it's heartbreaking, like the girl who could only have been 14, who squeeled with delight when she saw my puppies.
Mostly, I hold hope - faint, mind you - that gastown will attract new homeowners who actually give a _____ about the homeless and the addicts. Who are prepared to withhold judgement. Who are open to new ideas like InSite and other initiatives that break the mold in an effort to maybe, just maybe, offer lifegiving alternatives to people who need it.
If gastown turns into a sterile set of glasstowers, and if we in our pride displace people who through fault of their own, or not - who cares, which, really - gastown may become gorgeous to look at, but not much more.
Comments
Hey, Dion, welcome to the
Hey, Dion, welcome to the hood. Alas, I don't right off hand have any volunteer ideas (and I'm not sure what would be of greatest interest to you) but a couple ideas: have a few coffees in the Radio Station Cafe. It's kinda losing its original fresh-coat-of-paint look, but definitely offers a glimpse into the world we don't often see. Same with Carnegie Centre. They may both have suggestions for volunteering. Then there's the DugOut on Alexander Street, beside Incendios. I know they welcome donations of coffee, among other things!
Keep your eyes out for Judy Graves - she is the city staffer who knows pretty much more than anyone about the area (worked here for 25 or more years, I think), and would definitely point in the right direction. If you ever see a priest in his clericals walking around, his name is Fr. Matthew, and he can definitely give ideas too.
For me, I'm still finding my way. It sounds a bit pathetic, but mostly, I hope I'm courteous to people, and maybe do a teeensy tiny bit to breakdown the 'us' and 'them'. Having dogs helps a lot - you wouldn't believe the number of people who want to come and pet them, and then start a very small conversation.
Also, I can't help but become a bit more political - not something I expected - but I hope I can help provide a voice that counterbalances some of the 'let's clean up the dtes' easy-answer, often judgemental, voices that I hear.
Again, welcome. I'm glad you're here.
- Login to post comments
Nice to see that someone
Nice to see that someone else is having similar feelings/thoughts to me. I actually found this blog entry while looking for ways I can volunteer here in our hood. Mostly I feel hopeful and I really want to contribute to this community and help keep this a funky place to live. In my opinion this includes the scene on the street. Not that I wan't people to continue to be homeless and addicted but I think that the fact that some people will be is inevitible. I'd love to try and find a way to make these peoples lives a little bit easier. If anyone here knows of any innovative projects that work directly with people on the street where I can volunteer please let me know.