Homeless In Victoria

In my mind there are lots of different reasons that people end up homeless.
People with mental health issues are one reason. In the late 90's the government of the day closed down Riverview Pshyciatric center in Vancouver.( good& bad!?) The Downtown east side today is a product of that. Some of the people that are addicted in that community are suffering from severe mental health issues, with little or no resources. In Victoria all sorts of health facilities were closed or shut down completely, due to cutbacks.
Then there are people who are not addicts, but who still suffer from mental health issues. Has anyone ever seen or met a man named Dairy ? You would know if you've seen him, he has a long beard, pushes a shopping cart, and is black from head to toe, from not bathing. Nice guy though, he used to have an engineering job. Not sure what happened but he clearly is struggling with his issues.
Then there are the homeless youth, the ones that people look at and say that they should "just get a job!" I have heard some of the stories from these young people, and I can tell you that they don't come from functional, well adjusted families. One young guy told me that after his mom died when he was 9 his father hit the bottle so hard that he didn't feed his 3 kids and physically abused them untill this kid left New Brunswick when he was 16. He made his way from there, living on the streets to Victoria by the time he got here, he was 20. By that time he had no life skills, no address, no SIN card, and no loved ones. He was a good worker, wanted to learn but had so many ghosts that haunted him, he could'nt stay focused, and I eventually had to let him go. I think about him often.
Then there are single parents with children, not living on the streets, but close. Living in hotels and motels, living on welfare and the food banks, struggling with deppression, addictions, and guilt. These children will struggle the same as their parents. It's a vicious cycle.
Last but not least, the people who WANT to live on the streets, the tent city people, who do it because they want to. They do it to prove a point. I say "Good for them!" It's like I've always said about the environmentalist fanatics who get the rest of us to notice what is going on by protesting for days and months in the rain. "I'm glad that someone is doing it!" Because even though I feel the same way they do. I would never be able to do it myself! At least they keep the topic front & center, in our faces, so that someone, somewhere, can be held accountable.
Any way.... thanks for the opportunity to talk.
And remember..."Politicians don't make changes, people do!"
Thanks People.