A commentary by a Victoria resident.
What is it to be homeless? To have no fixed place to rest your head, get out of the weather, attain shelter, have security, enjoy peace.
Anyone could become homeless at any time. If you are not currently homeless you are one of the lucky ones.
You might have an education, a good job, a family, a car, and even your own home but you can lose all of this should circumstances change. A sudden serious illness, an unexpected drastic accident, unforeseen loss of employment, or a major environmental disaster can strike at any time, causing your life to spiral out of control.
You could be badly injured in a car accident, and end up in hospital for months and months while you recover.
Your car is totalled. Since you are away from work for so long, your employer has to let you go. Now you have no income.
How are you going to pay your mortgage or rent? How are you going to afford groceries?
Eventually you can no longer afford to keep your home. You must sell it if you can. Or maybe the bank forecloses on the mortgage.
And there you are, on the street with your family and nowhere to stay.
Perhaps you have suffered a lot of chronic pain as a result of the car accident. The doctor has prescribed something for the pain – opioids. Before you know it, you are taking more and more opioids to deal with the physical pain and the mental anguish.
Your wife leaves you, taking the children with her. You are alone, on the street, homeless, despised by people passing by, people who, but for the Grace of God could be in your shoes.
You manage to collect some things – a tent, a sleeping bag, some clothes but where can you go?
You find a group of people living on the street and join them. At least you have a community of sorts. You are hungry, exhausted, weary, even despairing.
Yes, you do find some help, some food, some shelter but there’s only so much and there are so many in the same boat.
You set up camp with the others in a local park. At least you have shelter and some people to commiserate with.
Then suddenly, early one morning city bylaw officers invade your little community. Roughly shouting and telling you to go, they take your tent, your sleeping bag, and other things and throw them into a dumpster.
You are pushed out of the park and told to go somewhere, anywhere, but not here.
How can it be? Does no one care what happens to you? Once you were living a good life with friends and family and respect. Now you are no one! No one wants to know you. No one really cares.
Is this right? Is this the society you want to live in? If your answer is “NO!” look around. In every city and town there are homeless people in these situations.
Some communities are really trying to address this problem. Some communities have come up with viable solutions, but many other communities are not dealing with it at all or are using totally ineffective methods.
How is your community handling this situation? Yes, homelessness is a worldwide issue but that doesn’t mean it is impossible to address.
You may be doing OK now but there’s no guarantee that you will always be lucky.
According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, “Homelessness is a growing problem, with at least 235,000 people in Canada experiencing homelessness each year.”
Homelessness Statistics in Canada says that 62% are male and 30% are Indigenous and “Homelessness is estimated to cost around $7.05 billion per year to the Canadian economy. This includes emergency shelters and community support, as well as the increased costs of health care, the criminal justice system, and emergency services.”
There must be a better way!
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