Encampment stories

The start of this year has been brutal for our homeless sisters and brothers in Edmonton. Not that life isn't brutal for them all year round, but for the last few weeks, it's been particularly bad as the Edmonton Police Service and City of Edmonton cleanup crews decided, in the days before Christmas, to demolish larger encampments that homeless folks pulled together so they could stay warm within their communities. 

As soon as the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness became aware of the EPS and City plans, ECOHH put out a call for people to stand in solidarity with the folks on the street and to witness the process. A list of the encampments and the dates they would be torn down appeared on the ECOHH website so that concerned citizens could be present to support the communities, and document the process for the public to see. We stood in early morning darkness with people who were losing their only homes, feeling helpless with them, taking pictures, and assisting with moving their valued possessions away before the crews arrived and trashed everything. 

Billy-Bob at church

Pastor Quinn and I helped Gary last week. Gary had a decent tent covered with a couple of triple-layered tarps, two camping cots with pillows and sleeping bags for him and his girlfriend, a dog bed for his 14-year-old dog (Billy-Bob), a cooler, hibachi, and bins full of tinned goods, clothes, and blankets. We did what we could to sort items and get them out of the tent and onto a couple of rolling carts before workers in white hazmat suits came to throw everything into a garbage truck crusher. Billy-Bob, a little black and white pug who sometimes comes to ICPM Sunday services with Gary, burrowed into a pile of sleeping bags while we worked -- and let me know that I was a stranger when I brought him his breakfast kibble. Cute pooch, bad temper! But that's how he's survived this long on the streets. 

As the city trucks moved down the street toward us, the pressure was on. We managed to fold up the tent and pile it onto a cart, but Gary could only move one cart at a time. Running out of time before an appointment, I walked toward the LRT, and ended up following Gary as he pushed his most important cart to the next block, where he started setting up all over again. I don't know if he managed to collect two other carts before the crews tossed all his stuff.

Quinn helps Gary take down his tarp

A block further south on my walk to the train, people from previous encampment demolitions were in the process of rebuilding. See the pallet platform under the tarp in the foreground? Smart folks don't sleep on the ground if they can help it. They probably got the pallets at the bottle depot four blocks away. Imagine the effort just to move them four blocks without a vehicle. Yesterday when I walked past, there were three tents huddled together on those pallets.

These people have no where to go, no matter what you hear Jason Nixon (Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services for the Alberta Government) saying about investing millions in shelter beds. Shelter beds are not, and never will be the answer. 

Why not? 

Imagine having to leave little Billy-Bob on the street to fend for himself (as I write, it's -31 C with windchill making it feel like -43). Pets are not allowed in shelters...
Imagine having to separate from your partner and sleep in a room with many other noisy people of your gender. There aren't enough spaces for couples...
Imagine having no place to store your possessions so that they aren't stolen as you sleep, and trying to stay awake so you can protect them...
Imagine being kicked out every morning to wander around looking for warm places to wait until you can go back in the evening... 
Imagine saying the wrong thing, as a friend of mine did, and having a mob beat you up...
Imagine being an introvert forced into a room of cots with too many other people, or having a mental health challenge that makes overstimulation overwhelming... 
Imagine being separated from family and friends from your community, people who support and care for each other in ways that shelter staff can't...

Of course, Jason Nixon is clueless about these things. And his government chooses to ignore the true costs of homelessness. They've handed over tax-payer money to employ hundreds of police and cleanup crew people to demolish camps over and over again these last years, not paying attention to the fact that it would cost far less to provide homeless people with proper spaces to live, good healthcare, safe consumption sites that can help them with their addictions, and other necessary services that those of us with homes take for granted because we can afford to care for ourselves.

Government is so stuck in the way they've always done things, they refuse to consider other options. It would be a lot easier and more fiscally responsible if these little encampment communities were offered places where they could not only survive, but thrive together. Like Halifax's ice fishing homes at City Hall. Or Kitchener's Better Tent City. Or better yet, actual affordable housing units with social service providers onsite, like the one Homeward Trust is building just a few blocks from where I live. 

On Tuesday, I spent an hour with some of the folks living in the eight tents at the encampment that was demolished yesterday. We stood around the fire watching Chad chop wood with the dullest hatchet I've ever seen, swapping stories, and enjoying Big Man's attempts to entertain the youngsters with magic tricks (though he kept dropping the loonie because his hands were too cold). He asked, "What do you see when you look around this place?" 

A young mom who brought her teenage daughters to spend the day in solidarity with the campers said simply, "I see people trying to survive together."

The Edmonton Police Service go on and on about weapons and gangs and safety issues to stoke public fear. The media eats that up. But for all I know, my neighbours down the block might have knives and guns and drugs in their basements, and EPS is not sweeping us out of our homes into these freezing temperatures. Imagine the uproar if they did!

Yesterday, Big Man and a few others were arrested. I haven't heard the actual reasons for the arrests, but perhaps it was "obstructing police officers" by refusing to leave their tent homes, perhaps something more. Other than that, we've heard only vague references to fires and unsafe propane tanks (how else do you keep warm without electricity?), gang activity (were there any arrests related to that?), weapons and drugs (did I miss hearing about charges actually being laid?) 

The bottom line is that most people living in encampments are "people trying to survive together" when they can't afford high priced housing in our cities. If they had homes like my friends and I do, these issues would disappear.

To all Edmontonians who are afraid and feel that encampments shouldn't exist, I say, get to know your homeless neighbours. A lot of them are simply people who need us to see them and work with them toward solutions that actually work, one person at a time.

On Tuesday afternoon, my MLA came for coffee to talk about homelessness -- I wrote him a letter and he responded with an in-person visit because he's worried about people freezing, too. I asked him what grassroots folks who care can do when our government keeps ignoring the problem, and he said, "Keep writing letters. Keep making noise. Keep telling your government that we're not doing enough. The more, the better."

Up until 30 years ago, our governments invested in social housing. They have a lot of catching up to do for ignoring the need for the last 30 years. We need to remind them of their responsibility to "people over profit," especially with so many immigrants who need homes coming from around the globe due to climate-related challenges or war in their homelands. Homelessness is an issue across Canada and around the world. And those of us with roofs over our heads can speak up for those who don't.

Yesterday, I stood with Quinn at the table where we pass out winterwear to folks downtown. A woman came to me wearing a jacket with a thin lining. "Do you have a warm coat?" she asked. Quinn said, "Yes, I'll get one." She stood with me, shivering like crazy, tears rolling down her cheeks, until I asked if I could wrap my arms around her to warm her, and she said, "Oh yes." And the moment I did, she began to sob until Quinn returned with the coat five minutes later.

It's so hard out there. Please, friends, write a letter to your elected representatives today. Or even better, phone. 

Simply remind them that housing is a human right and that government needs to ensure that everyone has a home. Even a one-sentence letter/phone call packs a punch. 

Believe it.