Since encampments for the homeless have been eradicated from downtown Edmonton, the homeless population has spread out through ravines and neighbourhoods, looking for places where they can live in peace. (Emergency shelters are not peaceful.)
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| FENCES AIN'T GONNA FIX HOMELESSNESS -- a sign on the fencing erected where the last encampment was demolished in January |
There is no peace for homeless people, because as soon as they find a corner where they can settle in what feels like safety with their loved ones, bylaw officers and clean up crews show up to displace them yet again and try to force them back into shelters.
On Tuesday morning, officials were clearing the streets near the Bissell Centre by harrassing people who were sleeping on the sidewalks (they prefer that to the shelters, which says a lot). And a friend of mine reported seeing police tearing a blanket away from a fellow trying to stay warm in a transit shelter near the mall closest to where I live. I guess blankets are considered "temporary shelters" now, though had I been there, I would have been tempted to gently remind the officers that taking blankets away from people amounts to theft.
The Edmonton Police Service motto is Integrity, Courage and Community. I wonder how many of the officers are disheartened by what they are being forced to do to dismantle small communities of people who have no reliable places to live?
Other things have been taken away from the homeless, too. The Bissell Centre's drop-in space -- where many homeless people who are forced to leave shelters for the day were able to spend time doing laundry, taking a shower, receiving help, or having a meal -- has been cut to the bare bone. Forty-five staff members lost their jobs, and six hundred meals served there each day have vanished.
The space that used to hold two hundred folks at any given time of day now serves only thirty at a time because there aren't enough staff to keep things running for people in need. The line up outside never ends, and people at the end of the line don't make it through the doors because hours have been reduced too.
Things are only getting worse and worse. The tents in the area have mostly disappeared in accordance with the city and province's "out of sight, out of mind" efforts to deal with homelessness by dismantling encampments, but the need is greater than ever.
Pastor Quinn and I set up our table with socks, underwear, toiletries and snacks on Tuesday with four bags of supplies to pass out -- and everything was gone within fifteen minutes. Our two hundred Sunday lunches offered by faith groups who support Inner City Pastoral Ministry used to be given away in about forty-five minutes, but now it's more like fifteen, twenty if we're lucky.
And what really breaks my heart is how many people are dying. In 2017, there were thirty deaths related to homelessness in Edmonton. Last year, we had a memorial service for one hundred and fifty-six people who died of causes connected to homelessness. Once again this year, the Edmonton Coalition On Housing and Homelessness is planning a service -- for at least three hundred, likely more. From thirty to three hundred in only seven years! It's absolutely horrifying.
All of this is hard to witness, but it's necessary to do so. The lives of these people who live on Edmonton's streets are just as important as my life. Ignoring them does all of humanity a disservice. We will never be whole until all are cared for.
If you are able, please join us for the annual Homeless Memorial on June 6, 1 pm, at the foot of the CN Tower across from City Hall. The lives of more than 300 people will be honoured, and perhaps it will be the start of a grass roots movement for change.
We can only hope.
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