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CAPITAL news KELOWNA
Friday, March 20, 2015 • kelownacapnews.com
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A cycle of hopelessness and helpfulness Gospel Mission client Benjamin holds the door open to the Leon Avenue homeless shelter in downtown Kelowna.
Kevin Parnell kparnell@kelownacapnews.com
Standing outside of the Gospel Mission last week I was speaking with a couple of homeless men trying to better understand their situation, the job the Gospel Mission does and the people it serves. With camera in hand I snapped a few pictures of the outside of the non-descript building on Leon Avenue that every night is home to up to 80 homeless men and a handful of women, and inside includes things like a dental clinic and a kitchen that last year served more than 150,000 meals. Many of our city’s homeless—the majority suffering from drug
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addiction, mental health issues or both—were returning to the mission mid-morning, entering to grab a coffee or a warm drink and rest in what is, likely, the only home they have. One man clad in a leather jacket veered away from the door and approached me directly. “Did you get me in one of those pictures,” he says matter-offactly. “You better delete it.” I’m an outsider here. The only other time I see these people is to drive past them. I decline when asked for money. I look the other way figuring I have my own problems. Like a lot of the working public, I have no idea what the homeless go through on a daily basis, why they are in this situation, who is helping them or how they can possibly turn
KEVIN PARNELL/CAPITAL NEWS
Inside the Gospel Mission:
it around. I’ve ignored them, shook my head, shrugged my shoulders. “I probably had a similar attitude about the homeless when I came into this job and that was probably based on ignorance,” said Randy Benson, executive director of the Gospel Mission, of his start on the job some 14 years ago. “I didn’t understand. We are all one or two paycheques away from this.” Back outside and returning to my conversation with a middleaged homeless man who introduced himself as Benjamin, he points towards the door to the mission.
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