April 15, 2017 carnegie newsletter

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401 Main Street, Vancouver BC V6A 2T7 694-665.,21.89 email:camnews@.shaw.c8 We~catalogue: cameaienewslBfter;,ora

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Raise the Rates Campaign Organizer VOLUNTEER RECOGNITION APRIL

WEEK

Contract hourg: ~ 20 hours per week Pay rate: $20lhr. plus. 15% in lieu of benefits Commencing: IdeaIly during May 2017

16th - 22nd

This week is an opportunity for ALL volunteers to be applauded for their many contributions and positive effects you have on our Community! It's to recognize and celebrate your profound desire to assist in multiple capacities for the Carnegie Community.

We want to acknowledge the incredible efforts of volunteers and say THANK YOu. National Volunteer Week is when we can all take time to recognize volunteers and celebrate the power of volunteer ism in our community.

Volunteers reach out beyond themselves, to engage in kindness and caring for others. People from all walks of life engage in volunteerism for a variety of reasons, some of which are: to tackle the issues of poverty, homelessness, to promote social inclusion, and most importantly, to be the voice and hands of compassion and hope. Help us make this week special for all our . volunteers and thank them for helping us every day.

They are the reason Carnegie is the amazing place it is. THANK YOU VOLUNTEERSI I Volunteer Dinner Wednesday, April 19th @ 4:30pm, Theatre Volunteer Recognition Party + Awards Celebration Friday, April 2JSt, 4:30 pm in the Theatre ... please pick up dinner and party tickets in the V olunteer Program Office.

Every year there's a Volunteer of the Year selected.

He or she will have met a high standard of performance consistently throughout the year. It is always a very tough decision because there are so many volunteers deserving of recognition. At this Celebration the Volunteer of the Year wiII be announced for the first time, plus the names of four other volunteers for special merit recognition.

This party is for YOU - IT WON'T BE ANY FUN WITHOUT YOU ... food, entertainment, your favorite T-shirt of the year, door prizes and more. Please pick up your ticket in the Vol. office.

Directly foIl owing the Recognition Party wiIl be a DANCE, 7-9:45pm, in appreciation of our wonderful volunteers! Come andj in the fun!

Sindy & Luke, coordinators

Raise the Rates is a coalition of community organizations, faith based groups & unions working to get gov ernment to raise welfare rates, build more social housing, eliminate arbitrary barriers to accessing welfare, raise the minimum wage & raise taxes for the wealthy.

Raise the Rates uses a variety of activities & events to raise public awareness of the many reasons to significantly increase the present poverty welfare rates in BC Duties/Responsibilities , -Organize actions/events involving local residents and community organizations to raise the profile of the campaign -Convene, support & report to regular Raise the Rates meetings -Act on the decisions of Raise the Rates' meetings -Support Raise the Rates volunteers -Create media releases and organize & host press conferences to cover events of campaign -Liaise with local community organizations, Raise the Rates coalition partners and supporting organizations about the work and plans of Raise the Rates Ensure ongoing financial stability for Raise the Rates I

Skills/Knowledge *Strong knowledge of poverty issues and issues facing the Downtown Eastside Community *Previous experience leading lobbying campaigns or anti poverty campaigns *ExceIlent communication skiIls - both written and verbal *Ability to listen and treat people with respect, and build good working relationships based on trust and cooperation *Ability to use e-mail and social media to promote Campaign

Email resume plus 2 letters of reference plus a half page essay on the causes of poverty to jean.swanson@gmail.com. by April 21, 2017.

3

CARNEGIE BOARD ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD ON THURSDAY JUNE 1st 2017 IN THE CARNEGIE THEATRE @ 5:30 PM NOMINATIONS

FOR THE BOARD WILL BE HELD AT THE MAY 4TH MEETING

TO NOMINATE SOMEONE, YOUR CARNEGIE CARD MUST BE DATED NO LATER THAN APRIL 4TH 2017 TO RUN FOR THE BOARD A PERSON MUST; • • • • •

HAVE A MEMBERSHIP CARD·DATED NO LATER THAN APRIL 4th 2017 BE OVERt16 LIVE OR WORK (paid or unpaid) IN THE AREA BE AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE CENTRE HAVE CONTRIBUTED 30 HOURS OF VOLUNTEER WORK TO CARNEGIE CENTRE OR THE ASSOCIATION IN THE YEAR BEFORETHE ELECTION

• VOTE AT THE AGM ON JUNE 1st YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD SHOULD HAVE. A DATE NO LATER THAN MAY 1]1\ 2017 TO

CARNEGIE NEEDS PEOPLE LIKE YOU

The Editor, ' Carnegie Newsletter.

This week 3 reports impacting the Downtown Eastside came to my attention: "Out of Control" (the CCAP 2016 Hotel Survey and Housing Report), "Housing Vancouver - Vancouver Housing and Homelessness Strategy Reset - Emerging' Directions (City of Vancouver, March 28, 2017), and "Three Year Progress Update of the Downtown Eastside Plan" (City of Vancouver, General Manager of Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability, March 14,2017).

All document the housing crisis in the Downtown Eastside. Only one, the Carnegie report speaks to it once again - with the urgency it deserves for its impact on the most vulnerable residents. The overriding issue is the loss of Provincial shelter rate accommodation. It is acknowledged as problematic in the other two reports, as is the rapid erosion of the DTES as an affordable community for working and non-working low income residents - a tell-tale sign being the increase of people with incomes of over $100,000 in Canada's poorest postal code - an 84% increase between 2010 and 2014, and a slight downward trend in i people in receipt of income assistance.

It is not that the City is inattentive to this issue. It is not that the City is not making efforts to deal with the issue. A lot of impo work is being done. Money and land are being provided. There is a clear understanding of the problem. But this is not enough. Gentrification is running ahead at a compounding rate of the efforts by the City and the Province to generate sufficient replacement stock, sufficient shelter rate housing stock.

The major obstacle of course is the Provincial Government and whgt one can only conclude is its wilful inattention to poverty in British Columbia. It simply has to raise the shelter rate and redouble efforts to work with the City to generate the necessary housing.

The failure in the DTES progress report and in the Housing in Vancouver report is in not making housing for the most vulnerable as the centre-piece of their housing policy. Start here and work out. Link it to the important housing needs of low to moderate to middle income citizens to illustrate all share a common cause.

The City documents mask just how urgent the situation is for the most vulnerable. Time and again new private developments are approved for hundreds of market condo units and a few dozen units are included for "affordable" and not necessarily shelter rate hous-

ing (the CCAP report says there were only "11 new units of welfare/pension rate housing opened in the DTES in 2016"). This is an abdication of municipal leadership.

We can be under no illusion about the cost. When the Local Area Plan was underway it was estimated that it cost about $180,000 to build a single non-market unit.

At the time, City figures indicated that there were 4,000 to 5,000 SRO units at risk in the DTES. It is quickly apparent that the replacement cost comes close to $1 billion. Now cost is estimated at $200,000 per unit. Many of those SRO rooms have already been lost and the land they are on being re-purposed for market activity (and this gives some idea of the modesty of the federal government announcement of $11 billion over 10 years for the whole country for affordable housing).

There are two actions the City of Vancouver can do that will make substantive contributions to improving housing availability for the most vulnerable, one with city-wide implications, and one specific to the Downtown Eastside: • Include a special, one-off homeowners levy in the next capital plan to significantly increase the pool of public funds available. • Implement the final chapter of the DTES Local Area Plan. It calls for a community-based, representative local planning body under City authority to supervise the recommendations ofthe plan, to vet and advise on development proposals when they are made in relation to the targets for shelter rate and affordable housing, and to expedite approvals for non-market proposals with the City.

I believe that the citizens of Vancouver would support a special levy if they felt assured that it would reduce the visible and invisible homelessness in our city and offer a lasting housing solution (more of us are impacted one way or another by homelessness than is generally known, regardless of income). Implementing a local DTES planning body is not only a way to ensure the DTES LAP housing targets are met. It can be a powerful tool for slowing the march of gentrification & ensuring the development of a Downtown East side with a social & economic infrastructure that serve its working & non-working low income residents.

Michael Clague, former Co-Chair, Downtown Eastside Local Area Plan

A message from the Director & the Carnegie Community Centre Association Centre Washroom Challenges & Reminder Carnegie Community Centre is proud to play an essential role in the DTES, and serve a very diverse community. The Carnegie Community Centre staff and Board members continually work to make improvements in meeting the needs of Centre members considering both the programs and services delivered & the facility (the Centre) in which they are delivered. . Increasingly, we are experiencing challenges regard1I1gsafety, accessibility & the flow of people through our public washrooms. In a neighborhood with high level.s of street involvement, drug use, and poverty, pu?hc washrooms fill many functions beyond simply being a place to use the toilet. These multiple and competing uses lead to unique challenges of providing safe and timely washroom access for everyone. One of the major concerns right now is drug use/overdoses in the washrooms. With that said, we ask that Centre and community members respect that Carnegie is an alcohol and drug free building. In response to these concerns, we will be looking at our washroom design & access, .increasing washroom security monitoring an? applying the Centre barring guidelines as appropnate,., *N?~E*.- There are several safe, supervised injection facilities 111the DTES, jncluding: InSite - 139 East Hastings VANDU - 380 East Hastings PHS Washington Needle Depot - 177 East Hastings Thank ysu for your cooperation.

Sharon Belli, Director

Jenny Kwan, MP Vancouver East NDP Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Critic 2752 E Hastings St Vancouver,

BC V5K IZ3

T: 604-775-5800

.

F: 604-775-5811 Jenny.Kwan@parl.gc.ca

From "the LibrarY

5

~xciting news for VPL is that the new library at Hastings and Heatley (730 Hastings), the naca?mat ct Strathcona branch is opening on Wednesday April 19th ~t 1:OOpm(after opening ceremonies). The library IS 11,000 square feet, with 30 public computers 35000 new books / movies / DVDs, etc., and it in- ' eludes the Bud Osborn Creation space (5 more computers and 2 sound booths!). There will also be Childr~n's programming like Storytimes. Wow!! MonFn 9am - 9pm, Weekends 9am - 6pm .

In the Carnegie Theatre, we are celebrating the anthology, In Our Own Aboriginal Voice featuring Aboriginal writers and artists. Several of the 2016 contributors will be sharing their work on Saturday April 22nd at 2pm. As well, the 2018 publication is looking for submissions for both artists and writers before the deadline: June 30, 2017. It would be awesome to have some Carnegie contributors! http://www.inourownvoice.com/aboriginal-writing-contest Here are some titles featuring some influential and revered Aboriginal writers and artists who have recently passed away. R.I.P. Challenging Traditions: contemporary First Nations art of the Northwest Coast by lan M. Thorn (2009).

This comprehensive book includes 40 artists, working in a variety of mediums, including the late Beau Dick, renowned carver from Alert Bay Embers: one Ojibway's meditations by Richard Wagamese (2016). Wagamese recently passed away (March 10th) and left behind an amazing legacy of writings, including this daily book of reflections, drawing inspiration from nature, the smudge ceremony, and spirituality. My favourite fiction is Ragged Company (2008). . The Education of Augie Merasty by Joseph Auguste Merasty (2015). At the age of87, Merasty passed away this past February. He leaves behind a memoir that documents his physical and sexual abuse as a five year-old in Residential school. This is a book that show his awesome courage and honesty.

Residential Schools: with the words and images of survivors by Oskiniko Larry Loyie (2014). A familiar face to many here at the Centre, Cree author Larry Loyie wrote for both children and adults. This gave voice to 65 residential school survivors, .combiued with photos and archival images.

Your librarian, Natalie

My First Easter

Carnegie Theatre Workshop

... ,Guest teacher returns! ...

VOICE

Workshop

with Trish Alien Saturday April 29 1pm-3pm in the Carnegie Theatre EXPRESSION of Self, FREEING the Voice Unlock the body, the sound, the ear, the emotions and the imagin'!tif!n

One of Canada's top Voice coaches, Trish Allen has been teaching Voice, Speech, Dialects and Text in universi,p' and private training facilities for over 20 years. Trish is also an accomplished actor and director.

No experience necessary Free, everyone welcome!

- Watch for more theatre classes May 6,13,20 & 27 Saturdays 1pm-3:30pm For more info: Teresa 604-255-9401 thirteenojhearts@hotmail.com

One day as we walked home from school my friend, Buddy, asked me if I would go to church with him. I said that I would be glad to, but would have to ask my dad first. Buddy went on to tell me that for a while we have to listen to a guy talk, once that was over, the fun would begin. I was seven at the time.

Buddy, his mom, and I walked to church. I had never been there before. People seemed awfully quiet. Suddenly the silence was broken by everyone singing.

Once the song was over, a man stood at the front. He began to relate the story of the crucification of Jesus. I listened for awhile, but began to fidget. As I looked around I saw others with their eyes closed, some staring off into the distance, perhaps deep in thought. After what seemed like a long time, the man stopped talking. We all stood, said a prayer, it was over.

Buddy assured me that now the fun would begin.

We went into the basement of the church, where we were met by a young lady who directed us to small chairs that were set up around an easel. The young lady started to relate the same story we had just heard upstairs. The difference and which made it more interesting was that as she told the story, she used cut-out people. I liked this better, and I think I understood the message. Once the story was over, we were each given a cookie and glass of kool-aid.

While we walked home, I told Buddy that I would like to go and hear more stories. I thought about the story I had heard, then I had a flash.

My dad, during the Second World War, suffered shrapnel wounds to his hands. When he wanted to, he would ask; want to see a trick? He'd take a match, stick it into the holes, hold his palm down, and the match would stay. My dad had always been someone who was kind; he helped others. I felt safe in his presence.

As we continued our walk home, I told Buddy that I thought my dad was Jesus. I told Buddy about the holes in my dad's hands. We ran past Buddy's mom looking for my dad. He was in the garden. We excitedly asked him to show us his hands He asked why the sudden interest in his hands. I told him about the story I had heard in church. He laughed, grabbed both of us, gave us a big hug, and said no, he was not Jesus.

By Robert Bonnert

1

Willis Shaparla, the Littlest Rebel

By Debra McNaught Back in the early days of Vancouver, Hastings and Main was the epicentre of all things. Our part of town was the city, and it had everything: all the shops, the business district, good hotels, restaurants, and plenty of entertainment (legal and not so): just like today you could get anything you need down here. The Carnegie Library and Museum-the City's first, was wildly popular and - just like today - hundreds of people daily circled up the familiar marble stairs. On May 19, 1935 Willis Shaparla was just 18 years old and one of the hundreds of unemployed that raced up to the third floor to inform the startled staff it was time to go home because the Relief Camp Workers Union was on strike and occupying the building.

Willis had come west from Regina in 1932, driven from the prairies by unemployment and drought. He had food, no money, nowhere to live, and ended up in Squamish where the federal government had set up a relief camp; the feds obviously figured step one in dealing with the unemployment problem was to get the unemployed out of sight. The sham "make work" projects in the camps were ajoke, and the primitive conditions and lousy food created the perfect crucible for solidarity. In 1963 the government not only gave over responsibility for the camps to the army, it made all organizing illegal. But crammed together, treated like dirt, ignored by the City, the province, the feds: of course they organized. Quietly, methodically, the ReliefCamp Workers Union solidified. Over the next 3 years, as Willis said, "There was a development in the men in the camps, a raising of consciousness" fostered by a growing understanding of how the economy (didn't) work and how government bullshit did. And soon all they needed was a spark.

In December of 1934 it came: the Squamish camp union declared a strike and hiked down to Vancouver.

Denied relief in an effort to drive them back to Squamish, the strikers toughed it out in the "jungles" along

False Creek, building shanties, pooling food money earned from odd jobs. And then they really got organized, but it wasn't just their rights they were demanding. When the Relief Camp Workers Union learned of families being evicted for lack of rent, the members would picket the houses and shame the landlords.

They lent support to workers at companies like Empress Jam, picketing their workplaces, helping the workers get themselves organized. They held parades and occupied - briefly - public buildings; they had tried applying for permits for the demos and actions which were never granted. In fact, City Hall would routinely call out the Fire Department to hose down and disperse the demonstrators until the Fire Fighters Union "passed a resolution saying they refused to be used [anymore] for that purpose." Willis spoke of the "tremendous, unbelievable support from people throughout the city"; how strong that support was would become clear to all the day the Carnegie Museum and Library was occupied.

They promised departing staff the books & artefacts would be kept safe, then they made some phone calls.

First they notified the Union leaders they had successfully occupied the building. Then they called the police and said they were staying until they were all granted a week's worth of relief. Then they called the media. And aftef that they sat down, unsure of what would happen next.

What happened took even them by surprise. First, from the roof they could see a parade of over 1000 men, marching towards the Carnegie down Hastings Street weaving a "Snake Parade" side to side across the entire road effectively blocking off all traffic. The police quickly showed up, clubs drawn, and in num- . bers great enough to line both sides of the entire staircase and create a wall of uniforms outside the Carnegie. The Chief of pol ice announced that the mayor had told him to clear the building of strikers "one way or another"; that implied threat was countered by a spokesman for the Longshoreman's Union stating if any move was made against the Relief Camp Union members "there will be a 1000 longshoremen coming down from the waterfront with [grappling hooks]."

There were no more threats of violence.

It gets better: as word spread of the occupation, local crowds started gathering out front of the Carnegie, yelling their support. A basket on a rope was lowered from the third floor with a request for tobacco and matches and the crowd quickly obliged. They then

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filled it with fruit, tinned food, hot coffee, sandwiches, until the occupiers had to beg them to stop. Farmers came in with donated produce and in the face of all this" ... the authorities began to get worried." It only took 8 hours for City Hall to back down and grant their demands, but popular sentiment had shifted in favour of the strikers and that euphoria would eventually lead to the On To Ottawa Trek. Fifteen hundred unemployed boarded the CPR train at the foot of Gore and hundreds more would clamber aboard at every stop, all intent on getting to Ottawa and demanding the feds provide real assistance, real resources. As Willis stated, "Unemployment and the conditions in the camps had always been the responsibility of the federal government .... we felt we had to go on to Ottawa because we had exhausted the local situation."

Of course, we know how it ended: long before it reached Ottawa that train got derailed. The federal government must have been gibbering with fear because 10 minutes after the start of a rally in Regina's Market Square mounted police arrived and started "swinging their clubs and firing their revolvers." Over 100 people were injured. Those who limped back to the stadium where they were camped slept uneasily, watched over by the cops and their Vickers & Lewis machine guns. Fragmented, the Trekkers began making their way home, bowed but not defeated. They would later occupy the old post office at Hastings and Granville, and the feds would eventually fund shortterm work projects that unfortunately did not go far enough. It took the Second World War to get Canada working again.

Sometimes I look up at the third floor windows I can imagine Willis looking out, face shining with hope and possibility, s eing first hand what can be accomplished by those who believe in doing what has to be done against the rising tide of government stupidity.

Willis Shaparla's story is another sparked by Hastings and Main: Stories from an Inner City Neighbourhood.

That he chose to tell of an event bigger than his own involvement in it speaks for the quality of the now older man left to tell the tale; I strongly suspect he remained committed to social justice for the whole of his life. A DTES Hero for sure.

I AM NOT ••• What shall I do, 0 Muslims?

I do not recognise myself ...

I am neither Christian nor Jew, Nor Magian nor Muslim. . I am not of the East nor the West, Nor of the land, nor the sea.

I am not from nature's mine, Nor from the circling stars.

I am neither of Earth nor Water, Neither of Wind or Fire.

I am not of the Empyrean.

Nor of the dust on this carpet.

I am not of the deep, nor from behind.

I am not of India or China, Not of Bulgaria, nor Canada.

I am not of this world, nor the next.

Not of heaven, nor of purgatory.

My place is the placeless, My trade is the tradeless, It is not the body nor is it the soul, For I belong to the soul of my love.

One I seek, one I know.

One I see, one I call.

Submitted by Videha

Gentrification You see tattered clothes, you see dirt Security follows, but who did I hurt I walk the aisles for a morsel to eat Your prices too high, can't afford meat My body is wasting, but you couldn't care All you can see, is my greasy hair i

I'm not a criminal, don't want to steal But "inflation" ensures, I'll never make -Ryan Wilson

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By D. Drost The common refrain of anyone who has woken up in the morning after a night out and a few too many drinks has been "I will never do that again". By and large after a few times that person will not do that again or not too often.

That situation is not uncommon. Some situations are more severe. [ wake up in the morning it doesn't matter what day it is [ am not going to,work. I am falling asleep or rather passing out in shelters and on better days in the parks or anywhere I can settle my head. As I wake I have to assess what I have, and what [ need. Sometimes I am fortunate and still have some liquor left in a bottle with which to start my day. Rarely do [ ever have any money to get more booze and fewer times am I equipped with cigarettes; smokes are a constant need for a drunk like me.

Life wasn't always like this for me. [ used to have a job, and a family. [ had a nice place to live and I had friends; I was proud of my life it was modest but nice. [ worked every weekday and enjoyed my job digging and building and accomplishing my goals. [came home to my family at the end of the day and would settle in having dinner and enjoying being a new father of a beautiful baby boy. [ was happy and I was secure.

Alcohol has played a part in my life for years it had been an issue in the past and the reason that I had lost jobs, broken relationships and other negative consequences. I felt a new sense of being this time and things seemed different, I was healthy responsible and I was 42 years old; time to grow up for sure. This time it will be different, or so I hoped.

I began to drink in the evening and it was not so bad or so I thought I drank wine and mixed it with soda thinking it would be ok and not escalate too far. This delusion quickly went away and I started to drink more often and started making excuses to go for a walk only I was sneaking off to the liquor store to get a bottle of vodka even taking my infant son along and drinking while pushing a stroller down the streets of Vancouver. Soon these "mickey's" would be my constant companion, a not to secret friend as I could not hide my increasing indulgence with this clear liquor. People started to notice. • Soon my work suffered and I got injured, alcohol was part of the reason [got hurt; negligent due to inebriation. [ did not admit to that though and [ was put on workers' compensation and had to attend physio a few times a week. [ now had time on my hands and money coming in, I played the victim and used my pain as an excuse to increase my use of alcohol and also to get into using pain pills as a coping substance; it was all a ruse, I just wanted to be

drunk all the time and get high on pills as often as I could.

Waking up in a daze at alternate times during the day and being les and less dependable for anything, my family life slipped away from me; without them I was free to indulge more in my addiction, and I did. I preferred to drink and be in the company of other drunks rather than taking care of my son or to start my life again and go back to work. My compensation was drying up and I had to move someplace cheaper; The Downtown Eastside became my new home a small SRO on Princess street, was all I could find for $500.00, the room was smaller than ajail cell and had no ventilation or any normal amenities; just a shared bathroom and a shared shower one of each for a 50+ person building.

In such a small space it doesn't take long to notice that my empty vodka bottles were becoming a hazard as I haphazardly threw them around the room and the hundreds of cigarette butts that littered my room became noxious.

As bad as this life seems I could not escape my want and need for vodka constantly. I did not seem to get drunk anymore I was only drinking to stay in a state where I thought about getting more and then more.

I looked for female companionship often and when I did find it things never went well. I was drunk and maybe high and the woman would want either some booze or something else; my charm and good looks had long passed due to my intake of vodka and cheap smokes. In a room alone the two of us were not happy people and it never ended on a good note. When I ran out of vodka I needed to get more and I could get mean and say things that hurt people. I was bitter and distressed.

In order to save money I decided not to pay my rent and see how long that would last. Two days later my room is locked and my few possessions were in the basement of the building. In my addled mind this was a bonus less stuff to look after and a few extra dollars. Living on the street was a new thing for me and I found difficult to sleep, I managed to stay drunk and started to sit in the parks daily and drink my mickey and smoke cheap stinky cigarettes. Everyday though I was deeper in the hole and] was not seeing any reprieve.

I decided in a tear filled rebuke of myself one late night to finally halt my drinking and quit living this useless life that I had come into. I pep talked myself and was fully prepared to change my life and I would get my life and family back; I was sure of it. Stop drinking stop smoking get a job and get back together. This all sounded so good and I could actually see myself sober and happy again.

By 9:30 the next day I had given up; I needed more booze. The seam lately had been to go to the liquor store and grab one mickey and try to stuff as many as I could in various pockets and in a bag ifpossible. I got away with it quite often, not sure why I didn't get caught. I had given up on my sober ideas and was content to stay drunk and wander the streets and sit in the parks. Bumming smokes and looking for any opportunity to indulge in drinking getting high and planning for more. .

Shelters now became my homes and I lived only for the next drink for the cheap cigarettes and rarely was I happy or smiling on my own accord. I was dying inside and I could feel it, day after day I said to myself "This has to _.- - - Stop". I was now a thief and a lousy shoplifter I would tell tall tales to get sympathy and ingratiate myself into any group where I tho ght my needs could be met. I shared nothing I was pure selfishness.

Wandering through the local bars and pubs looking for anyone to buy me a drink or to find "abandoned" pints of beer left on tables. I went from the Grand Union to the West Hotel, The Balmoral and the Empress even the Savoy was on my trail. I became shameless and very disheveled. I rarely looked at myself in the mirror and showered a few times a month if I could make it to Gathering Place without being distracted by a drink.

I could no longer smell the fumes that wafted from my dirty clothes and my cold alcohol sweats permeating from every pore. The people I encountered easily indicated to me that I was an assault on the senses and few people sat near me in at the library or anywhere I attended. I was truly a skid row drunk, I had nothing left and I only sought refuge in a bottle. Thinking that if I had just one more bottle and one more pack of cigarettes I could begin to conquer my demons and become whole again; like all fools I was only digging my hole deeper.

I became known for my drunkenness and my dishevelled appearance. I came to live in the lifestyle I had come to know. I was utterly helpless to change and I could see no way out of this. Alcoholism leads to depression and that goes into desperation. When I could not get my vodka in a proper time I felt like killing myself, jumping in front of a Skytrain was my secret solution. I was sure it was my destiny. Sadness was overwhelming me. I was constantly yelling at myself for what I knew I could be; and ashamed at who I had become. I needed to do something,

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anything.

My self-respect and dignity almost non-existent. Pride was only for someone who did something worthwhile and I had accomplished very little in the last while. Days bled into night and again cycled into more suffering in a life that is harder to live than a life of respectful people. Homelessness is a tough life to maintain and harder to accept.

My mind was always on the booze and I decided that I would just give in to my alcoholism and accept that I was lost; I had lost it all, what did I care anymore.

I had managed to make it to a shelter, it was getting cold out and my record at most of these places was dismal I would be late for my curfew and my bed was gone. I wandered the streets at night a lot sometimes with my bottle and others without. All I cared about was another drink. This shelter allowed me to drink in doors and I watch movies at night. I thought I was in heaven so to speak, there was some food and I could sleep til 8:30 am. I had "arrived I thought, but I had more to learn.

Harm reduction is a very beneficial pillar in the help that addicts need to stay alive and also to avoid potential diseases from dirty needles, and has saved a lot of lives. This shelter was one such place but not in any clinical sense. Only in the sense that drugs can be used in the facility and that staff were able to give assistance in the case of overdose. I had seen a lot in my life but this was something that finally made me realize that I was going nowhere but down and deeper everyday.

Nightly overdoses, ambulances attending to people barely alive. Deaths occurred on a regular basis too and the lack of feelings I had to each death made me feel so emotionally stunted and selfish. Some did come back from the dead and continued to play the game of pushing the limit once again. Did this ever stop, I thought how can anyone do this to themselves day in and day out. Scavenging for subsistence and trying to get the daily dose just to keep above the fray of whatever they had in their lives. I sat silent, not yet seeing the irony of my own situation.

No friends and nowhere to turn. Finally losing my nerve to steal from the liquor store and unable to beg for money I was lost and desperate. My pants were falling down off my waist and my shirt was old and smelled so awful. I found an abandoned bike and traded it for smokes and a few dollars; But what about tomorrow and the next day and on and on ...

I saw the number to detox at the shelter and decided to call (1-866-658-1221). I answered all the questions and was told that I would have to wait for two weeks. That seemed like an etemijy to me at the time, how could I make it. I was a shell of my former self and had been off my bipolar meds for months now and I was going 10,A'py and my mind without vodka was a foreign landscape. I was scared to see young people die and I was even mo.e scared that I did not care. I had become a person I did not know or like very much.

How had I come from one kind of a life where I was so happy and safe, with a child and a caring family. I had become a skid row drunk and a thief. I lied and manipulated people and lost everything for the love of alcohol I disregarded the value of human life and only saw things for me to be of any worth. The mirror was not my friend the vanity I used to have was lost. The visuals of the loss of my prowess and my body was hard to behold I was a shell of my previous self. Any longer and I would be in a chair or with a walker. Emaciated and sallow of face I hardly recognized myself after a long neglected shave and shower.

The days passed and I managed but I was hardly sober the whole time, I needed to drink and I wanted my vodka all the time; a weird love story that I have yet to understand fully. I was ready to leave this life I just had to get away and never come back. It is not the people it is the effect of the disease in the people that made me uneasy and in fear more and more. I had lost the two things that I believe separated me from a statue; Empathy and compassion, without those I cannot learn or grow I am like a stone statue that neither feels or reacts.

I left the shelter early that morning and headed for Vancouver Detox on 2 Ave. My appointment wasn't until 10:00am but I arrived at 8:00am. I was tired of the life I was living and scared that ifI spend anymore time I might decide that I belong on the streets. Staying drunk or worse til I died, and maybe no one would ever know.

Some time has passed since those days of smelly feet and dirty clothes. My son is with me now. I have pride in my work and in my life. Self-respect and dignity are my constant companions now I no longer live in fear of existing in a loveless life and I can love again too. Empathy and compassion leads me now to want to help others who suffer from addiction in any form.

Do not be afraid to seek help. Shame and guilt are illusions that we put on ourselves it is our undoing. Each of us

is a .real trea.sure and no matter how hard the map is to follow, it is worth finding where our true selves are buried, the Journey IS full of real happiness and discovery. I Love You

-

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Dear Carnegie, I'm writing to share our latest findings on poverty & inequality among seniors, as well as a new poll we've just released that shows where our collective head is at as BC's formal election period begins.

First, poverty & economic insecurity among BC seniors is growing.

Contrary to stories that pit generations against one another-with seniors described as a homogenous group of well-off retirees-my latest study finds large income and wealth inequalities between seniors, and shows that BC must develop more effective ways to support vulnerable members of our community no matter their age.

The seniors' poverty rate in BC was 12.7% in 2014 (the most recent year data is available), up from a low of2.2% in 1996-and many more seniors have incomes just above the poverty line.

Seniors living alone are at most risk of economic insecurity-particularly single senior women, as gender inequality in the job market has translated into unequal pension income and private retirement income.

As my study shows, economic insecurity affects seniors in many ways. It creates housing insecurity, limits access to home and community care, makes prescription medication much less affordable, and leads to poor nutrition and unmet health care needs.

You can see this in a photo essay that we also published today, which describes the lived experiences of

three senior women living in economic insecurity in BC. The images and stories of these women paint a sobering picture of what life is like when the hardships of a low income are combined with the many overlapping challenges of aging-chronic disease, reduced mobility, declining health and the loss of spousal and community support. You can visit our blog to see the full essay (the photos from which also appear in the study).

That's not the only reason to check out the CCPA-BC blog: we've been publishing lots of great new analysis over the last few weeks. Like Marc Lee's piece on the BC government's dubious use of forests to inflate its carbon emission plan (as they ignore the need to reduce emissions from fossil fuel), and his analysis of the BC NDP's plans for the carbon tax. And research associate David Fairey's piece on the need for equal employment standards for high tech workers, and Peter Hall's work on precarious work across BC. And the swaths of commentary about the BC Budget: such as how it affects children, youth and families, and what the massive'tax breaks for business mean for everyday British Columbians.

You can also takea look at the polling results released this week by our associate director Shannon Daub, which show most British Columbians are deeply worried about economic insecurity, inequality and the environment-and want our political leaders to take action. Our poll had some fascinating results: a strong majority of British Columbians of all political stripes believe upper-income people and large corporations should pay more in taxes; and most British Columbians are ready to see increases in the carbon tax, provided the new revenues are used to enhance public services, invest in climate-related infrastructure, and offset the impact for low and middle-income households. Have a look!

As we head into the election period, we'll be paying close attention to the key challenges facing our province, how they're being discussed, and what the future might hold for British Columbians of all ages.

All the best, Iglika Ivanova

22nd Annual

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What the Luddites can Teach us The Luddites were skilled workers in the English woolen industry around the years 1810 to 1814. New machines such as power looms and shearing frames were taking their jobs, and they demanded protection against displacement by machinery as a constitutional right. They wanted a gradual introduction of new machinery, with alternate employment for displaced workers. They also wanted a legal minimum wage, better working conditions, especially for women and children, and the right to organize trade unions. .

Luddites were defending more than their own jobs. ' They saw the huge cotton mills advancing with their long hours of work, exploitation of child labour, and the reduction of workers to objects in the marketplace - all this powered by the mean-spirited, degrading ideology of unregulated laissez-faire competition.

As E. P. Thompson said in his excellent book, The Making a/the English Working Class, "the principle behind Luddism was the regulation of industrial growth according to ethical priorities, and the pursuit of profit subordinated to human needs."

Because the English Parliament had blocked all constitutional means of reform, the Luddites were forced into destructive action against property. "We'll never lay down Arms till the House of Commons passes an Act to put down all machinery hurtful to commonality... We petition no more - that won't do -fighting must," said Ned Ludd.

Violence against machinery was organized and selective. For example, framework-knitters only broke the frames where wages had been lowered. In 1812 the Government responded to the frustrations of the wool workers by making frame-breaking a crime punishable by death.

Eventually the Luddite struggle was crushed, but the vision of the workers lived on in the Ten Hour Movement and the fight for the democratic vote. William Cobbett reflected the Luddite dream when he wrote about the rights of working people in 1833, "Among those rights was the right to ... have a living out of the land of our birth in exchange for our labour duly and honestly performed; the right, in case we fell into distress, to have our wants sufficiently relieved out of the produce of the land, whether that distress arose from sickness, from decrepitude, from old age, or from the inability to find employment."

Today our rights, including the right to a decent job at

us

a decent wage, are being taken away from by an international, corporate agenda driven by the same ' Scrooge-had-it-right, laissez-faire, economic ideology against which the Luddites fought.

Our Luddite brotherss and sisters were part of the two hundred year fight for a more democratic and just society. We, also, are part of that long haul.

By SANDY CAMERON

To the Editor, Carnegie Newsletter I am writing to you from Tianjin, China & am hopeful that you will include this in your next Newsletter, which I read all the time on line.

I was on the Board of Carnegie for 12 years and, . never mind that I worked first for a private sector SRO business person, I also was a community advocate for social housing and the halt to the rapid gentrification of the area. I think I was one of the few people who spoke'against the Woodv.:ard's project as I. knew it would bring more people into our community that wanted $40 haircuts and $300 dresses. In that, events have proven me right. Whenever I return to the DTES I am still appalled by it and what it is doing to where I lived happily for almost 20 years.

If the plan is to stop gentrification, make it simple.

Get folks to hold all levels of government to account including all of the commitments they made un?er the Vancouver Agreement; you wrote about them; It would be easy for you to go back to your files and demand answers for failed promises. The first line of at, tack should be the province as the election is forth: coming, the second the federal government and ~ts ! new billion-dollar infrastructure program; the third the City as Carnegie should still have some sway there.

We have elected politicians at all of these levels ... what point if they are not serving our nee~s? .

You have proven in the past that your articles & editorials can help make things happen.

Take care, Paul Peter Fairchild

A DaRKER aGE

Did you know the Outspokenists have already written a book called Ocean Stories for Landlocked Grounds . & Islands oh well oceans & rivers are dying yet they will make it known without making a single sound Pharmanet have brought its new list, the new medication they no longer cover these selfishist bastards are just nothing but 2pt century extortionists whose main goal is to make us kill each other yes I am a little fucking pissed ... I watch as other people's religious beliefs what one swears is True so many others doubt so much for living in anything not resembling a living hell now I have to buy my 'Cime&ldine' to reduce the acid my stomach to & through my throat with all its clout I guess drinking cough syrup every day for (almost) seventeen years was the wrong road to take.

What's been done is evil as this year they've chosen high blood pressure heart disease & fateful me 'significant stomach acid reflux & ulcers' thanx so much like the band on the Titanic playing beautiful music a moment is all you needed to believe they could sail to the Moon like Proof of Life videos even deathbound hos*' tages can change their mind coming up with their own demands they do know that those evil pictures are not )t fake, Like throwing out forgiveness why not you let the fiendless begin boycotting bloodbanks a darker age has most certainly made its presence known, the Humiliation Decathlon I can't even run internal damnation brings those chest feelings yet soon if not later they leave like evil under the sun they bring back pain Why does univers 1health care not help it just leaves us cast aside almost crucified they could probably save money on those of us baptized in gasoline universal health care has been kind of cool: 3 weeks in VGH after being hit by a bus I've told you so many times before I am not ignorant just a fool unlike in the States there was no 300 thousand buck hospital bill but their choosing of what they won't cover is simply fucking cruel like having brick walls as windows it's been a Herculean effort just avoiding Pharma non-care as the snow falls as the speed of light spelling your name in urine is very cool, like the truth it resurfaces I'm talking about cool doctors that these days seem to hardly exist a pattern of assertive missteps that happen every year is so indicative, like a Zyclon B mist-

We are not cattle although your obtaining all the poison that Cupid could accumulate; if you're still reading you just won a year's worth of free issues to this publication (oh yeah it's already free) do not ever take this for granted there will be a time which I know will come then the ground above us will freeze with all of us within stalking distance of each&everyone we all shall be visited by a man we know only (him or her)as Fate, like those who think they've seen everything conventional or condensed all TV is the first thing I'd love to forget but paying for medication I truly need is absolute madness or evil maybe both turning the sick away until they become sicker as they die the living still bet on who will live longer is this not the dreamare you used to pray would come thought not the Dark is working overtime, like a gameshow contestant winning their right to proper drugs then again my rear window films all the bastards who think of nothing but money their answer being extortion as another victim thinks she was having the worst nightmare has given a statement - something about a coathanger & abortion the following ethereal helps with such empty moments I've got ajob at the Abandoned Refrigerator Playground when condoms are against the law like in Ireland if not they will find a way to screw up yet another glorious day. Say when .. if you can. â&#x20AC;˘

By ROBERT McGILLIVRA Y PS: Pipelines Ahoy! The SS Ignorance is now off and running, soon in a town near you. Enjoy not.

"No matter how fast the speed of light is, the dark always gets there first." Terry,' ritchard

~

~ BC NDP Leader~ Horgan released the following statement on the Criminal Justice Branch's announcement that a Special Prosecutor has been appointed to provide legal advice to the RCMP in the investigation being conducted into indirect political contributions: "Christy Clark had every opportunity to clean up the wild west of political cash. Instead of siding with British Columbians by ending the influence of big money, she chose yet again to protect her rich donors. Ultimately, it's British Columbians who get to decide whether she made the right choice."

U R not the Holyman (booty call) Lust is not Love One has to walk thru the pain of Betrayal in order to reach beyond to the other side Transformation of lost pleasure into new possibilities.

To venture along the path of life, Alone yet again, Determined 'don't let the bastards get us down' To act on fantasies of vindictiveness is to puke on your own integrity despite righteous indignation.

U defecate the temple houses my U defecate

on me of my body which sacred soul. on my essence.

I am not the Handmaid and U R not the Holyman diane Lee. (spent hen) Margaret Atwood. The Handmaid's Tale

Spite does not bring back a love that never was Acts of vindictiveness only fuel the self-righteous bastard to say: 'see the woman is wacky' Neither stifle the anger and grief with harmful substancesonly to lose yourself further.

Waltzing thru pain to the other side means not wallowing in destructive self-pity nor acting on visions of retribution.

Get back to living your own purposeful path.

There lies your redemption - despite the frustrations & betrayals of everyday survival.

Find & light your own spark.

But don't start fires of passion with someone (anyone) who sadistically dowses your enthusiasms with scornful comments & passive-aggressive behavior - like pretending u don't exist.

He never cherished your essence!

So much for shaggin with someone who never honored u, nor even cared enuf to become your friend - except to pretend to be when it suited him to get your juicy body.

As if, once he relieved himself, your usefulness is then flushed down the toilet - cuz he can't tolerate the sight & smell of his own shit.

U were merely the receptacle to relieve his anxiety and now that his stressful life is temporarily soothed by your titillation & tender embrace he has no desire to honor who u are.

Seduction followed by rejection - your sexual service no longer required lest u bog down his wretched life with expectations of reciprocal emotion Blow up barbies & submissive, succulent porn flicks that create ever unfulfillable erotica.

A real live woman with emotional needs is too much bother.

Lust separated from love.

Too much responsibility to return affections easier to have ejaculation disembodied from Mind, Heart & Soul

A Basic Income - A "Conversation with Hugh There was an event organised by the Burnaby Assoc for Community Inclusion & held at the Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown. Hugh Segal from Kingston, Ontario was a Conservative senator for 9 years and the keynote speaker.

The panel to round out the evening had Jane Dyson, Director of the Disability Alliance of BC; William Azeroff, an executive at VanCity who works to hire people with disabilities; Michael Prince, professor of Social Policy & Development at UVic; and Stephen Lytton in his role as President of the BC Aboriginal Network on Disability. ' Mr. Segal spoke for 20 minutes or so, and in plain language described the realities of poverty - not from personal experience but learned over 45 years in public life. The points he made are obvious to anyone on a limited income: - public policy and rules/regulations are made by the "swells" for the "have-nots", given the pervasive and long-standing ideas that poor people are incapable of making intelligent decisions re money food housing education health raising children & more; Through his talk came that welfare in Ontario is $640/ ..- month, that the system is riddled with obscene contradictions via-a-vis looking for & finding work with almost no practical objectivity (enough money for food, clothing, a phone, transportation, training, etc.) & tax of 100% on every dollar earned over $200 a month.

To his credit Segal went through the indignities of such a narrow regulatory regimen with cynical humor and concomitant disbelief at the inherent stupidity of this "public policy." Members of the audience sympathised but it seemed largely academic. Anyone aware of the like-minded policies here in BC have stumped for over 15 years with the current government's callous, ossified attitude towards poverty & those who are ground down by the social realities of not having enough.

Segal spoke from his mandate as the person picked by the Premier of Ontario to do a 3-year program to get data/results from the unheard-of 'experiment' of having a cross-section of poor people (single family disabled substance users mental health consumers) get a monthly income of $1300; $1700 for disabled. There would be no loss of other supports, like bus passes, health programs, etc. and the resulting changes in life choices & quality-of-life would be tracked over time.

The host asked Jane Dyson to comment first. Having

a disability makes income assistance go a little farther . but it seemed like apples & oranges when compared with the inadequacies in Ontario's system. BC is up to the knees of what Ontario has in place, and her honest response was, "We have a long way to go just to get the basics." William Azeroffworks to bring people with disabilities in to learn, train & perform as part of VanCity & its depositors' businesses but spoke with the frustration that's part of having to deal with the restrictions placed on anyone receiving income assistance. "All earnings have to be seen as potentially taxed back at 100%, depending on which kind of income assistance the employee gets." Stephen Lytton spoke of the futility of waiting for 3 years for results from this Basic Income Study and the possibility of anything good coming from it having any effect with our government. Stephen picked housing as the most immediate problem for most disabled people, with the dignity which should go with it almost unheard of in the Downtown Eastside. The lack of dignified qualityof-life supports makes the restrictions on the lives of people with disabilities especially difficult. William Prince gave some historical perspective, citing a similar 'pilot project' in Manitoba in the 70's. Larger political realities (national) cut that project off at the mid-point and it wasn't until the early 2000s that a woman dug up a'll the results and made a substantial report on outcomes. Wonder of wonders - the quality of life, choices, opportunities and more improved noticeably for the vast majority of participants. Prince went on to say that the apparent stagnation in social policy in BC is affecting more people, like a disease of inertia. He echoed Jane Dyson, saying some stuff in place in Ontario hasn't even entered the (non)discussion with the current government.

And all this was fine, for the small audience & innocuous written questions. It was relatively pointless to heckle or even say, "What do you say to a callous gaggle of hacks intent on bowing to corporate power and using the legislature like a whorehouse: you pay the fee and get what you want?!" Not polite enough!?

Near the end of the 'conversation' Michael Prince let slip what he & some of his academic colleagues have focused on: "There will have to a a Donnybrook to change the political culture in Victoria." He defined this archaic word as translating into 'a dust-up' which gets plain-languaged into 'hitting them with a fucking sledgehammer. "

By PAULR TAYLOR

CHRONIC MARIJUANA

CRUNCH·~ To BE"

4-~O

LEGALizED

••.

" .'

;'::".~<:"~-:.:'.: ::~~~:'.;::.:.:~ :::..:<';:' ;.::~.:.>:.,: :::.:>.: : ..::.;.::::~:: ...:.-:-..: ..:-::.::.:.;:.:;.:.::: ...::::;.-::..:.::..:~.~::::'~:~<' :~:..' .~':

We acknowledge that Camegie Community Centre, and .~ this Newsletter, are occurring on Coast Salish Territory.

- "", .. ". -,' :-.':::':::.:.'.:".< ;<; 1:::::·:.:

THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the vieWs of individual contributors and not of the Association.

WANTED Artwork for the Carriegie Newsletter

• • •

• •

•

Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry.

Cover art - Max size: 17cm(6 Y.")wide x 15cm(6")high.

Subject matter pertaining to issues relevant to the Downtown Eastside, but all work considered.

Black & White printing only.

Size restrictions apply (i.e. if your piece is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit).

All artists will receive credit for their work.

Oriqinals will be returned to the artist after being copied for publication.

Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor.

The editor can edit for clarity, format & brevity, but not at the expense of the writer's message.

.:~ext issue: SUBMISSION

DEADLINE THURSDAY., APRIL 27TH

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: :.: ~:--....;-:-:-.-;-..>~-'.--~>-: ::-:~:'-:;:'-.

"Never doubt that a small group ofthoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." -Margaret Meade

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