April 1, 2018 carnegie newsletter

APRIL 1, 018

(604) 665-2289

Pat McSherry Patricia McSherry died March 23, after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in mid February. Born in Vancouver BC to Art and Christine (nee Oliver) McSherry on March 10, 1946. In 1948, the family moved to Pine Falls, Manitoba where Pat attended Pine Falls School & Collegiate, before moving to Winnipeg to attend the University of Winnipeg, graduating in 1970 with a B.A. and in 1973 with a B.Ed from the University of Manitoba. In 1965, Pat married Orest Meleschuk. Together they had two children Sean and Karin. Pat spent 10 years teaching High School and Junior High school in St. Vital and Selkirk, Manitoba. Pat and Orest divorced in 1979 when Pat and Karin moved to Vancouver, BC. She enjoyed a second career as an Arts Administrator working for Carousel Theatre Co & School, Waterfront Theatre and the Judith Marcuse Dance Company. She retired from Manager of Public Affairs and Programs on Granville Island in 1995. Pat was passionate about the ocean and in 1995 she moved to Costa Rica where she owned and managed a charter fishing boat. In 2000, she returned to Vancouver where she spent years as an active member of several faith communities: St lames, Our Lady Guadalupe Tonantzin and Salal & Cedar. Pat also volunteered for numerous community organizations: Carnegie Community Centre Association, Vancouver Curling Club, Saint lames Music Academy, Metro Vancouver Alliance & others in the DtES. Making friends and completing projects were the highlights of these years. Pat was an avid curler. She was generous, patient, forgiving and she deeply loved her family and friends who will forever remember her good heart, great sense of humour and wonderful intellect. Pat is survived by her children Sean (Jennifer) and Karin (James), grandchildren Nora, Aidan, Lucy and Max and extended family and good friends. The family is grateful to all the friends and family who have supported and comforted Pat through this illness. Special thanks as well to the staff and volunteers at the Vancouver General Hospital Gyne-Oncology Unit for their professional and compassionate care. An Anglican Eucharist and' celebration of life will be

held at St. James Anglican Church, 303 East Cordova St. at 2:00 PM Wednesday March 28. An outdoor Eucharist and scattering of ashes will be held at

EULOGY FOR PAT So, Pat. What do I say? Your journey goes on, and our s continues without you. You will be missed, and you said you would miss me, too. That means a lot.

You left us as an elder would; someone who was involved with many organizations in really crucial roles.

We will miss your booking us room at St. lames where you were a church warden. You were committed to the Metro Vancouver Alliance (MVA). And you were on the Board of the St. lames Music Academy. I loved seeing the children share their music at St. lames and you used to let me know when their performances were.

3

Most of all, I valued your knowledge of administration and your commitment to making things work smoothly at Carnegie. As our esteemed Treasurer for many years, you steered us through many Gaming grant applications and Revenue Canada requirements, and the B.C. Societies Act. You took a lot off my shoulders and for that I am grateful. You offered to train your replacement at our annual general meeting last year, and while I thought you might step down, I never thought you would do it by dying. It's the only way you could escape!

I am grateful that you led a full Iife. Your time came, and while it all seemed really sudden to many of us, I still remember the light that touched you when I saw you at the service at Our Lady of Guadeloupe Tonantzin. Your Creator loved you, and r sensed that there was a blessing in that. If you believe in those things.

i

One thing that I have been taught is that we have to deal with the living. The dead and dying are on their own journey. So r offer condolences to your family, Pat, and to all of us who were touched by your presence and the hard work you did right up to your dying day. And maybe now we can all find a little bit of the

Pat, You Will Be Missed Earlier this year, I was sorry to hear that Pat McSherry was seriously ill. I visited her in hospital a few times and I am glad that we had the chance to say good-bye to one another face-to-face.

Pat was a wonderful person. She was such a devoted volunteer for the Camegie Community Centre Association. Not only was she our Treasurer on the Board; she participated in the business of the Finance, Program, Community Relations, and Oppenheimer Park committees. She was also a keen participant in many special projects: updating the Association's policies and bylaws, helping to organize fundraisers for the Carnegie Newsletter, and assisting with the DTES Survival Skills Resource Fair. We could always count on Pat to provide sensible advice.

Since Pat lived a short distance from my home, I often ran into her on the street. She always had time to stop and chat. J know that Pat was a proud grandmother and an avid curling enthusiast. Pat was a committed advocate for the Downtown Eastside. She staffed an information table during Jean Swanson's election campaign and did many other things to support the community.

Pat was also a kind and caring human being. I will miss her.

A celebration of Pat's life will be held on Saturday, April 7, rpm Carnegie Theatre

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•• :.+ .:•• '@\@) ••:.+.:•• Carnegie Theatre Workshop

- Guest teacher returnst ,..

VOICE

Workshop

with Trish Alien - Friday April 6 6:30pm ...S:30pm EXPRESSION of Self. FREEING the Voice Unlock the body, the sound, the ear, the emotions, and the imagination

One of Canada s top Voice coaches, Trish Alien has been teaching Voice, Speech, Dialects and Text in university and private training facilities for over 30 years. Trish is also an accomplished actor and director.

Plus •..•ACTlt4G BASICS Aptll 21 & 28 Saturdays 1:30pm-4pm Working with a script Scenes and monologues - Watch for more detaiLs -

All classes In the Carnagla Theatre No experience necessary Drop in •••Everyone welcome •.•Free!

For more info: Teresa 604-255-9401 L-

thirteenofheartstibhotmail.oom

On the 11th it's free. On other days, check the Front --J

Desk for free tickets or say you're from Carnegie .

5

behind hey don't touch me Officer Down eight on one drunk sod yeah sort of even if your sense of fair play is te tackle and taser at the same time (that person died) 2 separate events one of which is dead.:

PERMANENT

PRESS

Card games being played in cardboard box homes some may win the former but as for the latter: nope.

Like Mister Cop following your every move like a piece of toilet paper stuck to your shoe, the elderly wait to see if their lodging or mind will be the first to go I watch the Pacific Ocean wondering if all the sealife will float to the top when it begins to glow if only everyone took the time to find the little thing they could do, a generation no one wants is speeding toward us where do we go now why not fuck up the Moon so many chose their veins as they cook up their trusty spoons! We um they are finally not looked upon as a monstrosity ...

Like bipolar bears gnawing off a healthy part of their leg when they've not even stepped into one of those sickening traps it is pure evil being young & old alike have to beg I think I hear Dante calling me, like pleading for information in Harlem or other gang territory good luck loader guns that end up in a body of water while its contents filled up someone's daughter or son how do you get to a point where everything is worse than wrong try to start a band but still people will continue to die the opioid ice-cream truck is coming let's see who won't have to wake up tomorrow let alone er the Hell's Angels & the Ku Klux Klan van have their own ways to die oh well this could have been lyrics to a never-in-a-million-years No. I Song Like almost admiring three horses but of course cops were on top one of the other 5 (true story) grabs me & shouts 'Do U want to getkicked in the skull dont walk

I'd like to make a sick American joke (is there any other kind) about arming teachers with high-calibre guns but the Trumpster beat me to it that sonofabitch knows a thing or two about getting people killed other wise it sounds like profound wisdom & of course a lot of fun hasn't someone somewhere put a price on his head?

When he whines about Canada you just want to give him a permanent seat in the Syrian Civil War - I can almost see a tear when NAFT A is mentioned this is an individual you just can't root or be sorry for like a human being caught in the grill of your SUV instead of a hospital you park it safely in your carport I mean he has to be dead so let's all go to sleep, like lucrative gun deals yeah the suffering should still be able to go to your neighbourhood pawnshop minimum wage employees don't have or care about background checks 'do you see something you like? how bout a Magnum or a Russian Glok!' Kids have nothing to fear they put their bulletproof vest on little Boo peep ...

There was time '}'hen looks&power were not everything they were the. only thing stupidity&vanity never go out 01 style the opioid&ice-cream truck comes straight from Vietnam I don't know about their ice-cream but their other top seller beats anything by a country mile. I'd be a hypocrite to say I do not every blue moon partake I cannot lie about the way I am, Like a concentration camp summer in the middle of Hell you make your way to the local paper printed on human beings' backs very primitive yet permanent press donations are 22-hour work days those that fall or fail are dragged out by their legs so as to give the head maximurr stress newsprint of any kind ruled by privileged scum whose only thoughts are of themselves I must end this tirade of powerful&powerless dying let alone surviving, the way I see it it shall be their one-minute reminder that everyone born has a story & no law can be passed preventing them from rising above. You have a right to do what you do when all else fails: Protest! Protest! Protest!

By ROBERT McGlLLIVRA

Y

ยงtreet Theatre:

Main and Terminal

By Debra McNaught Been livingjust over a year at the 'cube farm' (modular housing) at Main and Terminal and with a ringside seat on all that goes on in that intensely busy intersection you get to know the local habitues, whether you want to or not.

First up, Mr Brown Pants. Day One, still moving in, much yelling outside, laced with profanity. The boyfriend at the window soon identified the source: "There's some guy screaming out there, marching back and forth on the meridian." We both stood looking out. Hunched over, with that crabbed and jerky gait that says heroin, wild beard and hair, hooded, wearing a pair of weirdly iridescent caramel-coloured pants. He quickly became familiar, the audio hard to

ignore: same voice, same fury, same cadence, same profanities, same caramel pants. At first, I assumed the yelling was directed at the people who shunned rum and his empty cup, but the yelling continued even when the light changed, the same endless complaints in constant rotation, like a bad radio station with a very limited playlist. When he's really on a roll and has prompted enough 911 calls ("There's some crazy guy screaming and wandering in traffic!"), the cops will haul him into the parking lot across the street and give him a talking to. Sometimes they just bullhom him from the safety of their squad cars: GET OFF THE ROAD amplified huge and repeatedly until he complies. He knows enough to be meek and silent when holding his cup out to legions of closed windows, but I've never actually seen anyone give him money. They must, though, or why would he be haunting that meridian, even working multiple shifts in a 24 hour period. Easy enough to tag him schizophrenic, but mental health is a lot more complex than just a label. He's homeless, he's

at the mercy of the provincial health system, a victim of not enough doctors, of hurried diagnosis, of maybe the wrong meds, of poverty, depression and hopelessness, self-medicating to get the voices in his head to go away. He's a poster boy for 16 years of Liberal neglect.

Then there's Mr Woo. Mr Woo is probably not Chinese. He appeared about 6 months ago and I think mostly he's on the other side of the intersection as I've never been able to spot him. The WOOOOO!!! makes him hard to ignore; whether he's hitting traffic for spare change I don't know, but he hangs around for several hours at a go, ejaculating a high-volume WOOOOO!!! two or three times a minute. Seriously.

That seriously frequent. It's a bit like the noise you make when you tip back a shot that's a lot stronger than you were anticipating, and all the hair on your arms stands up and your eyes water? That noise, that kind of exhalation. Mr Woo is constantly ecstatic, rabidly joyful, and possessed by an overwhelming need to keep reminding you he's having a far better time than you are. He's not a daily visitor but he's certainly distinctive. Once I heard his too-familiar WOOOOO!! from the crowd outside Carnegie but I didn't have time to pick him out. Probably a good thing.

Mr Courteous works the meridian on the north side of the intersection, giving the people at the bus stops something to watch. Pacing the meridian with intent, holding his cup out to the captive traffic, a tall Indigenous man with long hair, not unattractive, and always smiling. He walks with a cane because he's missing the lower half of a leg, and he makes sure you know he's an amputee because he helpfully rolls his pants up so you can't miss it. People do give him money, but he is unfailingly polite to those who do not, a smart yet relaxed salute to those who pretend not to see him. How he keeps smiling in the face of all that indifference is admirable, and he courteously shows his appreciation when people do drop change on him.

Once, and never since, there was The Acrobat, a brief distraction of bright colour on a hot summer day. There have been few women out there, and most of them heartbreakingly-young, so she'd have caught my attention regardless. Wearing black and white

referee-striped tights, a hot pink undersized t-shirt and a riot of thick dark curls, when the light went red she scam-pered out into the crosswalk and gave the trapped commuters something to watch. Amazing and graceful cartwheels, handstands, short tumbling routines, a little dance shimmy for a finale. As the crosswalks cleared and the lights began to change she'd collect, skipping quickly into the lanes, trying and failing to hit all of the outstretched hands happily handing her their change. The Acrobat was there for maybe an hour and must have totally cleaned up. She brought to mind the street entertainers in London who for centuries have worked the lengthy, trapped lineups of theatre and concert goers, the buskers and mimes, jugglers, and musicians who distract from the wait by offering diverting amusements.

According to a City of Vancouver information plaque bolted to one of the Skytrain supports 375,000 vehicles per week cross Main and Terminal, an irresistible venue for a rotating cast of characters: when one of them calls it a day, another soon takes his place. With their distinct personalities the regulars have become neighbours in a way and looking out at some poor rain -sodden bastard trying to scrounge up enough for a meal keeps me angry on their behalf, angry at all three levels of government for failing to look after the vulnerable, the crazy, the homeless, the addicted. And angry at all that idling traffic, sit-

Jenny Kwan, MP Vancouver East NDP Immigration,

Refugee

and Citizenship Critic 2572 E Hastings St Vancouver, BC V5K IZ3 T: 604-775-5800 F: 604-775-5811 Jenny.Kwan@parJ.gc.ca

Feb. 14,2008. In that decade Thursdays Writing Collective has done what it set out to do, times ten .. . The program draws to a close but the literary friendships and relationships we have formed amongst ourselves are permanent. The voices in this book will endure beyond this moment." Carnegie Community Centre, which has supported and housed TWC since its inception, remains committed to engaging with and supporting the literary community of the DTES. In its ten years of operation, TWC has supported a flourishing literary community within Vancouver's DTES, including 600 hours of writing in community with DTES residents and a collective that has grown to over two hundred people. "We share our writing, improve our writing skills and make connections within Vancouver's literary community," TWC writes on its website. In addition to publishing ten chapbook anthologies featuring authors who identify as Indigenous, People of Colour, mixed race and white, trans and queer folks, survivors, and many other intersectional identities from different backgrounds and with ages ranging from 18 to 87, TWC has also enjoyed cameraderie with DTES programs and organizations including Megaphone, Hives for Humanity, Urbanlnk, SFU, UBC Humanities, The Learning Centre at Carnegie Community, UnionlPitt Gallery, and others.

Thursdays Writing Collective Celebrates 10 Years with its final Chapbook Release

"We have written the DTES into the literary history of the city and the country in a way no one foresaw and our mark is permanent," Kraljii Gardiner notes Launch is April 12, 7-9pm, 390 West Hastings in her introduction to From the Heart of it All. "[0] ur books are housed in the Special Collections LiThursdays riting Collective (TWC), a free drop-in brary ofSimon Fraser University, the Vancouver writing class that has been running for the past decade Public Library and the National Archive of Canada, out of the Carnegie Community Centre in the heart of but it is the individual growth that carries most Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, will meet for its fina weight." TWC writers have acquired skills, expericlass on April 5. In honour of the program drawing to ence, book deals, MFA degrees, Jesse awards, and close, on April 12,20]8 the collective will publish and other literary accolades, as well as the more personal launch From the Heart of it All: Ten Years of Writing markers of confidence, social-connection, and parfrom Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, a farewell chap ticipation in an active literary community. book anthologizing past and present work.

From the Heart of it All: Ten Years of Writing from Van"This ]Othanthology is a culmination of our ten-year couver's Downtown Eastside, guest edited by Heidi Greco journey," explains Elee Kraljii Gardiner. "We held the (Otter Press, 2018), with cover art by TWC writer and first of our free, drop-in creative writing sessions on

CCPA¡BC Submission (to th Provincial Gov't) on the Development of a BC Poverty Reduction Plan As the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives(CCPA) the Poverty Reduction Coalition (PRC) and others have ~ongnoted, a comprehensive plan must include: 1. Legislated targets & time-lines, with clear accountability mechanisms to ensure these targets are met.

2. A human rights foundation.

3. A whole-of-government approach (wherein all ministries must show how they are contributing to poverty reduction).

4. Bold action across several core pillars, including: * Significant increases to social assistance rates and an end to rules and requirements that discourage, delay and deny access to social assistance. Seeking assistance should not harm a person's dignity. * Increasing the earnings of those in the low-wage workforce through rapid and significant increases in the minimum wage, adoption of living wage policies by government ministries and agencies, and strengthening employment standards. * Large-scale expansion of social and co-op housing (we have called for 10,000 units per year), and strengthening rent controls. * Universal, affordable and quality public child care. * Expansion of community health services for seniors, people with disabilities, and those with mental health illnesses and addictions, and enhancements to dental and eye care for low-income people. * Greater access to post-secondary education & training for low-income people, and improved services for

special needs students in the K-12 education system. * Targeted actions to reduce poverty among populations where poverty rates are most acute.

We are pleased to see that the BC government has started to take important steps in some of these areas, notably with respect to child care, new housing, dental care, and of course the minimum wage. Among the many and urgent actions called for in the PRC submission, there are two issues we would like to highlight of utmost importance: 1) It is vital that the legislated targets tackle the depth and not merely the breadth of poverty. Meaning, we need targets that get all British Columbians out of deep poverty, as we also significantly reduce the overall poverty rate. The depth target long advocated by the PRC and ourselves has been to commit that: Within two years, every British Columbian has an income that reaches at least 75% ofthe poverty line. Targets aimed at eliminating the most extreme & severe forms of poverty - such as homelessness & hunger - are also necessary. Failure to include depth targets in the BC plan risks leaving the poorest and most vulnerable behind, and would absolve the government of necessary action in the areas over which it has the most direct responsibility, namely social assistance and housing.

2) Whilethe government has begun to take needed action to cool the housing market and build new lowincome housing, more is urgently needed to control rent increases. This issue arguably represents the greatest threat not only to the poverty reduction plan, but to the government's overall policy agenda. Given escalating housing costs, there is a grave risk that all the improvements and gains experienced for lowincome people due to minimum wage increases, welfare rate increases, child care fee reductions and more will be wiped out by rent increases. The government was quick to end the fixed-term lease loophole last fall. But other reforms are urgently needed to the Residential Tenancy Act (RTA). Currently, the RTA only limits rent increases for existing tenants. Once a tenant moves or is evicted, landlords are free to increase the rent as they wish. Moreover, even when rent control is in place, the current RTA allowance of annual increases of CPI plus 2%, compounded, means rents have been far out-stripping inflation in recent years.

from the LibrarY

Soul Cut Short, uneven strands of hair encircled my drawn face.

Her punishment,

her satisfaction.

During moments of self-loathing I viciously attack my hair, cutting off any reminder of my femininity.

My focus is on destroying any sign of attractiveness, to punish myself by creating that which is pitiful to the eye.

Hi Everyone. My name is Randy. I'm Natalie's temporary replacement at the Camegie Library. I hesitate to say 'replacement' because I know Natalie will be irreplaceable as the librarian here, just as she is an irreplaceable colleague for so many of us at VPL. It is really an honour and a pleasure to be back here at the Camegie. Some of you with really good memories might remember that I spent some time here before, as Beth's replacement, way back in 2008 and 201l.

I thought for my first column, I'd just quickly introduce myself through the medium of library materials.r,

I cut my hair exactly as my mother did

Book I'm Reading Right Now: The Last Gang in

years ago.

Town: the Epic Story of the Police vs. the Clark Park Gang by Aaron Chapman (364.106 C46L). Even grow-

Afterwards,

the self bate and self anger

are replaced with sbame and remorse.

1 avoid the mirror like the plague.

I'm feeling better today.

Perhaps I'll lay these scissors down to rest.

BLACKLIST In the sixties and seventies you couldn't get a job that includes Black people and also the Indians. People were very prejudiced. My cousin lived in Battleford and had to come all the way to Vancouver. She finally got a job at the Army & Navy but it was so difficult because of the stigma.

There was a Blacklist for anyone not white who stood up for themselves. My Uncle Bill was on that list. He couldn't get his first job because he was Native but he eventually became a criminal lawyer. He worked with a lot of people to change things, to get laws passed and programs set up so a person can get training and employment suited to their capabilities.

Things have changed so people can get jobs regard -less oftheir ethnicity or Nationality.

ing up in south Vancouver in about the "Clark Parkers", so read a well researched history Tons of great archival photos

the '80s, I heard stories it's pretty fascinating to of this East Van legend. too.

CD I'm Really Enjoying Right Now: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda by Alice Coltrane (783.2094 C72e). I just love Alice Coltrane's music. This is a-compilation of 'New Age' music sbe recorded when she started an Ashram in LA. It's probably some of the weirdest New Age music you'll ever hear - on the one hand it's got these soothing synth sounds that make you want to meditate, and on the other hand it's got this kind ofunhinged singing that makes you want to jump up & down and break things.

Last Movie I Saw: Straight Outta Compton (MOVIE STR). I'm really behind on new movies. Upcoming Library Event I'm Really Looking Forward To: T'uy't'tanat-Cease Wyss, VPL's Indigenous Storyteller in Residence for 2018, will be presenting Wanax ten Luq'luq'i: Honouring Luq'luq'i (Grove of Beautiful Maples), a program about the Coast Sal ish village ofLuq'luq'i - a precontact location that is found near Main Street, from Heatley A ve to Carrall St. and Keefer St. to the waterfront. Wednesday, April 4. 4:306:00, in the Theater.

Please join me at this program, if you can make it,

Cf\U NCH ~ cLtes SOME

40 Y"'s. AGo (t:e,

SIXTIES.£,.tI~LY SEVENTIES) rHERE WA~ A CIACULAA CII{ClIl.AT/Ne; GASTOWN.., AN AbVISORYAbVISING WHAT lATE

TO DO IN THE EVENT OF NOCLEAR WAR .. IT CONCLUlJ£b WITH:PLACE YOUR. HEAl) BETWEEN YOIJR LEGS AND X/SS YOUR ASS Goo1>8YC ,/,

Io

:

IOI>AY,

WITH THE A1>V£NT OF G-£NTRIFICATION,

THERE AAE rHOSE THAT WOULD RECOMMEND -rHAT WE ALL STICK OVA HEADS UP oo« ASS, ANP /(ISS -rHE N£IGHBOVRHOO'J) (DTES)

coooere.

We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and this News/etter, are occurring on Coast Salish Territory . ..:101Main street varcocver

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V6A 2T7 (6{J4) 665-2289

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 Carnegie Newsletter -Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry.

-Cover art - Max size: 17cm(6 %")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.

-Originals 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, forrnat & brevity, but not at the expense of the writer's message.

401 Main Street, Vancouver V6A 2T7 604-665-2289 Website carnegienewsletter.org

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carnnews@vcn.bc.ca email carnnews@shaw.ca 604-665-2289

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SUBMISSION DEADLINE

TUESDAY, APRIL 10 WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

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AIDS

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POVERTY

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HOMELESSNESS

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VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

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ABORIGINJ\L GENOCIDE

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TOTALITARIAN CAPITALISM

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IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR

phone

DONATIONS 2018 In memory of Bud oSborn -$40 Kelly F. For Bob Sarti, playright for the DTES community, & all those whose lives have been hit by racism & prejudice -$100(Jay) Craig H.-$500 Winnie T.-$200 Barbara M.-$100 Robert -$20 Robert McG.-$55 Laurie R.-$175 Michael C.-$100 Vancouver's non-commercial, listener-supported community station.