May 15, 2005, carnegie newsletter

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6048652289

MAY 15,2005

27 Reasons why Women should vote on May 17 1.Elimination of the Ministry of Women's Equality; 2.Elimination of 100% of core funding for all 37 women's centres; 3.Revisions to spousal assault policy whereby the Crown no longer prosecutes the majority of cases; 4.Elimination of support programs for victims of domestic violence; 5.Funding cuts to women-run crisis lines; 6.Cuts to legal aid in all cases without a-violence aspect; elimination of aid in poverty law c&s; 7.Courthouse closings, particularly limiting access to justice for women in rural areas; 8.Restrictions to welfare, including rollbacks of assistance levels, tighter eligibility rules and forcing women to find work when their youngest child is 6 months old.. . all exacerbating a necessity to stay in abusive relationships andor engage in survival sex; 9.Restrictions to welfare for young people, making girls and young women either stay in abusive homes or engage in survival sex; 10.Maltreatment of people with disabilities, subjecting them to a 30-pg form to prove their disability; 11.Elimination of independent Human Rights Corn;

12.Bame1-sto post-secondary education - doubling of tuition fees, eliminated grants, no student welfare; 13.The $ 6 h 'training' wage, $2 less than already low minimum wage; 14.Employment standards diminished - longer work week, limited definition of what constitutes overtime and reducing minimum shift fiom 4 hr to 2 hr, legalising child labour and those with bad employers get far less assistance in redressing legal violations; 15.Childcare cutbacks, program and funding cuts to before- and after-school care; 16.Medical Services Plan premiums increased 50%; 17.MSP service cuts -costs of physio, chiropractic, eye exams, massage, podiatry and naturopathic treatments are no longer covered; 18.Making Pharmacare unfair -increased deductible and income testing; 19.Pushing fiail seniors out of residential care by eliminating over 2500 beds in the system; 20.Severely restricting access to home support, with thousands of seniors and disabled now ineligible 2 1.Closing hospitals and downgrading hospital services, restricting access, untrained cleaning staffs; 22.Loss of health sectorjobs - 87% of health workers are women, 8,000 unionised positions gone and vast majority had wages rolled back 15%; 23.Pay equity and good wageshenefits lost as jobs privatized or contracted out; 24.Privatizing health care, contracting out surgeries; 25.Pulic-Private-Partnershipssee public money going to build.establish private businesses; 26.Tax cuts at the expense of social programs; 27.Budget surpluses at the expense of social pro- . grams, with cash-in-hand equal to costs cut.

Synopsis of article in "Her Voice" L

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FREE Workshops for-and-by

Aboriginal Women

Homelessness workshop set for May 23rd It's h i l l y coming--our chance to speak out on homelessness and tell the city and other levels of government what they should do about it.

Fridays l 3 0 p m t o 330pm from May 13th,toSeptember 29th,2005 D o m t o m EastsideWomen's Centre. 302 Columbia St For infonnaI%on and rq~strarion call Carol at 604 681 6480 en.233 Light macks and bus tickets provtded

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We need to tell City Council that it's really important to ACT on the report and not just file it. Any member of the public (that's us) can speak to Council on the plan. But you have to call the City Clerk's office at 604 871-6371 to get on the speakers' list. If you don't call before May 25&, you can register on the night of the meeting at City Hall.

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The City of Vancouver will be holding a public meeting about its Homeless Action Plan at City Hall on May 25&at 7:30. The Action Plan is pretty good. It says governments should do 3 things: end the barriers to getting on welfare and raise welfare rates; building social housing; provide health and social services for those who need them.

To help you get ready to speak at City Hall, you're invited to a workshop at Carnegie. The workshop will happen on Monday, May from 1 to 3 in the Art Gallery on the third floor. At the workshop you will be able to: Get more information on homelessness; Get help writing and sending letters about homelessness to politicians; Learn what's likely to happen at City Hall and get help getting on the speakers list; Work out your speech to City Council.

If you're homeless or concerned about homelessness, come to the workshop and learn how to make your voice count.

-Jean Swanson

3

Whither the BC Liberals?

Following a BC Association of Social Workers political forum in Victoria on April 27th to which no Liberal candidates showed up, a member of the BCASW had this to say: " Many of Gordon Campbell's South Island Liberal candidates blew off Victoria Wednesday night. They didn't show up at First Metropolitan United Church in Victoria for a forum sponsored by the Vancouver Island Branch of the BC Association of Social Workers. They were invited, in some cases, weeks ago. Despite that, Liberal Susan Brice was a no show as was Sheila Orr. Jeff Bray didn't even have the courtesy to get back to us; neither did Ida Chong.

"Democratic Reform was there. So were the Greens and the New Democrats. We even had an independent candidate.

"The Liberals missed a great discussion. We talked about the service needs of blind persons and children living with cognitive disabilities. We leaned how W c u l t it is for young and old alike to access life saving healthcare and medications. We listened while mothers of young children spoke of the challenges of raising kids under current income assistance policies. We heard about hunger, disability and abuse. We talked about child welfare, the environment, education, and economic strategies for the forest industry, small towns and small business. We heard from 94-year-old Kay Scott who told us of her life and struggles. She clearly had seen it all but showed up to tallc to her candidates. She has hope.

"And that's what this forum was all about. Hope. We didn't just hear about problems and pain, we heard about solutions and possibilities. Folks had lots of truly great and fabulously grassroots ideas and ideals. It really is too bad Sheila and Susan and Ida and Jeff didn't show up. It might have helped them better understand Victoria and its citizens. Gordon Campbell and the BC Liberals appear to be avoiding these kinds of discussions with British Columbiam. I think speaking with and listening to the citizens of this extraordinary province would help them be better politicians and decent human beings. It's really too bad.

I hear the BC Liberals will be at the Victoria Chamber of Commerce all-candidates meet early in May. It costs money to go to that. I wonder if Kay and the others can afford to fork over $50 for the privilege of meeting with a real live Liberal candidate.

Linda Korbii, MSW, RSW Executive Director BC Association of Social Workers

WELFARE Got out of my welfare bed without hope Washed my face with my welfare soap Put on my welfare clothes faced the streets with prevailing welfare dope Bought my cat some welfare food "spare change dude?" get lost I'm not in da mood copped a second hand welfare CD bought some welfare beer to feel some good Paid da bills now I'm broke too bad fer you Yo I don't need no welfare dope I'm as broke as I can be don't need no grass LSD sold I'm welfare h e A few beer I may partake Rock-a-Berry Canada cooler is my piece of cake sure McBinner likes to get welfare laid no need for me to get caught in a sex ring raid Lamed da fax some years ago just love the ones you safely fmd aglow you get love back yer own sweet time we might be welfare y' all but we're one of a kind

Mr. McBinner

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Hi everyone. Sheila Baxter asked me to write this up for the povnet issues list. She has observed that people who sell things on the street, like having a mini-garage sale, have been given $50 tickets by the police. She saw this happen several times outside the United We Can bottle recycling place in Vancouver. She fears that they won't be able to pay the ticket, a warrant will be issued for their arrest, and they won't be able to get welfare until the warrant is dealt with, Question to legal beagles out there: Is this a realistic legal scenario? Do warrants get issued for this type of thing and can this prevent a person fiom getting welfare?

We are both concerned, also, that there seems to be more and more of a crackdown on all the legal ways that people without income can get a little money.

From tickets for mini-garage sales, to locking garbage bins in alleys, to tickets for panhandling and squeegeeing, to the Safe Streets Act that prohibits panhandling in aII the good places.

Annual General Meeting of the

Carnegie Community Centre Association Agenh: Reports, election of the Board

Thursday, June 2,2005 Starting at 6 pm in the Theatre (Voter reptration starts at 5 pm.)

To run for the Board, you must have been a member for 60 days (since April 3). To vote, you must have been a member for 14 days (since Mav 19).

Jean Swanson "A person can get welfare with a warrant out."

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David Mossop, Q.C.

MAN-MADE HELL NO-ONE ELSE

If there is a Hell on Earth It is here between h a l l and Hawks From the ocean to the hills of Fairview While the rich joyride on Saturday nights in stretch limos up & down Hastings St to see all the festering crackheads behind the Carnegie.

I awoke this morning stepped into Chinatown's gray but after an hour went back to hiding away Seen enough ugliness for one day; couldn't look couldn't find the words to say If there is a God it's looking the other way, doesn't see the wretched in Oppenheimer, can't look at the open sewer of misery. How long does it take before the wounded are allowed to die?

If I die in this evil place, my soul will never find its way to Heaven, f-u-u-c-k,

Even Jesus couldn't stand in line forever for leftover food and stale bread and a thousand tortured faces who secretly wish they were dead.. .

Bill Oblgosis

A VISION FOR THE FUTURE

The false creek flats will be the next major city redevelopment This is a 308 acre site, bounded by Main Street, Venables, Clarke Drive and Great Northern Way. What will this mean for the DTES? Attend this meeting to develop a vision for our future: CARNEGIE CENTRE THURSDAY, MAY

VOLUNTEER NEWS

Volunteer Training: Personal Protection Skills

CULTUS LAKE CAMPING TRTP for Volunteers and Seniors who are active members of Carnegie June 13th - 17th, 2005 With Springjust around the comer, for all of you battling the bulge, spend not one more minute worrying about it. Join us on our annual Cultus Lake soiree and we will help you get in shape while taking you hiking, fishmg, canoeing, rowing, water sliding, horseback ridmg and, when you need a break, you will play crib, bingo, and be part of talent night and all sorts of other hilarious activities. At midnight during the full moon you can go chunky dunking with the fishes while your fiiends sit around the camp fire singing. Please let Colleen or Marlene know if you are interested in participating and if, for medical or volunteering reasons, could not make it to the two planning meetings (the last one is Wednesdav, May 18th @,llam. in the Theatre)

This workshop is upbeat and interactive. This high impact and very humorous training motivates participants to adopt behaviours and strategies that increase safety on the commute (public transportation or on foot) and in their personal lives. You will learn how to avoid becoming a target of crime through awareness and realistic street safety strategies (with the focus on prevention). You will learn 'safe disengagement' strategies in order to defend yourself in the event of an unavoidable attack. Where hands-on training is involved, participants can observe rather than physically participate I.â‚Ź you wish Both men and women will find this session of huge value.

WHEN: Monday, June 06,2005 TIME: 7pm - 8 V2 PM WHERE: Art Gallery 3rd Floor (or Gym depending on number of participants) Please sign-up ahead of time with Colleen in the Volunteer Program Office 3rd Floor

DEVRA 'Downtown Eastside VolunteerRecognition A ward' WANTED! !! WANTED! !! WANTED! !!

Our celebration in the community for other agencies in the DTES for Volunteer Recognition is again going to be hosted at Carnegie, but in July this year.

Those with a burning desire to be a part this event's organizing committee -PLEASE contact Colleen!

Blue Grass & Folk Music Concert

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A Variety of Bands Great lykrsicl!!

Presented by P a d c Bluegrass and Heritage & Music Society

Volunteer Dinner Wednesday, May 18', 4:30pm sharp! (Theatre) "This is a dinner for all Volunteers with a minimum of 16 hours service for the month of May - this dinner is one way we show our appreciation to all of you for all that you do for the community.

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With

"FIVE CARD STUB" stamkg Bev Blanchard

FRIDAY May 20,2005 7 - 1Opm

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ANNUAL CELEBRATION OF VOLUNTEEFUNG Our annual celebration of volunteering was over two weeks ago. I hope you all enjoyed yourselves while we got to thank Carnegie's most valuable asset - oui volunteers. We got to call attention to all that you do to improve our community. We got to tell yourselves and the rest of the community how w o n d d you are. Some people were singled out for recognition, but each and every one of you is deserving of praise.

It is a privilege to know and work with you all! (Remember, nobody can make you feel inferior without your permission).

Colleen

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We enjoyed ourselves. No, really! People ate always telling us to clean up our acts - and, while we're at it, we should get some fresh air.

So what could have been more appropriate for a group of Carnegie volunteers than to have lunch at a sani-station in the deep woods? It all happened on an out-trip to the wilds of Golden Ears Provincial Park on April 19 as part of Carnegie's Volunteer Week festivities. Our hiking destination was a mountaintop viewpoint where we could contemplate the splendors of the Fraser Valley down below. But somehow, despite maps. guidebooks and the unerring instincts of our guides, Colleen and John, we managed to get lost.

Our first clue was when we started going downhill, instead of up. Then we came to a paved road out in the middle of the forest. Well, when the going gets tough, the tough go to lunch. We spied a nice grassy area by the side of the road, with an odd little concrete building and some hoses sticking out of it.

"Looks good," said Carl McBinner. "Let's eat!"

Turns out our little oasis was the facility where RVs and campers are supposed to pump out their sewage tanks and flush the contents into an underground

7 tank. It's called a sani-station, all very tidy, with really no mess and no smell.

Well, we just flopped down on the grass, broke out the sandwiches, cookies and h i t and chowed down.

We timed it just right - no customers amved while we were eating. It was another awesome Carnegie picnic lunch, and the walk back uphill to the parking lot was just what we needed as an aid to digestion.

Now we're thinking of making it an annual event you know, sort of a sani-station celebration.

Chili Bob

Port Moody i i

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5 eel grass and decaying hulks and fish ladders 5 ', and widgeons and pintalls and wigwam bum- $ 3. ers & an awesome free Camegie picnic lunch!

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A Teenage Perspective on Education and Life in B.C. I am getting really sick and tired of hearing the Liberal government talk about how well they have done in the past 4 years. How they have single handedly turned our economy around, debt free happy British Columbian's now. . . all thanks to the Liberal government right? Wrong! ! Have these people walked around on our streets after sun down? When door ways become people's bedrooms for the night? Or to the emergency room for an 8 hour wait? Has anyone seen good 01' Gordy walking around by the UGM in the Vancouver eastside? Seen the block long lines for these people to get food and shelter? Or to attend a class in a public secondary school, an Elementary school for that matter? I know I have. I have experienced the oversized classes; I have lost fabulous teachers due to cuts. I have waited in an emergency room for hours upon hours. I have waited weeks to hear about lab results. I have worked a job at $6 an hour. I am a low income middle class British Columbian and I am a student. I am two of the majorities in British Columbia and I am not happy with how Gordon Campbell is running this province.

The "Childm are our future".

If the class sizes are too big and the government won't help out struggling lower and middle class families, then the answer for those kids who are in the floundering families and in the far too large classrooms is so easy. Drop out and get a job! But not just any job, a job that only pays you $6 an hour.

Only for 500 hours though, so in a couple of months, after you have had to sell all your furniture and belongings for food and rent, you will be raking in the dough! It is an answer that everyone benefits from, isn't it? The school sizes shrink and the government siphons more taxes from the paychecks these kids bust their behinds to acquire. The family can afford to pay the rent for one more month and buy back their kitchen table. Works for the time being right?

But what about when these kids are full grown and have a grade 8 education to tide himher through the next phase of hisher life? They could always go and get some upgrading.. maybe get their grade 12 equivalency but that doesn't do them much good anymore. The tuition freeze is gone, cut up and thrown out the window. So by the time this kid is

old enough to figure out they won't get anywhere in the world without a degree they would have to sell their kidneys to pay for the first year's tuition. But none of this matters apparently because heck! They live in "Beautiful British Columbia" where the economy is doing well and the lower classes don't matter. How do you like how the government is running the province?

Jackie S&son

Parents & Tots Drop In

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bring your young ones for play, story reading, arts and crafts with a Certified Instructor 2 mornings a week Beginning Tuesday May 3rd l o a m - noon

Tuesdays 8: Thursdays @ Lore Krill

- 65 W Cordova

(across from Army 6: Navy) Please join us to meet other DTES parents over healthy snack, c o M e a s while our children play together -

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f q C 1 U K L N G t h e Downtown Eastside "The struggle against power is the struggle against forgetting."

Milan Kundera

Charo Neville has put together a Downtown Eastside exhibition of photographic and video works, along with community-based projects. It is at 112 West Hastings until May 29. Paul St. h a i n , Hermes Williams, Desmedia, Susan Stewart, Margot Leigh Butler, Rita Beiks, Rebecca Belmore, Stan Douglas, h i Haraldsson, Clint Burnham and Sharon Kravitz all have works in the show.

Downtown Eastside community art projects are important because they reflect the powerful spirit of our neighbowhood. They make our community visible in all of its rich complexity, and show it to be much more than just skid road. They help us define who we are. Think of the impact that the Downtown Eastside Community Play had on the neighbourhood.

I liked this exhibition called "Picturing The Downtown Eastside," The overall mood of the show was one of hope in spite of all the hardships we face. Art is born of hope, but we understand hope differently at different times in history. Today, millions of people understand hope in terms of human rights. The history of the Downtown Eastside is about the struggle for dignity and human rights. John Berger wrote, "The artist sets out to improve the world, not in the way of a reformer, but in herhis own way, by extending what shehe believes to be the truth, and by expressing the range and depth of human hopes."

(1) Where there is no hope, or vision, the artist can fall into triviality. The works in this exhibition are not trivial! They speak to our exclusion, our support and sanctuary in the Downtown Eastside, our resistance against oppression, and our sense of radical possibility (to use bell hooks' phrase). As someone wrote on the sidewalk during the magical "Speaking in Chalks" project, organized by Sharon Kravitz in 1995, "We will rise even stronger from the ashes

you say we live in."

Even the two very sad, even painful, exhibits in the show - the one by Rebecca Belmore remembering the missing women in the Downtown Eastside, and the one by Margot Leigh Butler, remembering the women who were murdered at that farm in Poco, have healing power. We grieve, and our numbness turns to sorrow. In the ability to grieve lies the power of prophecy, for that which is, is not what ought to be. We are a community of prophets in the Downtown Eastside, and we work for change to stop the violence. The art work in this exhibition believes in the future.

Plato was right: Art is dangerous. It can lut us with the power of a run away freight train. It can demand that we change our lives. The poet Adnenne Rich wrote, "Poetry is not a resting on the given, but a questing toward what might otherwise be." (2) There is a moral force in art. D. H. Lawrence put it this way, "The essential function of art is moral. not decorative. but moral" - a demand for what ought to be. (3) The works in "Picturing The Downtown Eastside" contain the demand for justice. The beauty of what is, is twin to the beauty of what ought to be. The evocative voice of the poet is twin to the harsh voice of the prophet. The poetry of Bud Osborn is a good example of the poet and prophet together.

Thank you, Charo, for putting this exhibition together. You are a caring person. The exhbition will be at 112 West Hastings until May 29th. Gallery hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 12 noon to 5 pm.

Desmedia is taping stories, poems and songs of Downtown Eastside residents on Sunday, May 22, and May 29, at 112 West Hastings from 2 to 5 pm.

Sandy Cameron

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( 1 ) "PermanentRed Essa.ys in Seeing," by John Berger, Writers & Readers Publishing Co-operative, 1979, pg. 32.

(2) "Whatis Found There - Notebooks on Poetry and Politics, by Adrienne Rich.

(3) "Studiesin ClassiCalAmericclnLiterature,"by D. H. Lawrence.

PICTURING THE DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE I'm a Downtown Eastside resident and a graduate student at UBC, where I'm learning to curate contemporary art exhibitions. I grew up on one of the Gulf Is 1ands, in a small and cohesive community, and I see that same kind of communal spirit alive in the DTES. My interest in the art activity that has happened in the Downtown Eastside for decades, and my interest in the neighbourhood as someone who lives here, has fueled my research and writing on art and the DTES for school. Eight months of research has resulted in an art exhibition called Picturing the Downtown Eastside, which runs to May 29th at 112 West Hastings.

As part of the Heart of the City Festival in the fall of 2004, I worked with the Carnegie Outreach Program to organize workshops and an outdoor exhibition of local street artists. Hermes, J.J., Andy and John created large paintings on stretched canvas and we showed these, along with video footage of the workshops, at Pigeon Park and under the Woodward's awnings. I produced a pamphlet, which showed their graffiti in the DTES. This project gave me a chance to get to know the community in a way I hadn't in the time that I've been living here.

With this exhibition, I am hoping to share positive aspects of this community with a larger audience in Vancouver. The work in the show shatters stereotypes and pre-conceptions of the neighbourhood so that the underlying complexities of this community can be understood.

My experience working on a quilt square for the women's memorial banner in February reinforced my interest in creating an exhibition that would display the diversity of projects and the many ways in which artists work in this Neighbourhood.

I have combined work by non-local artists with work by local painter Paul St.Germain, graffiti artist Hermes Williams, and the desmedia collective. I've also included community-based projects like the She Counts photos and Sharon Kravitz's Speaking in Chalks events. These projects are paired with photographic and video works by non-local artists as a way of creating a dialogue about the ways the Downtown Eastside is represented through different mediums and about the many roles that artist serve here.

Rebecca Belmore is one of the artists who is recognized nationally for her work. She will be the first Aboriginal woman to represent Canada for the Venice Biennale (international art fair). Included here is this video installation of a performance she did at the comer of Gore and Cordova streets because many people in the neigbbourhood may not have had a chance to see it. The installation has never been shown in the Downtown Eastside. It is a moving vigil in response to the murders of women from the Downtown Eastside and it speaks to violence against women everywhere, especially the long history of

crimes against First Nations people. I hope that her work will provide a lund of menlorial space where the audience can spend time to reflect on these issues.

I hope that this project encourages people to see the tremendous amount of energy that so many artists and arts organizers put into projects in the DTES and to contemplate the issues that affect the people here. I'd like to share my own experience and enthusiasm as I continue to learn about this neighbourhood that I live in.

Charo Neville

~ h a v ~ ak thousand s thcrnb, How can I say it properly? You are all pretty delusional about my candidacy for sainthood but, apart from that, I love you all and was very touched by a send off which scemcd like a dream.

To the Carnegie team: You are the very best in the system, and what a privilege to work together... I promise I will never never never again misplace my kcys!! !....If in my dotage I come round here looking for them just call Fawn to dance me away ! !! !

Mary Ann

Dumpster Diving - in Hospital Laundw??!

I was in hospital and was told that our hospitals now send the~rdirty laundry to Alberta. That-s a B.C government policy.

The hospitals bag up all those soiled sheets, towels and whatever into plastic bags and then store them in 'garbage- containers much like dumpsters. When ready. the Alberta company amves at the hospital and dumps the bagged laundry into their trucks.

A nurse complained to me that the homeless have been getling into these dirty laundry containers and making thcnisclves comfortable by tearing open the bags and sleeping among tlie soiled sheets. etc.

I saw what was wiped up by the practical nurses when patients messed on the floor; or what was left in tlie sheets when a cancer patient was uwshedout (his insidcs cleansed by a special medication). I heard what happened when they had to wipe away the discarded waste from an operation: the sheets are just bundled and thrown into a plastic bag.

If a homeless person sleeps among the soiled sheets. towels etcetera they can get anything. I should hope the homeless would realize there are certain things u hicli are very dangerous. The sweat, blood, germs absorbed in a diseased person's linen is bound to spread if the bag containing it is opened and slept in

By DORA SANDERS

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CJ1-Out for ~ubmissions:Words & Pictures

The Ear is a brand new publication being put together by the artist's collective at Gallery Gachet in Vancouver. The journal will be quarterly, accepting submissions on an ongoing basis. We're gearing up to produce our preliminary issue and would love to hear from interested writers and artists.

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Topics Including mental health; outsider movement; art & healing; anti-psychiatry survivor stories; street stories; poverty awareness art.. .

In These Formats. essays; features; fiction; poetry cartoons; humour; artwork; editorials; columns; opinions; reviews; news and more!

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The submission deadline for our preliminary issue is May 27,2005. We prefer to receive work electronically, but hard copy submissions will also be accepted. E-mail submissions to promo@,gachet.org.

Work can also be mailed to or dropped off at Gallery Gachet, 88 E Cordova St., Vancouver, V6A 1K2.

For more information, call 604-687-2468.

The Art Studios 2005 East 44th Avenue

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The Art Studio at 44thand Victoria will be having an Open House and Members' Sale Thursday June 9 from 2 - 7 pm.

Tel: (604)871-9788 Admission and refreshments will be free.

This workshop/school is mandated to be a safe place for mental health consumers who also happen to be artists. You won't find a sideshow of circus freaks, or drooling would-be psychotics. It isn't a club house or drop in centre where the focus is on cigarettes, coffee and card games to pass the time. The focus is on artists healing through their artwork and shared experience of the mental health system. People with mental illnesses are often perceived by mainstream media and its followers as dangerous, weird or "less than" the rest of normal society.

Sadly, mental patients are usually represented as knife-wielding and wild-eyed victims of police-assisted suicides, riddled with bullets at their final showdown with the powers-that-be. We see a lot of homelesststreet people with a history of metal illness, and it's a commonly-held belief that they are unable to take care of themselves. This then translates into a fear that they are dangerous, when in fact what they are is extremely vulnerable. 20% of all schizophrenics attempt suicide, and half of them succeed. Mental illness is often selfmedicated with street drugs, and suicide can be seen as the most fail-proof form of pain relief.

What's least visible are the people who call themselves "survivors". Because they have been through the worst of mental illness and come out the other side, they can deal with their own and each others' problems with more than "book learning". Many of them live in poverty, not because they're lazy, but because their inability to connect ideas with action, or clinical depression makes it nearly impossible to hold a full time job. However, they can create great beauty which brings great joy by everyone touched by it. (One un-informed visitor looked at the art on display and said "these paintings don't look like they were done by crazy people!" The Art Studio provides them with a community and gives them a break from the frantic "normal world". People can talk openly about their illnesses. Access to knowledgeable teachers and materials gives them an opportunity to learn, when so often they internalize society's labels of "hopeless" and "useless". They can shine their own light in this gloomy "normal" world!

By Diane Wood Supporting Emotional Wellness GRIEF AND LOSS GROUP 7 Weeks starting Thursday May 26th 10:15 am Where? Lifeskills Centre 412 E.Cordova For more details please call Andrew at 604-216-4253 or Benita at 604-642-5809

MENTAL HEALTH WEEK: May 24-27 AT STRATHCONA MENTAL HEALTH TEAM Tuesday, May 24.

9-1 1:30 a ni - "Transcending the Bamer: Working with TRANS (Transscuuals) in t11e.D.T E.S " Anlta Hntchiugs. Pcnder Hcalth Clinic, and Benila Spindell. Pcndcr Con~munityHcalth Clinic 1-3:30 v.m. - "Building Community Among the Hard-to-House: The Creative Use of Rulcs for Chronic Rulc Brcakcrs" Mark Smith (Director of Triagc). Karcn 0'Shanncct-y (Dircctor. Lookout Emergency Housing; Li7 Evans and Mark Smith (Portland Hotcl Society) Wednesday, May 25: 9-1 1:30 a.m. - "Salish Cultural Practices Cultural Aspects as Tools for Work: P e m Omcasoo. Native Lia~sonWorker for Vancouwr Coastal Hcalth 1-3:M p.m.- "Personality Disorders Affect Regulation, Relatedness and Identity - Theories and Practicc" Andrew Larcombc. Downtown Community Health Clinic: and Bcnita Spindcll. Petider Community Hcalth Clinic Thursday, May 26: 9-1 1:3U a m - "Spirituality and It's Place in Working with the Mentally 111" Nancy Clarkc. D.B.C. School of Nursing 1-3.30 p.m. - "The Strathcona Riverview Direct Project: Towards a True Continuum of Care" Dr. Kathleen McGarvey, Strathcona Mental Health Team and Rivervicw Hospital All held at 330 Heatlcy Avenue, (504) 253-4401 EVERYONE WELCOME!

Pathways Information Centre will be holding free resume, cover letter, and job search (the hidden job market) workshops on May 17, 19, and 2oh.

The resume workshop: 1.00 - 3:00 pm on the 17th The cover letter workshops 1 - 3 pm on the 19th The job search workshops: 1 - 3 pm on the 20th 390 Main Street, Vancouver, BC Phone: (604) 682-7353

V6A 2T2

Me and Harold Me and Harold on the bench waiting Harold sez "Why don't we just torch 'em?

Just start shickin' Molotov cocktails right into that alley, fry those bozos Life was so sweet when it was just a few junkies and a few drunks These cracklieads ain't even human anymore so it wouldn't be murder.. more like waste disposal or urban renewal sorta .like cleaning the toilet bowl."

I counter just for conversation's sake "You can't kill everyone you don't like Harold!

Gotta live and let live. I dunno why."

Harold sez, "Oh ya, forgot, you're the 'liberal' Let 'em rob you, steal your damn teeth and smile your toothless grin.. why doricha bring in Jesus and turn the other cheek?!

Hard to do when you're knocked out, enit??

I look across the street into Crack Alley and I see someone's daughter, someone's son so lost in coca smoke and phony jib they probably wouldn't even realize it when you started burnin' 'em so lost, deluded in their ravenous self-destruction but I remember back in the '60's when they called us the lost generation; funny the more things change the worse things get but we all just get together and somehow deal with all the bullshit no matter how gruesome, how horrible things get Matter of degree - ain't seen nothing yet Harold sez, "Fuck it! I'm goin' to get the gasoline, the .38 and the bayonet.. ."

I tell him he ain't learned anything yet Harold sez, :I know, but I forgot.. ."

Ismail

THE GOLDEN BIN I pray this year that I will win The chance to dive that golden bin The golden bin it holds no tin Has coffee. brass, and maybe gin It just might hold a dream or two A lotto ticket! Trips to the zoo!

Tvs, radios, computers old There's just no telling what it may hold You'll know I've found the golden bin For on my face will be a grin A VCR maybe I've found A brick of gold, maybe a crown One thing I know 1'11 find no dope The golden bin has love and hope It may be thick, it may be thin But still it'll be the golden bin The golden bin is full of grace It's full of love for every race The golden bin is never locked The golden bin is hlly stocked Maybe I'll find some boots or socks The golden bin it holds no rocks From the east north south or west That golden bin will be the best Unlike the uncaring city tart The golden bin gives fiom the heart In sun, snow, sleet or rain It gives and gives with no pain The goose that laid that golden egg Knows that I won't need to beg No needles in that golden bin The golden bin someday I'll win carlm0463 hotrnail.com

Mother Earth Our Mother Earth is suffering Rivers, lakes, oceans and air are being polluted Humans are careless, no compassion Greed. Greed taking everything in sight.

Animals are being pushed out, Understandable as they are invaded by humans.

Sooner or later, Mother Earth cannot defend Herself Compassion!!!

Nowhere to be seen.

Wake up people.

All my Relations, Bonnie E. Stevens

WORDS TO LIVE BY

If you're too open-minded, your brains will hll out.

Don't worry about what people will think; they don't do it very often.

Going to a church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car. ~xperienceis a wondehl thing. It enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.

By the time you can make the ends meet, they move the ends.

Someone who thinks logically provides a nice contrast to the real world.

These are just a few of the many new titles which have arrived in the library; come on in and browse or ask questions!

I would like to introduce myself - Claudia Douglas, the temporary "acting" head of the library, replacing Mary Ann until the actual new head wmes in late June! I have worked here at Carnegie several times before, and am happy to be back and meeting old •’riends and co-workers again. Mary Ann's "goodbye party" was fantastic, the speeches and entertainment, and the food, were all great, and I enjoyed meeting lots of you there. See you in the library and in the Centre, from now until late June.

New titles available in the library for May 2005: What are old people for? How elders will save the world by William H. Thomas, M.D. (304.26 THO) Dr. Thomas shows us how we can discover a "new old age", welcome it into our lives, and develop capacities for peacemaking and wisdom sharing.

Nature's way: native wisdomfor living in balance with the earth by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man. (299.7 MCG) This book asserts that in order to save the planet from ewlogical disaster, mankind must follow the spiritual path advocated by Native Americans - a refreshing idealism.

Terry Jones's war on the war on terror: observations and denunciations by afounding d m of Monty Python by Terry Jones. (827 JON) Jones proves here that humour and irony are the most potent antidotes in times of high anxiety, i.e., great BRIT-WIT !

Sedudion: a novel by Catherine Gildiner. This Canadian novel is a witty mix of detective story, thriller, and investigation into the theories of Freud.

Kate, the heroine, "forgets why she killed her husband", as dead bodies accumulate.

The W u and wkdom of Don Quirofe de la Mancha edited by Harry Sieber. (863.3 MAN) This small book is a gem of beautifully illustrated quotations •’rom this literary masterpiece, topically arranged for easy reference.

Saturday by Ian McEwan, (823 MCE) This wonderful novel is the story of one day in the life of a successful London surgeon, and his family - showing how life can change in an instant, for better or for worse. McEwan is a Booker prize-winning author, and this book lives up to his reputation and even exceeds it!

The workers slaved away for Andrew Carnegie How they worked & lived you wouldn't want to see While he kept m a k q millions of dollars Workers needed to better themselves a bit So the torches of resistance they lit For better working conditions they hollered Carnegie said, "We need to stop these blokes while I'm over in England seeing my friends, the Banker folks."

So across the sea he sailed.

The workers united strong and true Fighting the just fight for a better life for me and you For their effort they faced death, beatings and jail Yes, we have a library that is truly swell How the money was gotten for it we must remember to tell of the sacrifices the workers did make How the money was ill-gotten let's always reflect Such methods of treating workers we must reject Remember to whom our m t u d e we must really make By keeping their torches buming bright By marching on and keeping up the fight So when you see a Library with Carnegie's name on it Think of workers strong and true Who led the fight that made life better for me and you And tip your bonnet to remember them.

Our Carnegie Library Is The Best One hundred years ago, the Downtown Eastside was the centre of Vancouver. There were at least 60 hotels in our neighbourhood, and they catered to the men and women who worked in the log=, mining, fishing and construction camps in British Columbia and to the thousands of adventurers who were on their way to, or fiom, the Klondike Gold Fields.

In January, 1901, George Maxwell, Member of Parliament for Vancouver, wrote to Andrew Carnegie requesting a donation for a city library. Carnegie replied that he would donate $50,000 for a building provided that Vancouver offered a site and agreed to spend $5,000 a year for maintenance. The City said OK., and on July 1,1901, h s site, at the comer of Hastings and Main, was chosen by public vote to be the library site, and the land was donated to the City by the Freemasons' Society. The library was completed in 1903, and was Vancouver's main library until 1957, when it was moved to the north-east corner of Burrard and Robson Streets.

The question arose, "Should the City of Vancouver have taken Andrew Carnegie's money?" You see, Carnegie was a business tycoon who broke a union, the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, in 1892, during a strike at the Homestead Steel Mills in Pennsylvania - a strike in which ten workers were killed and over sixty wounded by Pinkerton guards. A Canaman labour organizer wrote to Samuel Gompers, President of the American Federation of Labour, and asked him for his opinion. Gompers told the union organizer to take Carnegie's money, and use the library to fight for better working conditions; use the library to make things better, or to quote Andrew Carnegie himself, use the library "for the improvement of mankind."

But that's what our wonderful librarians do. They work in the libmy, and they make things better.

Strangely, Andrew Carnegie would have agreed with Samuel Gompers. Carnegie's father was a weaver in Scotland, and his mother was the daughter of a shoemaker. Both families were in the tradition of skilled, proud crafts workers who were part of the working class movement for democracy in 19th century Britain. Camegie said his boyhood ambition was to kill a king, and the motto he designed for his coat of arms read, "Death to Privilege." He was a divided man who was ruthless in business, but also spent millions of dollars for the construction of 2509

public library buildings "for the improvement of mankind".

In 1967, the Vancouver Museum in the Carnegie buildmg moved to Vanier Park, and on September 25, 1968, Mayor Tom Campbell officially closed the building. It was boarded up, and stood empty until 1980 - like an ancient derelict on the corner of Main and Hasting, full of stories that no one wanted to hear.

We might have lost the building then. There was talk of tearing it down. It was put up for sale by the City, but riding to the rescue came a new citizens' group called the Downtown Eastside Residents' Association @ERA). It issued a press release on July 2nd 1974, which said, "This Association is determined to prevent the Carnegie building fiom being acquired by private ownership, and put to use in a manner not befitting the residents who live in the area. The building has a public history. It must remain in the public domain."

Well, the community won the building after a seven year fight,and the Carnegie Community Centre opened on January 20th 1980. That's a story for another time, but we also had to fight for the library we have now. At first the Vancouver Library Board thought a reading room without a paid librarian would be good enough for the Carnegie Centre. But Bruce Eriksen, Libby Davies and Jean Swanson of DERA disagreed. They knew that the community wanted a library with a full-time staff, and that's exactly what Joan Anderson and Peter Westlake found in their 1978 survey of library needs in the Downtown Eastside. On July 19th 1978, the Vancouver Library Board agreed that the library in the Carnegie Community Centre would be open seven days a week with a full-time sta•’F, and that it would have a large collection of books, including paperbacks, magazines and newspapers.

We have a library at Carnegie because people fought for it - a library that is supported by the City of Vancouver's Community Services and the Vancouver Public Library. It is a model for other inner city libraries across North America. It reflects the rich, multicultural life of the Downtown Eastside.

Congratulations to our dedicated library staff, and to all those who have worked over the years to make our library, and our community centre, possible.

Sandy Cameron

MU~C

IN D m o N

?+og~C(y~ w Y L ~ o ~ LNotes

I knew there was something I was supposed to do last week - writing about people looking like they're serious about a second CD project, but, you know.. .

OK! a column on what's been goin' on 'round the program the past few weeks: Yes folks, it's true; all that random talk about a second CD project isn't just random talk. The people I've been talking with. and soliciting input and opinions from, lead me to believe a second project is both possible and likely.

The draft outline is a condensation of the dozens of conversations I've had with the musicians of the Carnegie Centre about such a project. If you wish to see it, the Carnegie library has been kind enough to make it available to anyone. There will be a copy in the theatre for everyone to peruseas well, and because that one's not in the library anymore you can also make lots of noise(!)

"Psst! Hey Oakley! what the warbling cassette tape drive are ya talkin' about here?" You know what I mean, just insert your own appropriate (or inappropriate) adjectives and stir.......

Lyrics by Annie Eskenazy There was a girl who lived at her parents' house One day she felt she had to get on out She went down the highway took a trip Right on down the western tip Detectives had found her trail And she was sent to jail She was under eighteen What a homble scene Time spent in a cell Made the minutes seem like hell And she had no say What she did was pray And she sang

I want to live my life in freedom Don't want to spend my time in prison Life's for livin and lovin and havin fun Lying on the grass and talking to God The sun must shine on you and me That's the way it must feel yeah That's the way it must be

(Jude)

Till next time, M.

a 'FF

a;N

In Detention When I was just 16 years old my father and the police put me into a maximum security juvenile detention prison for children at Notre Dame de Lava1 in Quebec. Two years later, in 1979 (the year of the child), I was asked by Laurie Lesk, the director of the music section of Children's Creation, to write a song about this experience. I sang it two nights in a row-at Expo Theatre in Montreal. I also trained some children to sing it in a studio. Radio Canada made a double demo album with the song and it went around the world in three languages:

Pof4w4 is situated directly across from the A r p & Naw Store in the Downtown Eastside.

Our cafe is a food oasis, and it is open to the publlc for events, m e w s and has the best a la carte menu in the neighbouthood.

Our menu features a variety of wraps, burgers, specialty coffees and fresh bannock!

As an added bonus, by dining at PotlM, you are suwortino, local emdovment and training.

You will also be helping a meal program for "bard to house" residents living in the comrnunit4..

We are available for early morning b r m meetings from 7am - 1lam. Call for more info 604.683.0073 x 279 or email us at caf~,p&~uckcaterin~.~~rn

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FIXED EXCHANGE SITE: 5 E.Hastings NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN 3 Routes: 604-685-656 1 5:45pm ll:45pm - Ovemi&t 12:30rm 8:30nm Jlowntowq Eastride 5:30pm 1:30am

EASTSIDE

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TIIE NEMfSI.EITER I S A PUBLICATION 0 P . a ~ .

C.4HNEGIE COhlhl UNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION. Articles represent the views of individual contributon and not o f the Association.

Editor: PaulR Taylor, cover art & layout, Diane Wood.

Submission Deadline ior next issue: Friday, May 27

-------------We acknowledge Ulal Carnegk Community C a b 8 , and lhts

2005 DONATIONS Libby D.-$40 Barry f o r Dave McC.-S50 Rolf A.445 hlurgaret D . 4 2 5 Christopher R.-$50 Mary C-$30 Bruce J.-$30 U'mista - $20 Healher S.-$25 Raycam-$30 Cram -$I00 Paddy 4 3 0 Glen B.-$50John S.-$80 Penny G . 4 2 1 Jenny K.-$20 Dara C.-$20 Sandy C.S20 Audrey-$20 Wes K.-$50 Joanne H.-$20Rockingguys 4 2 0 The Edge Community Liaison Ctt 4 2 0 0 Wrn B-$20 Anon)mous-$2 Room for more t m r e s or anonymous gifis.

1 Newsletter, are happening on Uw Squarridl Natiocl't bdW. 1 -

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DO Y O U HAVE A LEGAL PHOLILEM? Come to our FREE CLINIC On Carnegie's 3rd floor

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UBC Law Sfudenfs' Legal Advice Program YOUmlcsr make an appointtnenl.

Tuesdays --7pm - 9pm.

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Tbc Downtown Enstside Resideoh Association

I DERA helm with:

Phone & h f e Mailboxes Welfare problems; landlord d b p u t n ; Howjog problems U w fe living conditions

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[The CarnegieAssociation 'sNewsletter does not normally advertise any event that has a relative& large price attached. Thefollowing is an exception and explains itsev Dalannah Bowen was a featuredperformer in the Downtown Eastside CommunityPlay and givespee performances at many venues in this and other neighbowhoodsfor decent causes. Enjoy! ..Ed.]

When: FRIDAY MAY 27,2005 Where: ST. ANDREW'S WESLEY CHURCH Doors open: 7: 15 Concert: 8:00 p.m.

Gentle Readms,

Dalannah (Gail)Bowen ROBBIE KING was one of the best B3 Hammond Organ players you would ever find His kindness, heart, spirit, love of life and h a l l y his willingness to support others, were exceptional.. .bar none.

When Robbie passed away last year, a number of people believed that his legacy should not end there.

1 Mike Kalani t , Will MacCalder : , Chris Nordquist 0

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Candus Churchill BJ Cook Lovie Eli Geoff Eyre Bill Sample Harris Van Berkel Riley h e

lane Marcus Mosely Will hunders Rick Scott

..toinvest in the health, heart & mind of creators of the form ns idea may be expanded in me -, we sill keep you up to date. For now, we can proudly say Nadine States mat we have provided support for eight musicians Joani Taylor since the Trust Fund's inception and are looking to Shari 'lrich provide assistance for others in the near future.