September 15, 2015 carnegie newsletter

TH

SEPTEMBER 15 ,

,FREE. Do not pay for this paper.

'"

'.

•

.

,

2015

"

'Car-Deel'" .

NEW S LE TT ER' 401 Main Street Vancouver

Gallery Gachet's Funding ...

CUT . .

Canada V6A 2T7

website carnegienewsletter.org email carnnews@shaw.ca carnnews@vcn.bc.ca

index .

-Gallery Gachet's Funding Cut: Resolved to Continue Our Work*Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being & not merely the absence of disease or infirmity."

C - World Health Organization's definition of Health *Most human and fiscal resources are concentrated in the formal mental health system, while informal caring networks, self-help groups, & community groups and agencies are strikingly under-resourced.

What is needed is a redistribution of resources to provide more balanced support at the local level. *

C

- Canadian Mental Health Association

tal Health Services, Therapeutic Volunteer Program (TVP). Many of our participants are on permanent disability assistance.

Gallery Gachet works in robust collaboration with a number of organizational partners to deliver free, lowbarrier services. We amplify our community members' voices & expression in wider mental health & art networks. Our mandate supports artistic development as a means to achieve social, cultural & economic justice & supports the wellness of, & the elimination of discrimination against, people marginalized by their mental health, trauma and/or abuse experience. We promote the critical function of art and culture in the building of a healthy society. Our space provides 'essential skills development, peer support, referrals, community engagement and a healthy, non-hierarchal environment that provides both alternative & preventative mental health care. We support each other's engagement, analysis & capacity to provide feedback on an ongoing basis, to the conditions of that care.

Gallery Gachet learned last week that after twentyone years of receiving core funding from the Provincial Ministry of Health our contract with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is being severed, with ninety days notice. The financial cut amounts to half For more information or to learn more about supportofthe organization's overall budget, and represents ing the Gallery Gachet: the majority of wage and operational resources. www.gachet.org 1contactCtV,gachet.org 1604 687 2468 A press release issued by VCH on September 3rd indicates that contracts in the Downtown Eastside For media inquiries please contact: "without a strong health mandate" or who are offering Cecily Nicholson, Administrator 604 339 3234 "stand-alone services that lack formal connections to Pierre Leichner, Collective Member 6047098612 the health care system are unlikely to be renewed". At Bruce Ray, Board of Directors 6046872468 a meeting with VCH on Wednesday, September 2nd, it was made clear that Gallery Gachet's funding will not be renewed. The decision to remove funding from the Gallery Gachet, made by VCH management, cited . the Society's role as not fitting with the "clinical" services that will become the focus for the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood. The organization's relationship to a health mandate, &/or to the health care system, was not addressed.

Gallery Gachet is a 23-year old, collectively-run society with genuinely peer-based participation in its programming thru to its governance. In our largely From place to place, from age to age, the elixir of drop-in, exhibition & studio space we manage public immortality has been 110W1n<7forever. Through the access annually to exhibitions related to mental health, m dium of human srructur this me sage of im& education, in addition to providing workshops, mortality' i tran mittcd onwards.

0 no human talks, symposia, projects and other events for the beings should ever belittle or slight themselves, Downtown Eastside neighbourhood and within the rather they should make rigorous efforts to bebroader mental health community. We facilitate a come worthy medium (media). The wise and intelvolunteer program that currently involves over fifty ligent ideate le s on their defects and demerits and participants on a weekly basis. These volunteers inmore on the upreme de id ratnm. clude clients accessing Vancouver Community Men-

My mother is a submissive helpmate Does that mean she does whatever Dad or Grampa want at the time?

Yes! As a girl I repeatedly got nowhere The answer is No. '.

I won't be able to get away with it.

Don't you want Don't you want Don't you want Yes! But in the

I was an Indian Girl

3

I was once an Indian girl And a red dot was on my awareness i was only fifteen But the Rez was scary, cruel.

My rez was a fleeting abyss And just a few looked, seeking.

The Care they sought Was far far away And hopeless was my only horizon.

to elevate yourself? to see the world? to climb Everest? safety of my armchair

Lesson: Many women are content to tuck their desires away in exchange for safety, sanctity, security and comfort.

Letter \-, R'.sd e

L~ind_a_Te_m_pl-;e.

FILMS

Linda Temple

Bonjour!

Tu vis dans la rue?

Tu as de la difficulte ate trouver un loqernent?

Tu veux partager ton histoire? .

Red Letter Films produit une serie documentaire sur l'itinerance et la difficulte de se loger a travers le Canada. Cette serie sera diffusee sur les ondes de Radio-Canada et de RDI. Nous sommes a la recherche de participants francophones.a Vancouver qui veulent partager leur experience et leur histoire. V oici les coordonnees pour prendre rendez-vous ou trouver reponse a tes questions sur ce projet :

â&#x20AC;˘. 778.680.6404

-

-t LCE201s@hotmail.com

Merci et au plaisir d'avoir de tes nouvelles, Vincent et Linda

Do yO!) know of a francophone who lives on the street and/or has trouble finding an affordable place to live in the Greater Vancouver area?

If so, please pass on this information to them.

Red Letter Films is producing a documentary series on homelessness and affordable housing throughout Canada. This series will be broadcast on French CBC and Newsworld (Radio-Canada and RDI). We are looking for French-speaking subjects living in the Vancouver area who are willing to share their experiences and stories.

Please contact us at the following:

.778.680.6404

-

-t LCE201s@hotmail.com

Thank you, Vincent et Linda

WORD Vancouver (formerly known as Word on the Street) is happening again this year and the Carnegie NewsletterlCarnegie Publications has a table. Come visit us on Sunday, September 27, llam - 5pm. The venue is the Central Branch of the Public Library at 350 W Georgia.

"To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness ..."

From the Library In Vancouver, September has been designated as the "Literacy is Life" month. Obviously I can get behind this as a librarian, but I've occasionally heard from Carnegie patrons that it was a good book with a character they could relate to, or an inspirational poem or quote that gave them new motivation or a different outlook on life. Whether it is comfort, distraction, truth or beauty that a book provides - literacy definitely adds value.

To convince you of the joys of literacy, please come out to the Camegie Theatre on Wed. Sept. 23rd at 6pm - 7:30pm. We are excited to host three prolific poets, Kate Braid. Elizabeth Ross and Bren Simmers for an evening of poetry and book signing.

Braid (known for her QookJourneywoman: Swinging a Hammer in a Man's World based on her 15 years as a carpenter) will be sharing from her latest release, Turning Left to the Ladies. Ross will be reading from Kingdom which was Jonglisted for the CBC Poetry Prize! And finally, Simmers offers poetry from her latest book Hastings-Sunrise.

We also want to say a BIG Tt-lANK YOU to everyone who patiently endured our library renovation these past few months. The new metal shelves are all installed, and the space feels a lot more open and bright! Stay tuned, as we hope to have a party to celebrate ...

Your librarian, Natalie

One Good music really is food toryour body Like Vivaldi in the wheatfields & the secret life of plants New protein only you can make from any good music That you listen to from the time you wake that might even make you dance You can see it in the workplace when people can't live without it The food supply has gotten so polluted even the composers have forgot about it Two Great music can be made if we take the time to plant it Great songs can be composed if we don't take our energy reality for granted Just think about the fact that you haven't gal a plug to go in . the wall & no battery pack to recharge or install Then you'll start to realize that it's up to you to cultivate the electricity inside yourself Then you can create the masterpieces that will feed the souls of all who need to feed upon the food you cannot buy today on the grocery shelf

CHORUS Three Sweet rhythms of sound to be digested every day Soul food to recharge you in a very special way Vibrations floating from place to place entering your temple & making a better situation to replace all that static that co!lects from every single reaction & ends up bringing your spirit that much-needed satisfaction

CHORUS Music that is electrical in nature cannot be measured except by the quantity of pleasure that can only be testified to by the ones who hear it There's no doubt now at all this time that we have to fear it.

Darren Kent Morgan ((Untitled) Title track from CD by Electric Native)

Attend a FREEtraining ses~ionto become a vendor.

The Hope in Shadows calendar features photos

Sessions are one hf,)ur long:

and stories that come out of a co test for Downtown Eastside community members.

You'll get a license to sell and 1 FREE CALENDAR to get you started.

OCTOBER

Thursday, Oct 8

lOAM

Thursday, Oct 8

1 PM

Friday, Oct 9

1 PM

VVednesdaY,Oct14

1 PM

Friday, Oct 16

lOAM

Monday, Oct 19

lPM

sign up .â&#x20AC;˘)N'.~~~~.f:l9N~Please in advance.

Friday, Oct 23

3PM

SPACE IS LIMITED.

Friday, Oct 30

PIVOT UtI

Monday, Oct 26

lOAM lPM

"we must suffer with them" we should not look to the bible for moral examples david was a mess moses was a murderer and as for christians' vaunted superior morality jacques ellul, a french theologian and resistance fighter against the nazis said the second world war was primarily the fault of christians because instead of praying and acting against it christians fought for it and much the same can be said of christians' response to the war on drugs a real warfare which has arrived at its current oppressive and destructive intensity from the arrival of the earliest european christians in north america who called the aboriginal human beings , devils & beasts who were fearsome with disease' diseases spread by the christians themselves and the same demonizing language was invoked in the christian temperance crusade against alcohol but I wonder how many of us know why alcohol is legal now since by any measurement of human & social costs alcohol is the most destructive drug but when alcohol was made illegal it created much worse violence and a new well-organized criminality and alcohol was neve before so readily available to children but christians thought prohibition was a victory and now christians promote the prohibition of heroin and cocaine and drug addicts are demonized as were first nations people by the first christians in north america but the illicit drug war is far more diabolical than alcohol prohibition because the drug war and its consequences are a global scandal and the results are everywhere the same epidemics of hi viaids

property crime corruption of police destruction of communities and overdose deaths the illicit drug situation is used now as a political tool and political weapon an immensely wealthy and powerful transnational organized criminal enterprise of such magnitude has developed that the global economy is now dependent on illegal drug money and so are local economies like vancouver's but the whole drug pyramid bears down on the lone addict .' but mostly addicts who are non-white and poor those superfluous in the new world economic order and in the united states the drug war has allowed the incarceration of half of an entire generation of young black men and in canada a similarly apartheid-like percentage of natives are locked up for drug-related offences illicit drug policies and laws are tailor-made for the booming population control industry but in the downtown eastside there are numerous ,"torefront christian missions there is the union gospel mission and first united church and st james anglican church st paul's catholic church the salvation army a 4square church an annual march for jesus thousands of young christian volunteers and the results are that drug addicts in the downtown eastside have had the western world's highest rate of hi vi aids and more than 90% have hepatitis c and while the tuberculosis rate for adults in canada is 9 per 100,000 in the downtown eastside the tb rate is l32 per 100,000 and nearly all of the drug addicts who live in what has been called the most wretched and lethal housing in north america

\ (

have backgrounds of severe trauma and abuse much of it inflicted by christians in residential schools and foster homes and since the downtown eastside has become fiercely coveted by unscrupulous upscale development conspiracies wherein christians are directly responsible for the displacement of impoverished and desperately ill people life expectancy is dropping in the area an almost unheard of phenomenon in a first world nation but drug overdose deaths [illicit & now licit psychiatric drugs leading to psychosis thru over- & mis-use] are the leading cause of death for adults aged 30 to' 45 in all of brit ish columbia and the downtown eastside has become a slaughterhouse and torture chamber and what has been the christian response to this preventable genocide from which they profit so handily? and flowers for homeless sick prostitutes who are being stalked, disappeared and murdered

路u,

_,~

by serial killers and hot chocolate for dying addicts and demoralizing morality speeches before permitting malnourished people to eat 2nd and 3rd-hand food but christians of course are essentially concerned with saving souls and to save souls in a community of poor people suffering its passion a community crucified organ by organ is nothing less than obscene and anti-christ christian charity is a vinegar sponge offered to a tortured slowly dyingjesus christ jesus was not crucified because he was a teacher or a fiiend or a healer or a man of peace crucifixion was adeath penalty for social rebellion for those who directly threatened the religious and political establishment jesus deliberately broke laws and violated taboos jesus was called a drunkard and a glutton who has a demon inside him just like a woman I know in the downtown eastside who was told by a good christian that she has aids because she's a sinner jesus spoke many more scathing parables about the rich taking land away from the poor and oppressing them than he spoke about personal morality but I heard the mayor of vancouver say It] follow in the footsteps of'jesus" and say it as casually as you or I might say we are going to the corner store for a newspaper but those are mighty bloody footsteps and in light ofthe execution on the cross what does it mean for any of us to say 'I follow in the footsteps of jesus'? and about the downtown eastside the mayor says "we have contained those people and now we are going to disperse them" containing the people created conditions of disease and death; dispersing the people will sentence sick afflicted people to having nowhere to go no relief for their afflictions and will spread epidemics

.

.

dorothy day who lived both social justice & the works of mercy said "the mystery of the poor is this they are jesus it is not the decent poor it is not the decent sinner who was the recipient of christ's love but the criminal the unbalanced the drunken the degraded the perverted in even the lowest and most depraved we must see christ what right has any of us to security when god's poor are suffering? while our brothers and sisters suffer we must suffer with them I was that drug addict screaming and tossing in her cell beating her head against the wall and not because the man or woman reminds us of christ [ofthe divine in all of us] but because of plain and simple and stupendous fact he or she IS holy"

l

..

..

'._,..

origTnal--'airdate II

-

Driven to Light·

Oh how can I remember all the others seething as they looked any-, ·where but our way they assumed we were wearing uniforms or costumes which created instant disdain & hate the one thing they never ·beat out of me creepy memories or my conscience, we took indvidualism to a level never attained before we apologised to no one free·dom from the classes was an idea they just weren't ready for we were young & angry & this was our time, we watched Mr.Familyman buying happiness by installments while at 110 W.Hastings J 57 W.Ha~tings 'Wank Manor' 'the hippie house' 'the hacienda' 'Gore Manor' 'the Waterfront' and addresses that changed as often as your ·dyed hair these were truly historical events a revolution of sorts . proving anarchy in moderation could not just change onetrack-minds but entire attitudes, I used to work at the Canadian Fishing Company at the foot of Gore so many hippies & punk rockers working there every day getting high we worked in cold storage making g?od money but by the following Monday you'd hear the latest exploits explaining how our wallets became empty & dry as for myselfI'd go through an alchemy of mind-altering moods, the DTES was our kingdom people accepted us as we were the cops saw things in a different light then the undertones & Grant St massacres occurred ,~hose skinheads & greaseballs only knew 2 things: how to get dru~ & w,:,':",:k people's houses & lives they wouldn't know a fair fig~t If it was tatrooed on whatever held in their brains_.. like a convicted _ serial killer who writes Harlequin Romance novels on the side 1978 to the end of '83 was an overwhelming period of incredible in:.~p~tu.1e the likes of which I doubt we'll ever get to see again let Bud OSbOT11 alone ride like an exhumed horse (if I could be driven inwards to 12. d the rei_l!s):..I~e .~_agorapho~~,~.Y'!l1g a 'no wo~~ no picture' interview for Apathy Illustrated. I remember watching my best friend die & 1 for some reason survive that day is dead but it lives forever in my mind's eye, in a way being destitute with nothing at all was a blast somehow or someone always (almost) came across with cash the people I met & the lifestyle we lived was a ritual destined to inevitable dernise.Tlie band J was in (No Exit) along with DOA - the subhumans -the Bludgeoned Pigs - The Repellants -the Dishrags - Rabid - Ktels & Insex - made Vancouver's punk rock scene at least to me the best we had: the gigs & the halls & some of the most colourful characters plus we were No J in self-mutilation in N.America! You really had to be there trust me there was no time to confess but then people moved away, went to jail or died. Back when those glorious years were the original airdate anything could happen at any time & it usually did then they changed the entire city .. ! 35 years later very little seems the same & that is the ultimate pity This is my story of a fragment in time a piece of the universe that '11 never be forgotten as with my whole life from only the sun do J hide.

By ROBERT McGILLIVRA Y PS: I wrote a story on the Smiling Buddha about 67 issues ago. I felt the party houses needed naming & anyone who is currently working at CFCo it's salmon time so Work!Work!Work! global warming will strip those freezers & soon end our glorious lakes & rivers shall run dry.

Dedicated to Mink*leff*Alastair*Mia & everybody else who got cheated out ofa full life.

Q "A generation is going, a generation is coming, but the earth remains forever." King Solomon, 11th Cen

Now Open

[I asked a nice staff woman if someone (at PIER) would writ~ a piece .on wh~t this place is about. This poster/flyer was dropp~d off. There IS no plain talk m it on what is there, so if you're interested, drop in.]

PIER HEALTH RESOURCE CENTRE AIMS TO BE A NATIONAL LEADER FOR'INNER CITY HEALTH CARE DELIVERY AND NEIGHBOURHOOD SUPPORT. PROVIDING

PHARMACY SERVICES • PRESCRIPTIONS HEALTH CARE • ASSESSMENTS MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT • DEPOT SHOTS ADDICTION SUPPORT • DRUG THERAPY MEDICATION MANAGEMENT SPECIALIZING IN BARRIERS TO TREATMENT AND IMPROVING HEALTH OUTCOMES Pier Health Resource Centre is a pioneer program providing comprehensive healthcare for residents utilizing physician, pharmacy, nursing services and social workers all under oversight from research groups and regulatory partners.

HOURS OPEN MONDAY TO FRIDAY 8 AM - 5 PM SATURDAY AND SUNDAY 8 AM - 12 NOON OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK

Car egie~ NEWSLETTER ""_-'''''''''''''''_m_

__

-

~":::,,,::===-:"""":""::=--=-_'-b:.Gi"""'qJlt:lla.ot;.1Pc:IIa:ik ur-= ••cSiI:dIa• .cac:saiJ

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

.t.:

•

';

.": .•.':

,,':' :_'.:

-,«, :

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

· THIS NEWSlETTER IS A PUBUCATlON OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITYCENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association ..

Next issue: SUBMISSION DEAOUNE WANTEO Artwork for the Camegie Newsletter

• • • • • •

MONDAY SEPTEMBER

28TH

Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry.

Cover art - Max size: 1700(6 lj.D)widex 15cm(61high.

Subject matter pertaining 10 issues relevant to the Downlown Easlside, but all work considered.

Black & While printing only.

Size restrictions apply (Le. il your piece is loo large. it win be reduced and/or cropped to fiI).

All artists will recei.ve credit for their work.

Originals willbe returned to the artisl alter being copied for publication.

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

The edilor can edit for clarity. formal & brevily, but nol at the expense of the wriler's message.

COMPUTER ADVICE Ifancouver Community Network :ost-effec&f~.computer & IT support for non-profits (CN T ecti T eam htlp:lltechteam.vcn.bc.c;a ::;all778·724-0826 ext2. 105-333 Terminal Ave, Van.

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTIO~

~.••......

--lIw~.J"n.-.•..

• • • • •

AIDS POVERTY HOMELESSNESS VlOLE~CE AGAINST WOMEN ABORIGINAl GENOCIDE ·TOTAlIT ARIAN CAPITAliSM IGNORANCE and SUSTAINED FEAR

DONATIONS 2015 •...>< Teny & Savannah -$150 Michele C.-$1OO Or Kevin -$50 Leslie S.-$175.Bob & Muggs -$100 leslie K -$50 Catherine C.-$100 Glenn B.-$2oo Sheila B.-$15O Vancouver Moving Theatre -$200 Pal 0.$50 Harold & Sharron 0.-$100' Michael C.-$100 Eleanor B.-$25 Elaine & David -$40 Margaret M.-$50 Ruth McG -$50 Jenny K -$100 JacqueJine L -$75 Robert McG.-$110 Christopher R.-$100 ) Penny C.-$50 in memory of Miriam Stuart Skateboarders -$50 Wilhelmina M.-$25 Jackie W.-$50 George H.-$11 o Ruth l-$1oo. .

Barry M.-$250 .Anonymous -$1351 In Memorv of Harold David - WiII/Sharon C.·$50 . Barbara M.-$200 Gina F.-$100 lori IBorys -$100 Catherine B;-$50 Yukiko T.-$50 taylor 5.-$20 --~--"'i==l_l Solidarity Notes labour Choir -$25 Kevin & Richard D.-$100 CHIPS -$500 Radiation Therapy Clerks -$40 Jacki'S.-$15 Roger C.-$100 Denise O.:l§Q.l:Ydia McK.-$100 laila 8.-$50 Aiden S.-$25 Aideen MtK -$10

Vancouver's non-commercial, listener supported community station.

Linda 0.-$25 Mike J.-$1750 Jay H.-$100 Catherine H.$50 Yasushi K.-$50+ Kerry F.-$25 Tnmemory of Bud Osbom

••

• •

.••• ~•.•.••.....

•• ••• .~...••...

•• .~....,.

•• •

•• ••

•

X ----------------------------:..----.,.-----. ----------..

Here is my donation for the Carnegie Newsletter. Amount: $ S~nd.the income tax receipt to:

------

Name: --------------------------------Address: -------------------------~-------------City:

-----------------------

Postal Code:

--------------

Please make cheques or money orders payable to the Carnegie Community Centre Association and write "Newsletter donation" on the memo line at the bottom of the cheque.

Our address is: Camegie Newsletter, 401 Main Street, Vancouver, RC. V6A 2T7

•

"

CRUNCH ~ dtes

WI~H AOEqVArE RE.'fRAIIJINrr,:r COtlLl/VE BECOME A .sEEING- EY~ BLoND ])0(7. .;-~PooP::::." / .

o GoVE:MME.NT SP£tfl) \ N6-?

fiN 7;,oIJ5ANT> ~oLLAR.S

\fJoR1'H oP'

CA1ToYS