Report of Finding: Summary

          Anyone who tells you that they can eradicate homelessness is deluding themselves. There will always be street people; those among us whose addictions outweigh any other consideration in their lives; a perfect society will build communities with room for everyone, even street people. It is however possible to reduce homelessness by 70% through affordable home ownership initiatives and supportive housing programs. Priority needs to be given to keeping medicals and working poor in the homes they have.
          As for the shelter industry …the single most important step is the diversification of shelters and services. Within 24 hours of checking into a shelter the person should be assessed as medical (needs) or poverty (financially unstable) or addict. Then the subject should be immediately channeled into a separate facility with protocols and staffing specific to their needs.
          For large organization like the Calgary Drop-In, or Shepherds of Good Hope, it would involve repurposing of the facilities which are already owned by them, much like Victoria Cool Aid has done with their housing model. Smaller organizations need a co-operative series of programs with each agency providing service to different groups. To achieve this kind of collaboration funding models would have to change to remove competition between agencies. I recommend funding by the BED not by the head which is our current practice. This new found financial stability would allow agencies to focus on outcomes (appropriate to their mandate).
          Diversification must exist in all parts of the shelter’s mandate and staffing. A transitional shelter should focus on skills training and reintegration services, psychological supports, guidance and encouragement in a structured environment. Autonomy and self-care (personal responsibility) must be re-enforced in all areas of the clients functioning. Staffing these Transitional shelters with specialists during daytime (program hours) would be optimal and night staff would be simply custodial to deal with any situations which may arise.
          Facilities functioning as Refuge Shelters would require a high level of vigilance and control over client behaviours. All medications must be dispensed by staff… searches done entering or leaving the building… zero tolerance for drugs & alcohol; anything necessary to prevent harm coming to any client. These are people trying to take a break from addiction or prostitution or just hiding from a threat real or imagined. There should be no requirement that they intend to move forward from this place. Refuge Shelters provide clients with a safe place to recoup and hopefully rethink. Staffing here should be done by generalists… staff who can be teachers, counselors, nurses, referees and bouncers, whatever the situation requires.
          With recovering addicts in either Refuge or Transitional shelters depending on their progress, Harm Reduction shelters can be less structured. No alcohol/drugs on site is a necessary only because clients will fight over such things when it is are there. It might be a good policy (in winter at least) to bag and tag anything seized and return to the client in the morning.  Again these facilities need to be staffed by generalists with priority given to skilled referees, nurses, bouncers and counselors in that order. When a street person wants to share or seek guidance they cannot wait to see the counselor (tomorrow or next week when an appointment is available) they live in this moment. If in this moment they want to make a connection; we have to provide staff that can make that connection. Trust is hard won in this population and limiting the ability of staff to build on trust relationships, means opportunity lost.  True we will always have street people but it doesn’t have to be a lifelong condition due to neglect. I know many recovered addicts and most of them recovered because they connected with someone (usually an adult care worker or volunteer) who could see past the addictions to the person.
            The diversified housing model also would allow for better nutritional options specific to each groups needs. Transitional clients should be taking responsibility for all functions; shopping, preparing meals, building cleaning and maintenance in accordance with their ability and under staff supervision.  Refuge shelters would need to provide well balanced highly nutritious meals and snacks. Fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and meat protein are in limited supply at soup kitchens. So for the short time we have someone in a refuge shelter we need to do what we can to restore their health. The current soup kitchen fare is actual nutritionally acceptable for street people. The high carb diet provide the energy store necessary to go days without eating while binge drinking or on a crack run.
          Needless to say Drop-in programs are not affected by the need for diversification. Job search, literacy and life skills training are important but it won’t change anything until that person believes they deserve a better life. It is important to provide esteem building and self awareness programming. 
          I hear what you are thinking…BUT HOW DO WE FUND ALL THIS?  Short answer by making better use of the money you have. Working backwards through this summery. Drop-Ins  make better use of your volunteers. Staff supervision is not required for volunteers beyond once to train and one more time to view them in action. Allow volunteers to do more then fold sheets and hand out shampoo. I can’t begin to list the number of different programs I could provide. Allow a volunteer, who has raised her children into happy healthy adulthood to teach parenting or infant care. Let people who have lived come into your agencies to teach life skills.  
           Under the diversified model transitional and refuge client would receive at least 2 meals in-house. Because the need is finite it will be easier to solicit donations of food from local grocers, farmers and businesses. Start a recognition campaign… issue bumper sticker and window tags to the businesses that support you (the effect of this is they will want to live up to their new reputation for generosity); ongoing support gets you an annual certificate as a gold or platinum supporter. Brain storm your own campaign.
           Under the diversified model staffing levels would be reduced.  Transitional shelters would require less client supervision and administration. Clients are responsible for cooking, cleaning and maintenance. Staff only needs to supervise and handle minor emergencies. In refuge shelters slightly higher staff client ratio is required because the potential for medical emergency is slightly with this group and they are not invested enough to participate in cooking, cleaning etc. The harm reduction facilities need the highest level of staffing because of the unpredictable nature of client reactions and behaviour. Optimum numbers would be 1/6 but no less than 2 staff to any position (building location) at any time. I have found most shelters juggling staff and unable to provide adequate coverage for the areas with the greatest need.
          Reintegration from the current shelter system is not easy. It took me 1 year of medical care and 2 1/2 years of reintegration before I recovered to the point where I could write this report.  The changes I have proposed here would minimize physical and emotional damage for the 70% of non addicted clients and free up resources to help our street people with their recovery and reintegration.    

Reflection

          As I began to write the Summary for my Report of Findings yesterday, I found myself reflecting on, why it took me so very long to do this. The physical research was finished in October 2010, I haven’t spent the night in a shelter since and any time I have spent at soup kitchens and drop-in was about outreach, there was no information gathering. So why did it take to 2½ years to report on 16 months of research? Each section probably took a day to write and it will probably only take a week of rewrites to get to the final draft. So why not do this 1½ years ago? In a nutshell, I wasn’t ready.
           After spending so much time living an impermanent life, I could not really settle into living normal routines. Even in Hamilton from Dec 2010 – Aug 2012, when I was working as a childcare provider… my hours fluctuated sometimes from day to day. Until recently I had no sense of what was supposed to come next, so no particular need to close off the past. There were of course times when I didn’t think anyone would care about what I had learned… that the only value of this project was in what it has taught me as a social worker and a person.  
          The Angels of the Road study into homelessness is unique in several ways, which is why I felt the need to do it. The most significant difference is in the scope of the study, a broad sampling of shelters and services from all across Canada were assessed by the researcher (me). The few observer/participant studies into homelessness have been limited to one city, sometimes one facility and usually lasted only for a few weeks time.  There have been journalist reporting of staying several months within the homeless population; these reports while truthful are skewed by the writers need to produce saleable material. This makes the finished product a selection of dramatic high points taken out of context to the whole shelter experience. Many other authors have recorded the shelter experience through biographical accounts from the lives of street people; one of the best of these being, “Radical Compassion” by Father Gary Smith.
         Every city does reporting (many have censes data) on homelessness and often share information to create a national picture. This kind quantitative information is essential for projecting costs, allocating funding and planning service needs.        
          Surveys are taken of homeless population with a myriad of focuses; but data from these can be tainted by several factors. Clients will often try to give you the answers they think you want; this kind of compliance is a survival instinct which is prevalent in institutional environments. Assuring them they are free to speak without consequence is of little use because this is an unconscious response. Also client observations of services and shelters is coloured by their personal drama and limited exposure (usually 1 or 2 facilities) objective assessment is not really possible from client surveys without an extremely broad (100-1000s) sampling.  
            I felt there was a real need for an objective assessment of programs and services by someone with both knowledge and experience of the shelter system. Angels of the Road was a qualitative analysis of the shelter system and services to the homeless in Canada. With no outside funding I was free to be entirely truthful about my findings. Where we have succeeded, where we have failed and how to create better outcomes for our clients in the future.
          As always the most important thing we can do is to create affordable home ownership initiatives and develop supportive housing systems to get the poor and the medicals out of the shelters entirely. Regardless of the cost… housing is infinitely less expensive to taxpayers then shelters, prisons and all their support systems. Until that perfect future, I hope that my Report of Findings for Angels of the Road will guide the shelter industry, policy makers, politician and social planners into the most productive models for client care.
         Back to me! and why am I finally wrapping up Angels of the Road. It is because I am feeling settled again. A few months ago I moved permanently to the west coast and a new chapter of my life is opening up. It is time to end Angels of the Road as a project and a website (which expires in Aug 2013) ; the blog will continue as an op/ed vehicle for me to address social justice and anti-poverty issues. I will always be involved with serving street people in their journey to their best life; I imagine from here forward that will come through volunteer work.  My new role is to serve all of humankind through spiritual teaching and healing. The Spirit of the 8^th Fire website is the beginning of that journey and I hope some of you will choose to join me there.

Have a joyous day.

 

Two Posts in One

From Russia, With Love

That was Ian Fleming’s line this blog is to Russia with love. Yesterday Angels of the Road had 70 hits from our friends in Russia; that is 50% more than Canada had in the past month. Once in a while strange things like that happen which remind me the issues around homelessness and poverty are still relevant, not just in North America but globally. So thank you, to everyone who has taken an interest in Angels of the Road for the past 4 years (June)… and for all your personal efforts to make our communities, our countries and this world a better place.

OMG that was amazing…

I laughed… I cried… (this from me , who hates seeing reality coming out of my television) LOL.

Today is an exception which may become a rule; or at least happen more often as time goes on. Angels of the Road has evolved into what is essentially a social justice site focusing on anti-poverty and housing issues. Spirit of the 8th Fire is about our spiritual ascension into abundance, brotherhood and peace.  Sometimes, like right now, these two things intersect. So this blog will post to both sites. I just had the most awesome (I don’t use that term loosely) experience, I was awe-struck and joyous watching this episode of CBC’s 8TH FIRE documentary, “Its Time”.   Unlike the first episode Indigenous in the City: which carried a lot of bias, this was so full of promise I really... REALLY believe every Canadian needs to watch this. Truth without guilt, real people of both races pushing forward building a new Canadian reality. “It’s Time”, offers a view of the future created from our pastt…our future as one country with respect, opportunity and hope for everyone. As I have said before we cannot and should not take responsibility for the past, but every one of us is responsible for what happens next. Whichever side of Native/Non-Native divide you are on educate yourself, then educate others, lets close the gap. There is value and beauty in each of us, open your eyes, see it, embrace it and rejoice.

Have a joyous day.

 

 

 

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/8thfire//2011/11/its-time.html

Twists & Turns

Hi Everyone

I guess I should start by apologizing to all my online friends. Every time I edit so much as a comma on the Spirit of the 8^th Fire website, Weebly sends a notice to Facebook and Twitter. So often 4 or 5 of those things will pop up in quick succession, I’m not nagging it is just an auto feature LOL. For the past couple of weeks I have been suffering from what I thought was writer’s block, no matter how many times I started the blog on Bravery for Spirit of the 8^th Fire I couldn’t seem to make any progress.  This morning I finally finished it and now I am sharing this blog with you.

What was really happening was that I was distracted (not in a good way) by my life circumstances.  As most of you know I have not had a job in the shelter industry since leaving for Angels of the Road in 2009. Now that I am applying to return to work I have discovered the industry is moving into specialization and even; very talented generalists like myself are challenged to find a place to fit into this new paradigm.  Do I go back to school and acquire a certification in one of the counseling streams? Or do I keep knocking on doors hoping there is still one agency who still values loving service to our clients. If I was 40 this would not be a question, definitely adapt to the new model and get certified.  There is also the option of taking my considerable gifts for communication, empathy and negotiation into others fields… maybe get back into divorce counseling/mediation.  Twenty years ago when I started my practice no one (too few people) saw the value of providing psychological counseling with the settlement process for property &/or custody; but that seems to be changing.  

Now that I am in my 60s there are other options. Early retirement would not provide well, but it would be a consistent income and keep a roof over my head.  I would then be free to write my books &/or build The Spirit of the 8^th Fire Healing Centre.  I can always serve in the shelter industry through volunteering… for me that has never been about the money.

This is my time for bravery (as discussed in the other blog)… to trust that the universe is unfolding in a way which serves my highest and best good. To keep faith and enjoy the lessons which come to me, from each new experience.  I have said it before happiness is a choice. Was I disappointed by the news that I did not get the job? Yes; but I was grateful that Kevin (HR guy) took the time to call and explain, why. So after taking a little time to acknowledge my disappointment and confusion (remember I felt “called” to move to Victoria) I have now opened my heart and mind to possibility. I choose to be happy, and watch in awesome wonder as my future unfolds.   

Have a joyous day.

Good News Week

When I started travelling with Angels of the Road back in 2009… I would never have imagined I would be able to say what I am about to say, “we have come a long way baby.” For me as a worker in the shelter industry, all I ever wanted was to see progress in getting the homeless housed; so that industry resources and workers could be focused on helping the street people (drunks, druggies & drop-outs). We are unlikely to eradicate homelessness 100% unless we rethink what it means to be housed. But with affordable housing initiatives and supportive housing, we can reasonable expect a 70% reduction in homelessness.

The good news out of Homeless Hub this week is that Edmonton Alberta has reduced their homeless population by 30% and that Alberta’s 10 year plan to end homelessness is on track. Apparently 6,600 people have been re-housed, 1600 have been taken into a Housing First program for hard to house... and of those people a whopping 80% are able to maintain housing. For those of you who don’t know, the Housing First Model targets people with disabilities, mental health issue, addictions and concurrent disorders. Once this population has housing it is easier to provide consistent and ongoing supports for their health and well being. This Housing First model actually reduces costs of providing services by around 60%. Currently the cost for shelter services per homeless person is $100 a day or $3000 per month. The income support system allows $600 -$700 per month per person; which does not allow any “wiggle room” what people used to call rainy day (emergency) funds to hold people over in a minor crisis. In fact at the current rate of payout one cannot hope to meet day to day necessities. An income support system which offered a base of funds at $1200 per month would ultimately save taxpayers $1800 per month per person and give people enough income to live without additional services.

Whatever myth you are labouring under; NO this will NOT make people lazy… it is our nature to want to be productive and to contribute to society. People you are seeing caught up in this system who appear to you as lazy, are beaten down by that system and have given up on ever being more or having more. We invented this system in the 1950s and whatever small modifications we have made over the decades it still remains judgmental and punitive. We need a new way of dealing with poverty one which reflects the realities of the 21st century and the global economy. Enough said, today is about celebrating our successes. When the journey is long, knowing how far you have come always makes the road ahead a little brighter and easier to walk. Never be afraid to look back, but never stop moving forward... it is the only direction we have ;-) Have a joyous day my friends.

 

 

Deaf No More

What is most important in this time of Idle No More is dialogue. Much of what we think we know about each other was born out of a culture of colonialism. Non-Natives and Natives alike, have deep rooted and for the most part wrongheaded views about the current situation and each other.  We must seek to learn more about each other; listen and hear what the other party (group or individual) is telling us. It is reasonable, even necessary in a dialogue to express your perspective, but be prepared to be educated on points which may be wrong. Looking at a situation from another’s point of view can open whole new worlds of possibility for you.

Last year I spent a month in a town where racism is rampant and self-imposed segregation is the norm.  I came back to Hamilton exhausted…I said I could not live there because it was a constant struggle to enlighten people about each other’s cultures. Someone suggested I should “just ignore it” …with knowledge comes responsibility and it was my responsibility to speak up. I have been blessed, to be close to both the Native and non-Native cultures, so I found myself uniquely qualified to share in that situation.

It is funny but (with the exception of government) everybody with an opinion, seems to think it is time to get rid of the Indian Act. Societies grew and evolved, slaves were freed, then woman were freed now is the time for our Native brothers and sisters to be freed. The first step is to abolish any legislation that prevents equal opportunity and access based on lineage. Both African-Americans and women will tell you, what follows will be decades of growing pains. Struggles to invoke, enforce and enjoy, their new found freedoms.

Will the Natives spring full-blown into a perfect system of self-government and self-reliance?  Most unlikely, since we’ve been working on our system for thousands of years and still have not got a functioning model. But the greatest hope of all is that we can learn from each other. We (individuals, agencies, businesses, institutions and governments) need to share what we know with each other. On many levels Native culture has much to teach us especially around spiritualism, resilience and family. Dialogue is the way in which we share ideas; listening, hearing, and speaking. Keeping our hearts and minds open to learning from each other will make us better people and better neighbours.

I cannot speak to the Black experience but as a woman I can say we made more than a few mistakes when asserting our independence… I guess the biggest, was thinking that to be equal we had to be the same as men. Thankfully we now celebrate the differences. I bring this up because releasing our Native brothers/sisters from the paternalistic constraints of the Indian Act is not going to make them White. Hopefully what will evolve is a strong, proud 21^st century Native culture.
 

I look forward to participating in the Canada which will emerge from the shake-up that Idle No More is bringing our way. I will speak more on the individual issues again soon but for now, have a joyous day my friends.

 

Silent no more...

          When I was staying in Edmonton (during my research) I was standing in a lunch line one afternoon and the Native gentleman in front of me turned around, looked me in the eye and said, “ I hate White people… you diddle our children”. My response was, “Yeh, sorry ‘bout that, but nobody invited me in on that decision”.  Like most people, I resent be held accountable for things I had no control over… so we will not spend much (if any) time discussing, residential schools, small-pox conspiracies and all the past atrocities, both accidental and intentional  to colonization. I will affirm that all of these things need to be remembered because they stand as monuments to the strength, beauty and power of the Native people. Every Canadian regardless of race (or arrival date) is responsible for what comes next. This is our country, my country, a country that should stand proudly for social justice, environmental protection and equality for everyone; in an all too often unjust world. That is the Canada I want to live in and that is the future I want to help create. We can all create the Canada we want to be, by the actions we take now. As always ignorance is the enemy… so we each have a responsibility to learn, educate and share.
          The Idle No More movement has created a wonderful opportunity to dialogue on “Native” issues, because the more we learn, the more we come to realize these are HUMAN issues. We all need clean water, we all need a safe place to sleep, we all need food to eat, we all need peace, love and purpose (meaningful work). The Buddha said, "We are all alike in our desire to avoid suffering and embrace happiness," So let's stop making ill informed judgements and try to understand this situation... put ourselves in the other guys shoes/moccasins for a minute.         When I was staying in Thunder Bay my friend and I, were discussing the land claims issue (Caledonia in particular) and I presented my argument as follows. If you left me to house-sit while you went out of town for the winter (something I actually did for many winters) and I sold the house. How would you feel about that? You come home and find strangers living there and doing extensive (possibly expensive renovations).  Do they get to stay… are you forced to move? After all they bought it in good faith… It’s not like you were actually using the house, you were in Florida. Ponder that for a moment.           Another issue is the validity of the treaties themselves. These were “bad faith” contracts by most legal standards. A contract is more than just a piece of paper signed by two parties. Contracts require a meeting of the minds; both parties must have the same understanding of what is being agreed to… the party initiating the contract has a fiduciary duty to ensure that such is the case. At the time that Canada was being settled there was no such a thing as land ownership in Native culture. Natives believe(d) that we are merely custodians of the earth. I am not saying that either party was deliberately deceitful,  just that neither knew the other’s culture well enough to create a meeting of the minds.
          For anyone whining about the “tax” dollars being handed over to support the Natives, that may be entirely not true. I use tentative language here because although this rings true to me I would require a forensic accountant to verify exactly what is going on. Apparently the monies being paid out to Native Bands is from interest earned on the agreed sums from various treaty settlements.  In White-man’s terms, it would be something like this… Your grandma died and left you $5 million dollars and your parents are in charge of your trust fund. Grandma forgot to put an end date on that. So here you are 40 years old, every time you want anything you have to ask mom, she can approve or withhold the funds. It is your money, it is your life but someone else is dictating every choice you make.  You want to be a balloon vendor, but mom doesn’t understand your priorities, so no… you must live in this city and work at dad’s office or she will cut off your funds.  I bet you would be fighting in court to break the terms of the trust, but if the courts were biased in favour of your parents (friends of the family and all that)… you would have to seek a change of venue. Think of Idle No More as a change of venue, a petition to the court of public opinion.
          I guess this is going become a series of discussions since I try to keep my blogs under a 600 words (I am well in excess of 700 today) and this is a complex subject with many issues that need to be examined  so I will continue this again later. Have a joyous day my friends.