By Alice Plug
Executive Director
Helping Hands Street Mission.
Tents seem to be filling up all of our parks, and no one seems to know what’s best to do. I don’t claim to know the answer either, but I do want to tell you a story I just heard the other day:
A GALA family was living in a GALA neighbourhood house, one of the houses that overlooks a GALA park. They’d been living there for quite a few years. But life has been hard on this family, and resources were tight. For whatever reason, fair or not, they were evicted from their shared home earlier this summer. They searched for a new place, but were not able to find one that matched their needs and their income.
So they took their dollars to Canadian Tire (“My dad, before he passed, used to call it Crappy Tire” they said – who’s dad didn’t?!) and bought themselves 2 tents, 2 tarps, a solar panel, a couple of rechargeable batteries, an iPad, a toilet seat to put on a bucket (for #1), a composting camping toilet (for #2), some sleeping bags … etc. Then, with two cats in tow, this family walked across the street from the home out of which they were being evicted, and set up their new temporary home.
There they live right now. Two cats, a brother, a sister, and their 80 year old mother. They’ve pulled over a picnic table where they can eat, relax and entertain friends. The solar panel is set up so they can charge their phones, batteries and iPad.
And their waste gets thrown down the storm water grate a stone’s throw away when their toilets need to be emptied. No, this is not OK. This is not OK because we don’t want people emptying their refuse directly into the storm water system. But also, this is not OK because an 80 year old lady needs to be able to have easy access to a hygienic bathroom. Her children need to be able to care for her in a way that matches with the dignity each elderly person deserves. Her children are doing the best they can, in a terrible situation, and we need to pull together to support them.
These are our neighbours. They were our neighbours before they became homeless. This 80 year old lady may have been your school friend, or their mother or grandmother.
Let’s show them love and care while they are living in their temporary home, and let’s act now to ensure they have a better place to meet their physical needs as soon as possible.
- Call Councillor Nann’s office and show up at her meet and greets. Not to complain about the mess in our parks, but to make sure that our houseless neighbours are prioritized right now to have safe and easily accessible places to pee and poo, and live. Call up Mayor Horwath as well, while you’re at it.
- Talk to MP Green and MPP Jama. We need all levels of government to work together in order to get this crisis resolved. Your unhoused neighbours need your advocacy.
- Donate to Helping Hands, 541, St Matthew’s House, Indwell, the Bridge, Habitat for Humanity as they work to provide community, resources, supports and home for our GALA neighbours.
- Be kind and compassionate to neighbours currently living in tents. They’d rather be living in a house or apartment, with a toilet, a shower and weekly garbage collection – they really do.
This 80 year old lady and her children who are caring for her need our support today.
By Alice Plug
Executive Director
Helping Hands Street Mission.
Tents seem to be filling up all of our parks, and no one seems to know what’s best to do. I don’t claim to know the answer either, but I do want to tell you a story I just heard the other day:
A GALA family was living in a GALA neighbourhood house, one of the houses that overlooks a GALA park. They’d been living there for quite a few years. But life has been hard on this family, and resources were tight. For whatever reason, fair or not, they were evicted from their shared home earlier this summer. They searched for a new place, but were not able to find one that matched their needs and their income.
So they took their dollars to Canadian Tire (“My dad, before he passed, used to call it Crappy Tire” they said – who’s dad didn’t?!) and bought themselves 2 tents, 2 tarps, a solar panel, a couple of rechargeable batteries, an iPad, a toilet seat to put on a bucket (for #1), a composting camping toilet (for #2), some sleeping bags … etc. Then, with two cats in tow, this family walked across the street from the home out of which they were being evicted, and set up their new temporary home.
There they live right now. Two cats, a brother, a sister, and their 80 year old mother. They’ve pulled over a picnic table where they can eat, relax and entertain friends. The solar panel is set up so they can charge their phones, batteries and iPad.
And their waste gets thrown down the storm water grate a stone’s throw away when their toilets need to be emptied. No, this is not OK. This is not OK because we don’t want people emptying their refuse directly into the storm water system. But also, this is not OK because an 80 year old lady needs to be able to have easy access to a hygienic bathroom. Her children need to be able to care for her in a way that matches with the dignity each elderly person deserves. Her children are doing the best they can, in a terrible situation, and we need to pull together to support them.
These are our neighbours. They were our neighbours before they became homeless. This 80 year old lady may have been your school friend, or their mother or grandmother.
Let’s show them love and care while they are living in their temporary home, and let’s act now to ensure they have a better place to meet their physical needs as soon as possible.
- Call Councillor Nann’s office and show up at her meet and greets. Not to complain about the mess in our parks, but to make sure that our houseless neighbours are prioritized right now to have safe and easily accessible places to pee and poo, and live. Call up Mayor Horwath as well, while you’re at it.
- Talk to MP Green and MPP Jama. We need all levels of government to work together in order to get this crisis resolved. Your unhoused neighbours need your advocacy.
- Donate to Helping Hands, 541, St Matthew’s House, Indwell, the Bridge, Habitat for Humanity as they work to provide community, resources, supports and home for our GALA neighbours.
- Be kind and compassionate to neighbours currently living in tents. They’d rather be living in a house or apartment, with a toilet, a shower and weekly garbage collection – they really do.
This 80 year old lady and her children who are caring for her need our support today.
