White family flees ‘ racial bullying’ at complex
Reports include swarms of unsupervised kids hurling rocks and insults, breaking windows
Wedged between Westbrook Mall, a golf course and a new trio of shining glass condominium towers, Shaganappi Village is a modest collection of public- housing townhouses with a yellow mid- rise building.
The complex has a sizable number of East African immigrants, including refugees from South Sudan. On a weekday morning, a dozen young children roam around the complex on bikes and scooters.
And that can lead to a problem, says Jen Deamer, who’s among a handful of residents who claim they’ve been “targeted” by swarms of children hurling rocks and insults.
“There’s 20 kids outside with no supervision. They’re up at 3 a. m. coming up to my house,” said Deamer, pointing at holes in her window and exterior siding that she claims were inflicted by an air gun in 2013.
She claims she’s had rocks thrown at her townhouse since she arrived in March 2012. And with scores of children wandering the complex each week, it’s impossible to report any of them by name.
“My son can’t go outside,” said Deamer, who requested to move months ago. She also wants the families of the troublemakers threatened with evictions.
Deamer isn’t the only one experiencing problems. Shaganappi Village made headlines in May after a Caucasian family claimed they were being harassed by neighbours from other ethnic backgrounds. A dozen residents from a variety of backgrounds have told the Herald that children frequently bully residents of another race, including Caucasian children attacking non- Caucasian.
Many said Caucasian kids have also pushed and sworn at non- Caucasians; some said they believed this was in retaliation, or even after being provoked. All residents indicated the bullying was falling along racial lines.
Officials and residents say the city- owned property faces a perfect storm of crowding, underfunding and a lack of resources to bridge cultural gaps. Calgary Housing Company, which runs the complex, says it’s doing its best under difficult circumstances.
Nybol Acor, who is from South Sudan, confirmed that kids often roam the complex without their parents watching — but she says most parents often have a friend looking after their children.
“So you see them at the park and you . . . wonder . . . where the mother is, but I’m at work so my friend is taking care of them,” she said. “The No. 1 person is your neighbour, because they can ( help). . . . This is the way it works in my country.”
She said it’s true that children in the complex who aren’t closely watched have damaged other people’s property. But she suggests that housing larger families within tight quarters may exacerbate the problem.
“It’s not my choice. If I had a big income I’d buy a house. Here every family is a big family.”
Councillor Evan Woolley, who sits on the CHC board, says the complex is among the few publichousing projects that can accommodate larger families, meaning it has a disproportionate amount of poorer residents with social needs.
“It hasn’t been thoughtful. It hasn’t been robust and we need a better experience for people living on the ground,” says Woolley, whose ward includes the complex.
In most cases, CHC uses rental revenues from tenants to pay for running and maintaining their units. But Shaganappi Village, along with one- tenth of CHC units, falls under a shortfall system, where the revenues don’t cover all the upkeep costs, so governments step in. Half of the funding comes from a federal fund, 40 per cent is from the province and 10 per cent is from the city.
And while inflation increases expenses, public- housing rents are controlled by legislation, meaning companies like CHC have to increasingly lean on cash- strapped governments. That shapes how these companies prioritize repairs and new programming.
Woolley believes the complex has been underfunded for years, and hopes the new provincial government will improve the situation.
“If they don’t, and if Calgary Housing is unable to fund these, we need to give the keys back to them and say ‘ Sorry, but we have a reputation to maintain.’ “
Woolley says CHC is looking at improving maintenance, cleaning and programming at the complex, but he says the company needs to study residents’ needs. He believes many parents he’s spoken with through a translator need counselling and even nutrition support, before they can get jobs and literacy skills.
And to build community, Woolley hopes to start an outdoor kitchen next year after hearing South Sudanese women traditionally cook together.
THROWING STONES
A recent Shaganappi Village resident named Blair France attracted national media attention in May after telling the press her children had been punched and stoned by roving groups of children with African backgrounds. She has since been relocated.
While some residents have called for the neighbours to be evicted, CHC is strictly limited by provincial legislation to mostly non- payment and damage issues.
Steps away from France’s now empty townhouse, a Caucasian woman tells her wandering sixyearold not to go too close to their front- lawn fence. She says she drives across town to find a safe park for her children, following monthly attacks since they arrived in September 2013.
“I had to tell my daughter what it meant when they were calling her a cracker and using the N- word ( to describe others.) I shouldn’t have had that conversation with a sixyearold,” said the mother, who refused to give her name “because Blair ( France) did the same and she became this huge target here.”
The woman showed the Herald a video she recorded last summer, in which two or three children tossed stones at a nearby home as a dozen children looked on. One girl tried to push the boys away, and they relented when an adult walked by.
Residents claim CHC had a meeting where residents voiced their concerns, but no concrete action was taken. CHC spokesman Darren Nimegeers says he’s not aware of any past incidents being linked to those that occurred this year, and he noted that large properties can have high annual turnover.
“Our programming and supports have been ongoing for years,” said Nimegeers, who says staff are again consulting with residents.
“What normally happens is a community manager finds out what’s happening, gets different reports and finds a partner agency to help.”
Weeks after the woman filmed children throwing stones, one blasted through her own window. It landed near her son’s head.
“What needs to happen? Does someone have to get killed?” she said. “They don’t care.” ‘ We’re forgotten’ Another resident, whom Nimegeers referred to the Herald, said the situation has drastically improved in recent weeks, with more parents supervising at the playground.
“People are busy doing lots of things around here. I’m very happy with the progress; I know it’s going to be a slow process,” said six- year resident Linda Kearns.
Kearns confirmed that violent bullying happens frequently — usually with children of African backgrounds attacking Caucasian kids, but occasionally in reverse. But she says the same children who punch and taunt will meticulously help her clean a yard when she offers them a freezie.
“These kids really just need things to keep them out of trouble,” said Kearns, who thinks underfunding programming and upkeep creates a self- fulfilling prophecy among the youth.
“Here it’s like we’re forgotten. And I think it creates a mindset with everybody within the community that poor people are dirty people, poor people are criminals; and it almost ends up becoming true.”
What needs to happen? Does someone have to get killed? They don’t care. We’re forgotten.