Life was good – until it wasn’t
Pictou County man recounts time of living in tents, seeking anything for shelter
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Viola’s Place Society is currently fundraising in an attempt to purchase the building that once housed the LifeShelter. Their deadline is April 30. They are currently $13,000 away from their goal. In an effort to inform people on the issue of homelessness in Pictou County, The News has reached out to people who have first-hand experience either by living on the streets or who live life on the brink of it. This is the first in a series that will be published today, Saturday and in Monday’s editions. For more information on how you can help Viola’s Place become reality visit Viola’s Place Society through its Facebook page or email at violasplacesociety@gmail.com.
George didn’t know it was going to get as bad as it did.
After all, he had a solid employment record, a wife, children and a roof over his head.
Then at 45 years of age, he was laid off from Maritime Steel where he’d worked for eight years and his home life was starting to crumble.
“Things at our house got progressively worse. Part of it was my problem. Part of it was her problem. Then I just left and I kept on drinking. Any amount of money I had I was putting into alcohol and drugs.”
Faxe beer was his drink of choice because it has 10 per cent alcohol – a quicker buzz on cheaper liquor.
“I always had enough money to buy a few Faxe,” he said.
After he left his marriage, he stayed with family or friends as well as getting his own apartment for a short time before he got evicted for hosting too many parties.
George went back to couch surfing, but soon wore out his welcome so he pitched a tent in a wooded area in Stellarton before someone found it and burned him out.
He moved on to an old caboose with an oil stove that was sitting in the CN yard in Stellarton and already occupied by another homeless man.
“One night it started getting cold,” he said. “I had been going in abandoned houses, garages, cars, anything and then I went there. He comes in and asks me who I was and he said I could stay there but I can’t do anything and I had to leave in the morning.”
George said winters were the worst. He was living off alcohol, drugs and cigarettes to keep warm while sneaking into basements and abandoned buildings for shelter. Sometimes he was alone, but there were times he found others in the same situation.
“I would go to libraries a lot until I was kicked out. Some people will go to the mall. I wore shoes out like crazy. I did a lot of walking. I would find a place to hide, get s–faced drunk, smoke crack, weed, pass out, wake up and hopefully it would be dark and start all over again.”
Police would find him, but he would always find another spot. Public buildings such as bank foyers and the post office are places where people go to get warm for a few minutes, but never a long time. He said railway tracks tend to be gathering spots for homeless people because they are out of police view.
“I always carried around a toothbrush and some toothpaste,” he said. “You can go to Tim Hortons and get washed, brush your teeth and get a coffee. Hopefully, someone there’s got some cigarettes.”
He earned his money from collecting bottles or stealing copper from abandoned houses. He spent time in jail and was picked up by police for fighting or being drunk in public.
They know Viola’s Place Society is the only hope the county has right now in getting a homeless shelter open, but it is still about $13,000 short of its fundraising goal with only a week left. It has to have the money to purchase the Life Shelter building by April 30 or it will lose it.
The organization spearheading this is made up of hardworking, Pictou County people who have put their hearts and souls into this project because they believe in the dream. They want it to be a place where people can find shelter but also connect with others and learn about programs available in the area.
There are good services in the area such as Roots for Youth, Tearmann House, Shepherd’s Lunchroom, Salvation Army and the food banks, but if you are living in survival mode, are you thinking clearly enough to focus on what is available to you?
Pride is a huge factor as well. For some, it is all they have left and even though they are starving, strung out and scared, it is difficult to admit that they need help.
A shelter can be the starting point for many. They know they will not be judged for their actions. They will be fed, kept warm and made to feel safe. These are most basic needs of humankind, yet so many of us take them for granted. They will get support to try to fight their addictions and poverty so they can live on their own and start to feel human again.
If seeing is believing then I am asking you to open your eyes just a little wider. Give this society a chance to make a difference by helping it reach its fundraising goal to purchase this building. They are prepared to do the heavy lifting and make this work, but it can’t do anything until the building purchase is made.
Similar to the people it’s trying to help, it needs a place to call home.