City needs permanent supportive housing
RE: TENT CITY EVICTIONS WON’T ERASE DEEPER ISSUES,” BY REV. PETERS DERRY (AUG. 27)
I was deeply moved by this letter, especially by Rev. Peters’ emphasis on the perennial challenge of “us” versus
“them.” His reference to Jesus’ saying
“the poor you will always have with you,” reminded me that the social justice teaching from that is “and therefore you have an obligation to do something about it” (not, as is often believed, “well, that’s just how it is, too bad, throw them some crumbs”).
How did we come to this shameful way of living, where so many people are living in poverty in a rich country? We have allowed the economic system to dictate how we live — the one per cent and the 10 per cent having more than their fair share to the detriment of ALL. Society produces enormous wealth, but the poor suffer more and more, through no fault of their own: unskilled and low-skilled jobs nonexistent, intergenerational poverty hard to get out of, high levels of education needed for a decent job, opioid crisis engineered by big pharma, housing market benefiting those who already have, substance abuse neglected for decades because we’ve been brainwashed to believe “personal responsibility” trumps everything else.
I recently had the eye-opening experience of going with a young woman in search of a room to live in. She’s on Ontario Works ($738/month). I saw two rooms I would not want my dog to live in! Both dirty, dangerous and dingy, in houses with other desperate (perhaps dangerous?) people. Both landlords (who were in precarious situations themselves — one most likely a drug user, the other with a handicapped dependent adult child) cashing in on the poor rental market, asking $550 and $600 per month. I totally understood, when I saw those rooms, and others I’ve seen over recent years, why a human being in poverty would take the opportunity to get out into God’s beautiful fresh air with a bit of grass and flowers in a tent for a few weeks in the summer. And here I’m talking about people who HAVE a room; there are many who have been literally homeless/couch-surfing for years.
The deprivation of public parks for the rest of “us”? As some would say “give me a break!” We have homes with gardens or yards, access to suburban parks, cars to get to beaches, etc.
When our governments got out of social housing of course the for-profit developers stepped in, so now we have unaffordable rents. A patchwork system of “rent supplements,” low-barrier shelters and paltry, insufficient Brock Mission type accommodations try to help. Woefully inadequate. Let us ask our governments to look at other models, other places, like Scandinavian countries where municipalities often own large percentages of homes and there is NO homelessness! I realize we can’t change our systems quickly; it takes time. Therefore, vote with a conscience. And please let us stop blaming the victims. As Gandhi famously said, “What bothers me most of all is the hard-heartedness of the middle classes.”
I will lobby for permanent “supportive” social housing in the long term and the opening of a building close to downtown/ services such as the Armouries (city funded) in the short-term.
Sheila Nabigon-Howlett, Cambridge Street