The decision to clear the “occupy” campers out of assorted city parks may be the story that hit the headlines over the past couple of weeks, but there were all kinds of sidebars, small stories related to the main one that stood on their own merit.
One is the fact not all the campers were making a political statement. Some were choosing to stay in tents in city parks when they could have been home in their cosy beds. Others had no cosy beds to go to, and regarded the encampments as a distinct improvement over their usual dumpster or pile of cardboard. The occupy movement provided them with the unaccustomed luxury of middle class camping gear, not to mention regular hot meals and access to indoor plumbing.
More to the point, the occupy movement provided them with the companionship of people who regarded them as unfortunate examples of the need to change our system, instead of human garbage to avoid or if necessary, jail.
The onset of cold weather made the eviction of the protesters a foregone conclusion. The worse the weather got, the greater the chance one of them would have keeled over with pneumonia, or accidentally torched some tents. One suspects that despite claims to the contrary, most of the protesters were not all that sorry to get evicted from the parks.
After all the studies that have been done on homelessness, city officials are well aware that living in makeshift shelters in parks is hazardous to one’s health. People who do that get beaten up, raped or robbed. And they get sick. Every winter, there is at least one heart-breaking story about a homeless guy found frozen to death on a park bench or similar location. There are a hundred more who quietly succumb to untreated illnesses, poor nutrition and exposure, often combined with substance abuse and/or mental health issues – or a buddy who steals their diabetes pills.
The eviction of the occupiers from the parks begs the question of what will happen to the people who have no homes to go to, both in the city and closer to home.
The face of homelessness in this part of the country is different from the city. Our homeless are largely invisible. Here, people “couch-surf” or find substandard but cheap places to stay. They rarely sit on street corners panhandling and they do not leap out at cars, squeegee in hand. But make no mistake, they are here.
As in the city, some are victims mental illness or substance abuse, and some have just hit a streak of bad luck. Some were holding their own until the recession hit, and many will again when things pick up. Many will, with a helping hand, end up off the streets and gainfully employed.
The key is that helping hand. If it has accomplished nothing else, the occupy movement has focused attention on homelessness. That attention has already resulted in some promises of help – a decent start. We can only hope the next step is not another study. The questions have been asked a dozen times, and the answers tabulated and analyzed a dozen more. We know everything we need to.
What homeless people need is not another government worker with a clipboard, but a roof over their heads and food on their tables. Those on the streets because of mental illness would still be mentally ill, but with a decent place to live, they would be considerably less vulnerable to crime and sickness.
This is the season of gift-giving. While we are in the generous holiday spirit, we must not forget those in need. A small cash donation and a few tins of food may not seem like much to those of us who are blessed with a home and family, but it can mean the world to someone who has nothing. We know the need this year is greater than ever. We must dig a bit deeper into our pockets and hearts.
We must also vow to keep the pressure on all levels of government to work on affordable housing once the holidays are over – the gift that would keep on giving, so to speak. No country as wealthy as Canada should have people living in city parks.