No Place to Call Home

I had an interesting conversation with my 15 year old son over lunch yesterday. He was telling me about the movie “8 Mile”, a semi-autobiopic movie about rapper Eminem. An aside before proceeding -- my son has rather eclectic tastes in music -- his iPod contains everything from Brad Paisley to ZZ Top to Black Sabbath to Eminem. The kid appreciates music in all its forms, including rap. While I don’t share that particular appreciation I do respect the fact that he does.

Anyway, we were discussing how many rap artists emerged from lives of extreme disadvantage, poverty, violence and so forth. He made the observation that so often our attention is directed to developing nations in need of help but what about the poverty-stricken, hungry and homeless right in our own country. It was a very good point.

Back in April, we walked through Union Station in downtown Toronto late at night following a concert at the ACC. I was shocked and completely overwhelmed by the number of homeless people in the station with outreached hands and containers. Despite a national welfare system, too many people fall through the cracks. In Canada there are between 150,000 to 300,000 homeless people (the numbers vary by source). Misconceptions run rampant on who these homeless people are: drug addicts, mentally ill individuals, lazy people who choose not to work. Perhaps in some cases, but they are also the working poor who cannot find affordable housing. They are those individuals down on their luck, unable to find or maintain employment. They are you and me without our good fortune.

There are so many people out there without the benefit of a supportive family or network of friends when life takes a downturn; when they find themselves without a steady job (or an adequately paying job) or a sturdy roof over their heads. Lack of affordable housing, even in small rural towns exacerbates the problem. Bad luck can befall any of us. Life circumstances can change in the blink of an eye. Canada is the only G-8 nation not to have a national housing strategy. Even low income housing is market driven which means rents are often too high for low income individuals and families to afford.

The proverbial question is of course what can we do to make a difference? We can lobby our government for a comprehensive national housing policy to ensure housing is provided on a social driven basis, not market driven, which in turn would assure every Canadian the right to a home. We can donate gently used clothing and household items to organizations such as The Gathering Place (St. John’s) or Salvation Army. We can donate our recyclables to organizations or individuals in need in our communities. We can support our local food banks with regular donations of non-perishable goods or cash gifts. We can become more aware of this growing problem and spread awareness to others. And if we find ourselves at the giving end of an outreached hand, we can smile in kindness and we can give.