01/17/2025
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐๐ผ๐ฟ'๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ต๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ-๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด
Red Deer Advocate, Article by Paul Cowley
Five nights spent on the streets to better understand homelessness left a Red Deer pastor determined not dispirited.
Shawn Hamm joined two members of his church who have no homes earlier this month to share their experiences briefly in hopes of getting insight into the barriers the homeless face in changing their situations.
The experience proved eye-opening.
From the start, his plan to spend five nights in a tent provided by his homeless church members ran into obstacles those on the streets face regularly. Before they could spend a night, his companions were served an eviction notice and had to move camp. But one of his companions fell ill, running a fever, so they made their way to Safe Harbour's temporary emergency shelter for the night.
When they returned to the camp the next day, they received another eviction notice.
Hamm ended up spending all five nights at Safe Harbour's temporary homeless shelter, where 50 mats were available for men and 20 for women.
Add Mustard Seed's nearly 50 mats and that's fewer than 120 spaces for a homeless population, the city's latest count last October put at 766.
"Where do all the rest stay if they're not allowed to have camps in the city? I guess that's the issue," said Hamm, who started Red Deer's downtown Remnant Church almost three years ago.
Hauling his possessions around in shopping carts gave him a disheartening taste of the hostility those living on the streets experience.
"I experienced people looking at me, honking at me, people yelling at me. I experienced this side of how they get treated as homeless in our city."
Hamm also learned who the homeless were as people. A common public perception โ and one he admits he held himself โ is that 80 per cent are drug addicts.
"What I found out is that's not true. That's the perception, but the numbers are flipped. I would say 80 per cent are not drug addicted."
Most of those he talked to or interviewed for a documentary he is preparing about his experiences were victims of life-changing setbacks, such as lost jobs, homes and incomes.
In his nights at the emergency shelter, he experienced hardship and kindness. With all mats taken, he spent several hours one night sleeping on a hard plastic chair until someone offered him their mat.
Another surprise was the number of seniors who were among those trying to grab some sleep on the mats.
It is clear the biggest barrier for most living on the streets is the lack of affordable housing. And for most, that means finding a place that costs at most $1,000 including utilities.
Those he talked to said available apartments are almost non-existent and when a room comes open building managers get 100 to 200 applications. Bias against the homeless, that they are criminals, drug addicts, untrustworthy, means few are considered by landlords.
"The affordable housing is the number one issue in Red Deer." If that can be addressed, many of the mental health and addiction issues in the community will also improve, he said.
As big a problem as homelessness is, Hamm did not leave the streets with despair. Hamm believes there is a willingness among many in Red Deer to address homelessness.
He was heartened by a meeting with Peter Puszka, the city's municipal policing services superintendent. Hamm went to talk to him about the city's eviction policy, among other issues. Doubtful he would get the ear of anyone in authority, he was surprised when Puszka came out of his office at the downtown RCMP detachment and spent an hour and a half talking to Hamm and the others with him.
"We had a really good conversation with him. We got to share some of the issues that are going on in the city. I believe he heard that.
"So, I think the way for us to move forward is to try to work together on this. It's not the peace officers' problem. It's not the RCMP or the government's (problem).
"As a pastor, I really think the church can take the lead on this and work with all of the organizations to have a better city is my perspective."
Once his documentary is completed, he plans to send it to representatives of all levels of government to trigger more conversations about homelessness and how to address it.
"As soon as that gets done, what I want to do is to start going back on the streets and talking to some of the agencies that are in Red Deer and just touch base with them and try to figure out how we can work together to address this situation and how to put a plan together of what I see as the solutions to this issue.
"This wasn't a five-day event for me. This is a lifetime commitment I have to this issue."
https://www.reddeeradvocate.com/home/red-deer-pastors-time-with-homeless-eye-opening-7763450
