So I have had many discussions with quite a few people lately on the subject of organizations treating homelessness as a business.
Without naming names, one homeless shelter in Calgary boasts about being the biggest homeless shelter in Western Canada, and perhaps Canada itself.
What is there to brag about, is what I want to know?
Should you not be boasting about being the largest homeless shelter to HOUSE people in Western Canada??? Now THAT is something to be proud of!!
And Oil and Gas companies, not-for-profit organizations, and wealthy donors, honestly believe they are helping people!!
How many of these volunteers, and donors, actually sit down with the clientele, and ask them if they're funding is TRULY, making a difference in that persons life?
Too me, it's a money making scheme. And it certainly does not help those people in that shelter. They are given a bed, with the donors name on a wonderful plaque, so that you, the person who is staying there for the night, has a reminder of who they should be "grateful" to.
Well, they are grateful. For a bed, so that they do not die on freezing streets at night. But I bet you any kind of money (I don't have any, by the way), that they would be more grateful to be in their own place, with their own shower, to be able to cook their own food, and have their dignity back.
So, before you, or your corporation, or not-for-profit agency, or as an individual, decide to donate your money to these kinds of "businesses", first ask yourself, how can my money go towards a better cause? Am I REALLY making a difference for people who are homeless? Am I doing it just to feel good, and get recognition for it, or do I want to make a difference, a real difference in someones life?
Should we NOT be putting the businesses out of business? Create jobs for the staff who are working there to support people who are at risk of homelessness, by placing them as housing supports?
Choose wisely. Please choose kindness, Empathy, and respect, by creating a real difference to people.
I would love to say that I fully agree with you on ALL of this. At the age of 16 I was out on the streets and then by the time I was 17 I had started public speaking about this issue. My biggest issue had to boil down to the fact of individual needs. Like yes you can easily get basic needs met sometimes but what about those personalized needs? There was a focus group that helpped create this 10 year plan to end homelessness in Calgary but TWO of the biggest populations that contribute to the homelessness demographic were completely ignored here in Calgary. it was not toll almost 7 years later that they realized that things were not happening. Not only that but when Calgary is the FIRST city in the country to put a plan in place but not the first to complete it I feel let down.
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ReplyDeleteI work with a group called Poverty Talks! But mostly it's my lived experience. I once was a person without a home, later, I volunteered at these agencies.
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