The Homeless in Plain Sight

Dear Jacques Cartier,

This week in class we got the chance to watch a controversial documentary on homelessness. The film was made by a UBC student, he challenged himself to live on the streets for one month and experience firsthand the harsh realities of downtown Vancouver as a homeless person.

Day 1: Wearing only a pair of boxers and freezing his butt off, he asks strangers for directions to the nearest shelter. His “journey” begins. We follow him as he gets settled in an adequate shelter. He has the opportunity to have a bed, free clothes, yoga and karate lessons, and a fitness center. All of this for only $2 a year! This must be too good to be true. Eventually, we find out that it is indeed too good to be true. He exceeds his time limit and is referred to a less appealing homeless shelter to say the least. Soon he finds himself sick, squeegeeing car windows at intersections, panhandling, riffling through garbage bins, and using drugs. The honeymoon is over.

This documentary sheds light on the real issues that surround homeless people. Stop the stereotypes! Stop thinking about the homeless as sleazy, lazy, junky men and women who are living off the system! Sure addiction (and not only drug addiction) is mostly involved, but it’s more complicated than it seems. Insufficient housing, addiction problems, mental health patients, unsupervised drug use are important to take into consideration. During the film, an expert asks how we can judge the homeless? Yes, they are addicted to drugs and destroying themselves, but as a society are we any better -aren't we addicted to oil and destroying our planet? Is the real reason they are marginalized because they reflect our ugly reflection? Aren't they just a consequence of the values of our society?

P.S. Caught your interest? I hope you will watch the film yourself! The documentary is called “Streets of Plenty” and you can watch it on YouTube.

Stephanie