One day we could all be NFA

There has to be a better way. With over 5 million people using homeless shelters in North America and 1.5 million of them children, what can be done to achieve a better standard of care and living for all? You won’t be able to watch this video without crying trust me. It is clear that government has increasingly turned itself away from its people and prefers to play into the hands and whims of their financiers. Trudeau and Obama are two pretty faces on an unhappy system that continues to drive an unforgiving wedge between rich and poor. Canada at least has free health care but even this is being degraded in favour of a two tier system. In Ottawa alone, once the world’s cleanest city, over 1,500 children required shelter at some time in 2016 while there are 308 people permanently living on the street with no fixed abode (NFA). People assume the homeless to be dysfunctional, incapable, addicted to drugs and even dangerous! Sometimes this is true yet the vast majority of homeless individuals are very capable, determined and socially aware. Working with them and trying to help them, one sees very much the same problems that afflict the rich: family breakdown, loneliness, depression. It seems, the struggle to overcome life’s hardships is universal and we rarely stop to think of the fact that we too, could one day be homeless. So what can one do?

1. You can update yourself on what the government claims to be doing on their website here:

http://www.esdc.gc.ca/eng/communities/homelessness/index.shtml

2. You can support voluntary organizations and the good news is very little goes a long way. In Ottawa there are several homeless shelters always looking for support and extra funding I’ve given you a link:

http://shepherdsofgoodhope.com

Yet shelters are simply the last resort, the lonely outfielder standing in the long grass. So here’s what to do.

3. The real game is played out at the level of family, community and local government and to this end, when you next sit down with your local and provincial policy makers why not ask a few questions.

You can Contact your local MP

http://www.lop.parl.gc.ca/ParlInfo/Compilations/HouseofCommons/MemberByPostalCode.aspx?Menu=HOC

To help you, I’m going to give you the key questions to think about:

• What level of education and mentoring can we offer our youth so that they can build a future for themselves into adulthood and later into old age?
• Where is the framework to assist young families struggling to stay together before they break apart leaving children bereft of essential life skills?
• How can we create rewarding employment opportunities which guide youngsters to learn their way into the complex roles of adulthood?

I encourage policy makers and those interested to examine the foyer model.
http://homelesshub.ca/foyer