Thursday 7 June 2012

My faith in Insite

There's been many times that I've been on the Downtown Eastside. There's also been a few friends I've had that became addicted to heroin. I chose to do Insite to connect and enhance my knowledge of addiction  and poverty in a local way so that I can share this knowledge "insite"fully. I learned the more political aspects of these issues and the efforts of compassionate people who fight to overcome great obstacles. I learned about how the federal government doesn't always have the best intentions in mind for their citizens if they've strayed in their path of life by doing drugs, and that prevention doesn't always work. When I was younger I rememver all sorts of speakers and classes we'd have focusing on drugs and where they'd take you. There would be major scare tactics showing scabby faces or crazy, sad faces. No one would tell you the story or where they'd be now, just that these people lost in life and that you can join them too if you smoke pot or inject heroin. 


Photo courtesy of shutterstock


Sadly these tactics don't work for everyone as I've lost people who probably heard the same speakers, seen the same faces, to addiction. These people who lived similiar lives to mine. I may not ever see these people again but knowing there's a place like Insite that cares about these marginalized people regardless and is willing to take time to give them the support they really need, makes me feel immensely better. I wish more people could understand what they do and how they help and the benefit they have to a community that seemed so hopeless. 

I had a good friend a few years ago, his mother was a great inspiration to me. She never got to see my friend when we was growing up and had left him to be raised by his not so caring grandmother. His mother never got to see him and was incapable of taking care of him because she was a victim to a meth addiction. He was even homeless for a few months when he was 12. One day his mother realized she had enough of it and within a year had become clean and had the opportunity to be the mother she couldn't before. When I used to see her answer the door with a smile and a compliment, handing me an apple I'd think, "what an amazing mom!". As I sat one time on their patio in the summer, out of nowhere she shared with me the story of how after 9 years of doing meth she was able to overcome her addiction.

I chose Insite so that one day there'd be more stories like that and less tragedies.

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Tragedies & Strategies

As there are no solutions to Insite since it's not a problem, I'd like to use this post to address the issue of addiction and the social justice issues accompanied by it. In Canada we have the bureaucratic approach we call the "Four Pillars Plan".

1. Prevention
2. Treatment
3. Enforcement
4. Harm Reduction

This plan is a bit lopsided as more government resources are spent on the "prevention" and "enforcement" aspects. Insite opened as a part of the "harm reduction" pillar, the one most left behind.



Now, let's look at this more specifically. Have you ever driven down E. Hastings or by accident strolled down there on a downtown excursion? Anyone will tell you to avoid that part of town but what you're doing is avoiding the people and the issues. This leads to the inevitable invisibility that people who live on the streets continually face. All those faceless homeless addicts have tragic stories behind them. They had families, friends, lovers and enemies. These people are too often referred to as "burdens of society". Let's imagine this was you after years of making the wrong choices and losing all the power and control of your life and ending up on the streets. Your life becomes bleak when your circumstances change like that. Now imagine if a stranger comes by and starts a conversation with you and buys you lunch. Just like that a spark goes off in your heart and you become human again! We need to be a society where no one is less important than others, where we provide basic human needs and compassion. We need to see people as individuals and provide specific help rather than an unhelpful umbrella solution.



Some people may have mental illnesses. Some may be the product of an unforgiving foster care system. They may have been sexually abused or abandoned. Or they may have led happy lives until drugs had them trapped in a death grip. We can show all these people a bit of love and care. To know they still belong can brighten their day and help rebuild themselves from their core with self esteem.

Maybe next time you end up on the downtown eastside, be at purposely or accidently, why not tell that lady you love her shoes? Maybe let that man shaking and leaning against a wall know that he has striking eyes or perhaps starting a conversation and buying them lunch?


All portraits courtesy of Lung S Liu. Here's his blog post with even more beautiful portraits for you to enjoy