FREE-Do
not pay for this paper.
carnnews@vcn.bc,ca 401 Main Street Vancouver Canada V6A 2T7 Email: carnnews@shaw.ca
(604) 665-2289
Website/Catalogue: carnegienewsletter.org
Volunteer Recognition Week is April 14-22
In Each Of Us There's hope in each one of us ·.. like a gray whale migrating to its birth of origin There's love in each one of us ... like a mother wolf nurturing her newborn pups There's faith in each one of us ... like a bear cub playing in a field alone There's humour in each one of us ... like a wolf pup stumbling over his own feet There's balance in each one of us ·.. like a salmon spawning up the river There's beauty in each one of us ·.. like nature intended to bring upon us All my relations. ~
Prlscillia PS Stay Beautiful
The Woman and The Crow She was dressed all in black, blond hair with sunglasses on her head. I heard her scream first, then I saw a muffin and spilled coffee on the ground. "I don't know why they do that," she said to her friend. She had had her coffee and muffin in her hands and two crows knocked them right down. Brilliant on the part of the crows, not so bright on her part. "I guess I'll leave them now," shr added noticing that the black birds were already sampling her muffin, scattered on the ground. After second thought, she picked up her spilled coffee cup, now without a lid, and drank a deep draught. The crows weren't into caffeine. "This is the second time that this has happened to me," she complained. "Is it what I'm wearing?" As I walked by, ogserving it all, I noted that she looked like a crow herself. By PHOENIX WINTER
This update regarding Oppenheimer Park actions as they relate to overall improvements of the park grounds and part of the motion put forward by Councilor Jean Swanson. Planned Improvements include: · Large Grassy Field - the entire field will be fenced off on April 24th for maintenance and reseeding and will reopen on June 11th. · Children's Play Area - the children's play area will be power washed, the wooden structure which is rotting will be removed and some new soil/plants will be planted in area just by the gate. · Medicine Garden - this area will be power washed, fenced off for maintenance and reseeding. New soil will be placed in the rock beds for gardening. · Portable Toilets - the park board purchased 4 portables (2 accessible) in response to Councilor Jean Swanson's motion. The portables will be placed on the sidewalk area on Powell St. and Jackson. The portables will be serviced daily and only open when the park washrooms are not open. The opening! closing ofthe portables will be as it is with the other public washrooms. The portables will be delivered this week. Needle Boxes - an additional needle box will be installed on the fencing along Powell Street.
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The park patrons & those people living in.the park will be notified well in advance of the fencmg and reseeding. Those tents on the field or near the medicine garden will be asked to mover their tents to the periphery ofthe park. If you have any questions about this information please let me know. Sharon Belli, Director Carnegie Community Centre
3
I am sending you this biography about lames Pau and the work he has done over the years to help the poorest and most vulnerable citizens in the DTES in the hopes that you will publish it in the Carnegie Newsletter. I am writing this not just because of the help and friendship he has given to me but because of the help he has given to so many over the years. My Friend lames Pau lames Pau and I have volunteered together at different organizations beginning in the mid-90's until 2009 when I moved to Vancouver Island. The organizations include VANDU, where we both served as founding members. I served as founding president while lames served as an Honorary member. In addition, we both served as founding chairs ofthe DTES HIV/IDU Consumers' Board. lames had served for twenty-one years as the Social Spiritual Chair from 1996 to 2017, when he decided to resign the position to attend to his own health problems brought on by age. lames is the founding chair of the North American Buddhist Friendship Society in 1997 where I served as co-ordinator for a number of years. The Order provided free social and alternative health services to anyone who asked. During all his years in Canada, lames has never bought himself a house or a car, instead he has spent his money helping the needy. lames trained as a nurse in western medicine and as a Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine and acupuncture in Hong Kong. He served as a nursing officer in the Queen's Prison Department (renamed Corrections Services in 1984), Hong Kong before he migrated to Canada in 1975. During the 1980's, lames started a free treatment program for patients seeking alternative therapy. Enlarging on this work, he operated a Wellness Center with a City of Vancouver licence to patients without charge from 1997 to 2005. In 1997 lames accepted the post of community representative on the St. Paul's Hospital's Neighbourhood Advisory Committee. In this capacity he was instrumental in having the sale ot cheap rice wine banned in the DTES where the health of alcoholics was being negatively impacted by the high alcohol and sodium content the wine contained. The impact of rice wine on the Ambulance Service call load in the area, at the time, was about 20%. This increased load was directly due to the increased loss of consciousness and the falls of the drinkers involved. Before the overdose epidemic the use of rice wine was the problem that most negatively impacted ambulance services. At that time ambulance services in the DTES received 60 to 70 calls a night but this was only 65 to 70% of total calls. Ambulance teams from neighbouring areas were forced to pick up the slack. Other serious health issues, such as strokes and heart attacks, were likely delayed or otherwise affected because of the increas d call volume experienced by the ambulance service. Even with the co-operation of the police, the provincial government and other local advocates, including Margaret Prevost, it took years of hard work to have the rice wine removed from grocery shelves. lames was appointed as a member of the Special Advisory Committee on Seniors by the City of Vancouver in 1997. He was also on the steering committee that created the Elder Abuse Network which raises awareness of abuses -physically, emotionally and financially- suffered by some seniors. Today, brochures about elder abuse are distributed in many languages for health care professionals and the general public in order to help them identify the signs of elder abuse. Because of their work, June 15th was designated Elder Abuse Day. As a St. Paul's Hospital Neighbourhood Advisory Committee member, lames became part of the steering committee of the High Risk Project Society in 1997 in order to assist the LGBT group and advise on health concerns and other issues. Subsequently, representatives from the LGBT group received seats at St. Paul's Hospital, City of Vancouver, and the Health Board advisory committees, which allowed them to gather strength to grow locally, nationally and internationally. The Reverend Pastor Parry and local advocates, including lames spent many cold, rainy hours, weeks and
months protesting outside the demolished Woodward's site in order to ask for more affordable housing units for low-income groups. As a result, three floors of the building, adding up to one hundred and twenty units, were assigned to house the disadvantaged. From my twenty plus years acquaintance with James, I know him to be sincerely dedicated to the highest humanitarian principles and ideals in his work as a health care professional and as a seeker of world peace. As an anti-war activist he has participated in many protests against war and forced occupation. So much more could be said of James, particularly where help to individuals is concerned. Not infrequently has he helped find jobs for some, helped others financially, as well as helping immigrants with translation services and in navigating the bureaucracy. I and everyone else who has had dealings with James trusts his open and honest approach to life and hope that he will overcome his health problems in order to continue giving the help he loves to give. Yours truly, If time will be a friend to me Melissa Eror and i can make it mine There'll be an hour of love for every soul an hour that lasts eternally The shining of the sun will be A promise of a joy DTES Information Session for VOAF that beams forever and forever.
Vancouver OutSider ArtS FeStival Thursday, April 18 2:00pm-4:00pm In the Carnegie Art Room (Lane Level) Carnegie Community Centre 401 Main Street
Call for Outsider Artists! **Now extended through April 22** Are you an Outsider Artist 19 years and older residing in Vancou ver? Want to share, learn, and connect? Ready to perform/show/ sell your work? The 2019 Vancouver Outsider Arts Festival is happening at Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre August 9 - 11 VOAF is dedicated to supporting self-identified outsider artists who face social exclusion and other visible/invisible barriers to sharing their work. APPLICA nONS FOR VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTISTS OPEN NOW. Bring 4 pieces of artwork to be photographed for your application if you do not have access to a camera. All DTES Artists are welcome and encouraged to attend!
Jenny Kwan MP Vancouver East NDP Immigration,
Refugee
All my nights are needed things that nourished me for all the days to come and those i passed and lived and missed and lost, forgotten. Afraid sometimes to breathe, I chose a lonely road to travel with help along the way I stretched my Spirit to its limit With help, it didn't break or be deformed beyond redemption With love i found a moment to know peace that lasts forever. All of you and all of me are moving in a circle growing larger, ever brighter toward a clean and true tomorrow We will be there hand in hand tears streaming down our faces afraid no more and wondering how we thought our time was wasted. Sue Warlow
and Citizenship Critic 2572 E Hastings Vancouver,
si
BC V5K IZ3
T: 604-775-5800 F: 604-775-5811 Jenny.Kwan@parl.gc.ca
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Sue W. rescued me from a trip that turned sour in 2015. she saved me from the despair of gossip that was intended to ostracise me. I had to have the courage to be disliked by some people who believe lies. Sue was so talented as a left handed poet and i miss the supportive feedback that she gave me. Diane L
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She's Dancing in the SI<Y In 1995 a baby girl entered into our lives And filled it with her love and laughter Her ballerina shoes and her frilly ballerina tutu With ever so much grace You, my little ballerina, danced right into my heart Even as a child Your heart was bigger than your world How you blossomed thru the years You left your imprint wherever you went With grace & beauty you added style to cultural dancing I know it's selfish of me to want you back Because your broken heart has now been made whole At night as I see the stars twinkle bright I capture a glimpse of the sparkle in your eye As I feel a gentle breeze I know it's you dancing in the sky I picture Dad on heaven's portal, arms open wide His darling little Turkish delight. .. o Running ... laughing ... and dancing Our little girl is free at last! I love you Elsie Sevim Yucesoy Forever auntie Erica
CHALLENGE OF CHANGE Fear tainted dreams hold me fast as I stumble about this reality Afraid of tomorrow all day long is the fear that I fear most of all If I could dream beyond what I see then maybe I ~ould leave all of this behind And predjudism runs hand and hand with my ignorance again And I am back on first base again To beat my feet to that rhythm again is no melody to me is no melody to me As my snake like spirit sheds it's torment I reappear Wishing to be beautiful And the moth that I be seeks olde clothing.
The Spice of Life is Change I think the Creator gave us seasons so we'd get used to changes and welcome them in. Have you ever re-spiced an old dish? This can be too much - unedible to eat whereas a new dish - newly spiced can put more zip into life ... or you can keep the same old bland ingredients and spice it up. Seasons can change against our wishes for to leave room for the new we have to say goodbye to something old, something familiar, or comfortable. and the who or what may also say goodbye to us first and this can be painful...almost as painful as physically giving birth to the something, or someone new. but without the spice of change all can be bland ... boring. .. offering no challenge as does going with the flow, the tides and enjoying the ride with new friends, new habits or enjoying change and a new experience with someone or something old for what we can count on most in life is change .... - inga g.
From my balcony I see across the city. A s~rinkle of white dust and the sparkling lights. A CItyso large becomes so quiet. Yet the kaos is undeniable. People slipping, cars sliding, buses unable to go up a hill. Yet it's only a sprinkle of white kaotic dust. The beauty undeniable, the kaos unknown. People freezing, without a home People starving, without food, and a quiet pain that rips through a city. Covered in a beautiful layer of white dusty snow. Jill MacKenzie
Leslie Nelson
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.Do youhave sorne free time?
7
Everthought of VOLUNTEERING?
Carnegie has a fun and rewarding Volunteer Program with a wide variety of opportunities! Food Prep. Serving, Dishwashing. Baking. Runner, and Sandwich Maker.
Pool Room Monitor Check memberships and monitor use.
Reception - Monitor free phone and ticket distribution.
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Cll.
Seniors' Coffee Seller Cashier and lounge monitor.
p.lan. t Care
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Computer Room Monitor Check memberships, maintain wait list and monitor computer use.
Weight Room Monitor Check m,emberships and ensure safe environment .
.-ro'" ,y .. Adult Learning Centre One on one tutoring, computer tutor and reception positions.
Special Events Dances, music, karaoke, opera, theatre. and more! Help with setting up and taking down tables and chairs, monitoring the door etc.
, Attend. an Information Session Monday or Saturday at 2:30 pm (3rd floor). Carnegie Community Centre @401 Main St. ,
Call in the morning to confirm: 604-6Q6.2708 CarnegieVolunteerProgram@Vancouver.ca'
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I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them. feel. Maya Angelou
MONDAY, APRIL 1! TULIP FESTIVA Meet at lOam, 3rd Floor-sign up in
This week we want to make sure you feel loved, appreciated, respected, valued, recognized, happy and most importantly grateful! There is nothing more powerful than gratitude. We should all take a moment this week to feel grateful that we have this unique and special place called Camegie: The Living Room of the Downtown Eastside, and a TRUE COMMUNITY CENTRE. Thank you for the part you play in making it the amazing place it is. We are truly grateful!
Tuesday, APRIL 1t
Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in. =Author Unknown
SIGN UP in advance for everything in the Volunteer Program Office on the 3rd floor. First come first serve. We want everyone to get a chance to go on an out trip so pick. the one you want to go on the most and sign up for the that one. For any others you are interested in we will put you on stand by for it.
WEDNESDAY, AP
,VolunteeJt app~ 2:30- Tea and Mingle I 4:30pm6:30pm-Evening Concert Bar ÂĽ -
Volunteer tickets from the 3rd III
THURSDAY, APRI
CELEBRATING
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Friday, APRil 19th
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Dinner and Coffee d in the Theatre
Friday, APRIL 19th
LIVE BAND DANCE
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7 to 9:45pm - Carnegie Theatre You won't want to miss this one! EVERYONE WELCOME! - No Signup Needed
or volunteer offi€e -
SATURDAY, APRil 20th
EVERYONE WELCOME! - No Sign up Needed e
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CARNEGIE COMMUNITY
ACTION PROJECT
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April 2019
Marching to support the Oppenheimer Park camper's outside Vancouver City Hall! Many joined us either in writing letters or support, marching outside City Hall, and/or speaking to City Council on this important issue.
Olivia Skye: Seeing all angles
This being the case, there are still some redeemable things about this building. There are people who have faced many barriers finding comfort in these walls. For some women, Olivia Skye is a new start, a chance at some peace, some quiet, some solstice.
Atira Property Management operates the building named Olivia Skye. Olivia Skye is a large building with over 190 studio and junior suites. We decided to However, word on the street is that some conditions get some research done so we could look into the are not exactly up to "par" in many of the buildings costs of renting a small suite at this building. that are managed by the same company. And people who are homeless in the DTES are asking where is When viewing the website, Olivia Skye looks as if they are renting to people who are "working" and not our affordable housing and what standards are being met? The overall lack of true shelter rate housing the homeless who are sleeping on our streets. rates is an indicator. According to Atira CEO Janice Abbott, ... "for the HILs units, we're really trying to focus on folks who work in local-area businesses. We're trying to prioritize folks who work in Gastown, Chinatown, and in the area." For example, 52 of the units rent at B.C.'s welfare shelter rate, 68 units rent to people earning $49,000 or less at housing-income limits (HILs), and 78 units are pegged to the city's low-end-of-market (LEM) rates. The 42 shelter-rate units are reserved for women or couples where a woman signs the lease. his means 118 of 198 apartments rent for $1,000 a month.
People are talking of working on true affordability and not just waiting to have service providers provide it. It is true that poverty has become an industry and especially in the DTES. True, some deserve acclaim for truly helping the community. However, sometimes help is actually hinderance in disguise. People on the street are fed up with sub-standard conditions, strict rules, being monitored, and being mistreated. People in the DTES deserve safe and affordable housing, and shelter as a human right.
Olivia Skye unit renting for 1,510 as advertised
A view from across the pond: the struggle for housing justice in contemporary London Monday April 29, 6-8 pm UBe Learning Exchange 612 Main St, Vancouver
UK-based housing activist Dr. Matt Wilde has been involved in struggles around housing justice for several years and conducts et~ographic research on precarious housing, grassroots activism and austerity governance in contemporary London. In this talk, Matt will explain the history of housing struggles in the UK and examine successes and challenges faced by London's housing movement in recent years. Like Vancouver, London suffers with sky-rocketing rents, aggressive state-led gentrification and the erosion of social safety nets. This talk will be an opportunity to discuss related struggles in the UK and Canada, and to think about ways of building solidarities between housing movements across the globe. Speakers: Dr. Matt Wilde, UK-based housing activist Jean Swanson, Vancouver city councillor and anti-poverty activist Lama Mugabo, community organizer with Hogan's Alley Society Please join us at the event. More info 604-665-2105 info@carnegieaction.org Free event, fully-accessible venue, light refreshments
Oppenheimer Park Update CCAP is proud to announce some success in terms of the motion B.4 being passed by Vancouver City Council to Help the Campers in Oppenheimer Park. The motion was revised to state A. THAT Council direct staff to meet with BC Housing staff to continue to explore ways to fund temporary and/or permanent accommodations, with appropriate support services to house Oppenheimer Park Patrons. B.THAT the City work with Park Board staff to temporarily implement a warming station in Oppenheimer Park or other city owned land within close proximity.
E.THAT the City and Park Board continue to communicate about other possible solutions to help end and humanize homelessness. F.THAT Council direct staff to work with Vancouver Police Department and Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services and continue to consider their input on public safety, and specifically to consult with these agencies on any plans to move forward with permanent, semi-permanent or temporary structures, including any plan for a tent at Oppenheimer Park. On a Wednesday, we saw the VPD, Park Rangers, and Park Rangers still throwing out entire tents and we got to speak to several of the campers, who gave us their heart-wrenching stories. It is true that
C.THAT the city work with Park Board staff and peer
our most vulnerable are in these parks. It broke my
organizations to provide washroom facilities for park
heart to witness a person with several mental illness-
patrons including 24 hour access.
es struggling in the rain to gather their belongings
D THAT the City work with Park Board staff to ex-
before they were tossed. We saw that it was indeed
plore options so that campers may securely keep
the case that the moment some were trying to ac-
their possessions.
cess the bathrooms or get some free food, the au-
•
thorities would begin to toss their belongings with gigantic pitchforks. Things we need to, can do , right away to support the campers now: •
Housing & housing opportunities
•
24-hour washrooms
•
Peer support workers
•
Drop off tarps, LED flashlights, and warm weather clothes
•
Witnessing, observing and support
C.C.A.P Gentrification Tours
Are you worried that gentification is destroying whatever left of our community we have? Are you an ethical person, school, or organization? Are you interested in an Indigenous perspective on the development (and it's effects) in the OTES? Would you like to better understand the dynamics and consequences of gentification in this area?
,
We are hosting these with two great tour guides who are people that have faced, and continue to face, this intense discrimination. The cost of the tours goes to paying our guides and etc. We off these tours to groups or to individuals. We will be presenting to the School Board and have presented at a International Teacher's Social Justice convention and are also booked to present at the BCTF annual convention near the end of May.
CCAP has developed an ethical Anti-Gentrification tour which helps local area residents and builds a strong sense of our community and the challenges it faces due to constant gentrification that continues If you wish to book a tour or book your class, eotoday! workers, fellow teacher, organization and etc. just email C.CAP at elli@carnegieaction.org or call us C.CAP and it's members have created and are today at 604-665-2105. hosting Gentrification Tours in the OTES. This is not the for-profit tours that have been occurring. These are ethical tours done by local area residents. The money helps fund the tours and our tour guides. The tours give back and don't take away as other tours do. We do not exploit the people, we work for them and with them! The history of this area is marked with exclusion and discrimination as racism is a very real and dangerous problem for the people who are oppressed the most.
Across the Pond: The Struggle The Rate of Overdoses in for Housing Justice in London Vancouver Or. Matt Wilde is a doctor in sociology who is coming to the Downtown Eastside to talk about home- If you are wondering what the numbers are in terms of the lives lost because of the overdose lessness crisis in the UK. On April 29th from epidemic, below is a chart of the increases of 6pm-8pm he will present on the struggle. overdoses over BC. Obviously, this issue has become more dire over time and now is the time to This talk will come before our gentrification tour act! The National Day of Overdose Awareness guides take 20 people on an ethical tour of the and Action will be on April 16th, 2019. Please join effects of gentrification on the DTES. us in taking action on this life-saving issue. UK-based housing activist, Dr. Wilde has been involved in the struggle around housing justice for Surrey and other communities face the utter terror several years and has also conducted ethnograph- that they have nor operate ANY safe injection sites ic research on precarious housing, grassroots ac- at the moment. There is so much work to be done! Please advocate for harm-reduction in whattivism and austerity governance in contemporary London. In this talk, Matt will explain the history of ever community you live and/or work in. housing struggles in the UK and examine some BC Data by Township of Injury. of the successes and challenged faced by London's housing movement in recent years. Like Illclt DnIg Ovenfose Death$ oy Top TownshIps oflnjwy In 2017, 2008.2018" llAI Vancouver, London suffers with sky-rocketing 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Township 80 139 233 376 38 60 42 69 65 101 382 rents, aggressive state-led gentrification and the Vancouver 44 44 117 178 210 Surrey 20 23 33 42 36 76 erosion of social safety nets. Victoria 13 13 17 94 29 18 25 20 23 68 94
Burrtaby Abbotsford
2 7 2 12 4
Chill'....ack
4
Nanaimo New Westminster
2 4
!.angley
6
Maple Ridge
2
Vernon Delta
1
5 7 4 8 4 2 6 2 2 6 4
2
1
48 183
54 201
Kelowna
This talk will be an opportunity to discuss related struggles in the UK and Canada, and to think about ways of building solidarities between housing movements across the globe. What are we doing right? What can we prevent, improve, and resolve based on what they are doing in the UK? Are we as progressive as we state we are? Are they as progressive as we may think? These are all questions that can be asked and answered during this talk and during the tours themselves that take place on the 30th.
Kamloops Prince George
Other iownship Total
9 10 1 9 10 2 4
14 2 6 10 16
6
3
6 10
4
4
6 2 57 211
7 6 69 294
8 8
8 5 10 10 7 8 6 3 5 5 1 3
72 270
For your information:
12 8
12 7
7 13 10 6 20 5 10 10 11 4 76 333
11 7 6 16 9 10 14 6 2 93 368
48 44 18 40 40 13 28 10 31 28 12 11 252 993
75 55 38 48 46 24 44 43 52 40 22 35 55 34 25 34 36 29 33 27 23 24 21 20 392 367 1,487 1,489
Table above is
the number of overdoses years in Vancouver
10
20 7 12 15 27 10 18 12 10 29 8 6 117 529
over the
and other BC town-
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1ft t~eJ\~W1cPegpl~v~WgJI~~in~ !,~g[~~~~Cl~~~~lrv~lv n~Ron, ana hmsslve a~uses ¥O'tY!fi 'Of 'file DorOer.i'Iley ~@U~ li~tW;ffili~§rlliJs~~kt~~fi9S\,ring Island and lJQeV~fiffiMV5fQ)~fm~I~Sri~~~eJ~I~'Rf~~s! could rent here and Black men were hired as Porters for BC Rail. The community grew. It was a place where people who loved jazz (and jazz musicians) came to hang out. Nora Hendrix was the Grandmother of the amazing Jimi Hendrix. This alleyway thrived between 1916 1972. Nora Hendrix ran a church which had over 800 members. She was a great activist. Nora Hendrix was a vaudeville dancer who came from Georgia. Her family moved with her six kids. Nora also created and helped host at the Fountain Chapel. This was to serve as the first black church in the area at the time. Nora was a powerhouse and an amazing choir signer. Her house is still kept as a heritage building in Strathcona. Today, Hogan's Alley modular building provides culturally supportive housing for Black and Indigenous people. The recent Urban Renewal Policy targeted Chinatown and inner-city Black communities. In the past, they allowed the areas to fall apart to the point that there3 was garbage everywhere and then they said "let's clean it up!" They wanted to build a highway straight through these areas. People fought and prevented the construction. The viaducts are monuments that
need to be taken down. They are monuments of displacement. When the bulldozers came in 1972, it mobilized the community and they hired Howard, a Black woman who worked on the project and sat on an advisory committee which included the City, and etc. At the Nora Hendrix Place rent is 375 and is set at shelter rates. They targeted 50/50 men and women. Hidden homelessness was an issue. Such as when people couch surf, stay with friends and stay women's shelters. People are served two meals a day and they have access to mental health professionals 24/7.
The Carnegie Community Action Project is a project of the board of the Carnegie Community Centre Association. CCAP works mostly on housing, income, and land use. issues in the Downtown Eastside (DTES), so that the area can remain a low income friendly community.
Join the
CCAP works with English-speaking and Chinese-speaking DTES residents in speaking out on their own behalf for the changes they would like to see in their neighbourhood. Join us on Fridays 11:15 am in classroom 2 on the third floor of the Carnegie Centre for our weekly volunteer
Carnegie Community Action Project
meetings! Downtown Eastside residents who want to work on getting better housing and incomes and stop gentrification are welcome to attend. Lunch is provided.
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CONTACT US: Office: 2nd floor of the Carnegie. 401 Main Street. Vancouver Phone: 604-665-2105 Email: info@carnegieaction.org Website: \NW'N.carnegieaction.org
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Thank you to Vandty for supporting CCAP's work. Support for this project does not necessarily imply that funders endorse the findings or contents of this report.
If anyone
of these
statements is true,
we need your help: • You believe that homelessness shouldn't exist. • You think that healthy food is better for the body and mind than junk. • You believe that pushing a pen, most of the time, doesn't solve poverty. • You can hold a hammer or use powered tools. • You can share understanding, love and compassion. • You are able to think and follow instructions. • • You like gardening or fishing. • You can give a few hours per week for the needy people. • You are bored of feeling useless.
We need your help to build affordable housing while growing local vegetables, fruits and fish. No experience needed but good will is required. Persons with disabilities are welcomed. Come and join us for our meeting on Wednesday 6 pm at Carnegie Community Centre, 3rd floor, room 2. For more information: info@aguapo.org
Comrades in Celebration of Sandy Cameron' s Being True to Ourselves
APRIL 16, 6:30pm, 730 E Hastings
Bio-electrode Therapy - Free Presentation A new safe and simple treatment method for opioid withdrawal distress, combining science ofbioelectricity & acupuncture meridian theory.
Vancouver Public Library - Strathcona Branch
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â&#x20AC;˘ Learn to effectively treat opioid withdrawal distress Sandy Cameron, local prolific poet and historian, had a â&#x20AC;˘ Receive treatments for opioid withdrawal and comdeep passion and love for his community, the Downplex pain town Eastside, that lives on today through his beautiful April 16 from I :30PM to 4:00PM UBC Learning Exchange poetry, articles and stories. 612 Main Street Join fellow comrades Robyn Livingstone, Phoenix Winter, Penny Goldsmith, Diane Wood and Gilles . Vancouver, BC Canada V6A 2V3 Cyrenne as they celebrate Cameron both with excerpts from his work as well as their own that speaks to and Where's the Coffee? celebrates his revolutionary spirit. Okay guys -it's time to pull up your socks and get on the ball. What's the matter you say? Well, apart from the homelessness problem in Canada, the problem of the border between the U.S. and Mexico, and the killing of Islamists in Ontario - not much. But I do have a problem with the closing up of the canteen in the basement because they got no volunteers. Now I don't know about you but I need my cofI came out of the womb. The doctor cut the umbilical fee. I much prefer the small batch there to the coffee from the cafeteria. cord. So I'm asking some of you hombres sitting around I have been starving ever since. wondering what to do with yourselves to volunteer & make coffee so we coffee nuts can get our daily fix. Then they circumcised me And sent me to my room without dinner. We would be beholden to you and you would also benefit from volunteering. You'd get the satisfaction of doing a good deed for fellow Carnegians, you'd get Once I asked my mother when my father would come home. some needed exercise and, who knows, you might have scintillating conversations with our esteemed She said don't ask. My arm went through the screen door members who have experiences they like to share. The glass severed the artery How about it?! Cheers I still have the scar. PATRICK FOLEY People think I slit my wrist My mother wants to wash my mouth out for writing this. My sister Patricia told me over and over, time and time again that I was adopted. I cried and screamed that it was not true. She smiled and said 'Everyone's eyes are brown and yours are blue.' Drew
Clothes In Their Own Dreams the shorts i often wear dream of eternal sun eternal rain sometimes mild weather, sometimes wild weather they often dream of myriad companions, i now have or will have and improve me mosty my dreams speak of hope, for us all all and any spectral view ofthe end of our longlong tunnel! john alan douglas
Five Reasons to Care about RC MP Monitoring Your Social Media By Paul Willcocks TheTyee.ca We're already deep into a new era. Police - and businesses and other organizations - have the ability to track citizens in ways unimagined even a decade ago. Social media, the internet, cellphones, algorithms and analytics have given the state extraordinary power to monitor what you think and predict what you might think or do. And governments have taken no effective steps to protect citizens from round-the-clock, random surveillance in the internet age. They have quietly surrendered our rights. The Tyee's Bryan Carney revealed the RCMP's Operation Wide Awake, its expansion, and the lack of oversight to protect Canadians' rights. The RCMP, Carney reported, had launched a sweeping project to monitor Canadians' internet use, especially social media. At first, the goal was to help investigators solve crimes. Then the police decided to expand the monitoring to try and assess whether people might commit crimes. Basic privacy considerations around the expanded program have not been completed. Why should that scare you? First, this is a whole new kind of surveillance. Even a decade ago, police had few options for tracking citizens. They could intercept mail or tap a phone line, if the court approved a warrant. Officers could interview neighbours or infiltrate groups they thought might be a threat. But between legal safeguards and the practical challenges, mass monitoring was impossible. Operation Wide Awake shows how much that has changed. The RCMP bought social media monitoring technology from Salesforce via Carahsoft, a big U.S. corporation supplying governments with technology. Salesforce promises to deliver in-depth information. "Ever wished you could be a fly on the wall in the homes of consumers? That's kind of what social media monitoring is. You can tune into conversations happening online to see what people are saying ... " The application, the company says, "scans blogs, news, Facebook posts and other sites throughout the internet - over 650 million sources. It uses keywords to pull out the information you tell it you need." It provides constant monitoring, analytics and real-time reporting. The program started as a way to solve crimes, using the software to catch someone bragging about a robbery, for example. But then the RCMP decided to expand it to preventing crimes. So consider a possible example. Suppose the RCMP are concerned about pipeline protests. They enter keywords like pipeline, protests, Trans Mountain, oil spills, climate change. And then the software begins monitoring every corner of the internet and reporting when those terms appear, who's commenting and what they're saying. Officers can cross-reference that list with other searches using terms like Indigenous rights, and other files. And they can share the information - and the list of names of people expressing opinions and what they say - with other police forces and agencies. Your interest in pipelines, for or against, or even discussing the issue, could land you in an RCMP file. The risk to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms isn't theoretical. The charter says everyone has the right to freedom ofthought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of association. But that freedom is eroded if exercising it means police surveillance. The RCMP's Project SITKA, launched in 2014 and discovered through a freedom of information request, investigated and tracked more than 300 Indigenous activists. In the U.S., police forces used similar software to gather information on people based on general factors like use of the hashtag #blacklivesmatter. Second, the threat to your rights is reaL Citizens' ability to participate in a democracy is limited when they know that sharing their views, or even visiting a site to get more information, could land them on a police watch list. The ability to organize to advance goals is threatened when citizens know that even the smallest
steps might land them in a police file. And how many people will shy away from participating in a protest or campaign when the result could be an RCMP file? To be clear, the software doesn't allow police to see private messages on platforms like Facebook or Gmail. But as we saw with the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it's possible to compile a great deal of information on people without seeing their private messages. Third, this isn't an RCMP problem (mostly). Police are judged on their ability to solve or prevent crimes, not on their concerns for privacy. Their interest is in doing anything legal that makes those jobs easier. So it's not surprising they want to be able to track as many citizens as possible. But the RCMP has chosen to skirt the scant privacy protection that does exist in implementing Operation Wide Awake. And it has refused to release its policies on the monitoring program, how people are tracked and how the information is shared. Which raises at least the prospect of citizens' information being shared with other police forces, border service agencies or even foreign governments. Fourth, this is a serious failure of government. The laws around privacy and charter rights have utterly failed to change to reflect today's world. We still require warrants before police search a home or tap a phone. But online surveillance and profiling is arguably a greater threat to our rights, and there are virtually no controls or oversight. Even the few protections in place are flimsy. All government departments - including the RCMP - are required to complete a Privacy Impact Assessments to identify "potential privacy risks" and make the information available to the public. But Carney found that for more than a year the RCMP has been using the software to monitor Canadians without completing the assessment. The project, two years in the making, is in the design stage, an RCMP spokesperson said, so an assessment isn't required. Surely the time for an assessment is before the decision to buy the software and launch the tracking program, not after it's in place. And fifth, and perhaps most critically, there are no signs of change. In the post-9111 world, security has become a dominant concern. But only security from bad acts by people the state has deemed suspicious - not security from excesses of government surveillance, for example, or increasing inequality or shrinking opportunity. Security is important. But without oversight, rules and accountability, we are at risk of trading our rights as citizens, our chance to campaign for change, for a false promise of safety. ~ It's not a good deal. "
on being an editor ... Writing is hard work. Other people - maybe the prime reason for putting words down - will read what you think you've written. It needs to be clear, to make your point and it has to make sense to the reader. Who you write for is important to keep firmly in mind, but you have to be honest with yourself. If you delude yourself, you run the real risk of exposing what you really think ... and you might not like it. Being an editor means offering perspective and making suggestions for change. Good writing doesn't need extensive editing, though 'good' is a relative term. It comes to putting emphasis on what's relevant to the main theme. Getting bogged down in lengthy descriptions of a minor factor lets the reader wander away and your piece loses its impact. An example is if you are writing about child abuse and part way through go into a long description of the plumbing problems in a local community facility, then the readers will lose interest or get confused. An editor can check this tendency. An editor has extensive experience with the written word & looks for the flow, style, continuity, rhythm grammar and pace. The abrupt stall comes when an author accuses the editor of "changing" stuff - of somehow altering the entire piece. I have done this! It happens that someone will argue one side of an issue for the entire length of the article then come to the exact opposite conclusion at the end. I changed the last sentence, so their entire piece made sense. Someone writes for 3 pages, using every opportunity to indulge in flowery descriptions of colours and shapes, while writing about sitting in a meeting about something. The title was "What happened at (this meet-ing)" - the entire piece only needed a paragraph or two. he same author was invited to write a piece that would take no more than 1 page in a proposed chatbook. Another eight people were also asked and dutifully kept their musings to the single page. This author went on for two-and-a-half pages. It embarrasses a writer to show their self-image while not intending to. An editor can keep this exposure to a minimum, can help keep a writer's ego in check. The way of things in the writing world is that an editor will use a 'blue pencil' to go through a submitted piece and make copious marks on the copy. This is to give the author a clear look at what someone else thinks. The often-seen result is just to get a
rejection slip - a short statement that says, "This is not suitable to our current needs." The Camegie Newsletter doesn't have that luxury, as often-times stuff is submitted the day before or the day of the deadline. Reading and any necessary edits are done at the same time. It is rarely egregious to the point of re-writing something; what often happens is the grammatical changes are done as a matter of course, spelling is corrected unless misspelling is done on purpose, and to the extent that a general reader would want/need for the piece to make sense. This is something that an author needs to be prepared for - nothing gets in print without a once-over by the editor. This protects both the author (from gross mistakes or expressing views antithetical to the Newsletter) and the integrity of the paper itself. It is not up to the editor to insist on a balanced presentation - giving both sides of an issue is like those opposed to evolution demanding that "creation science" get equal time or a piece about the conditions in a slum hotel giving equal space to the landlord's rantings about his tenants. There is not an ogre sitting in the Newsletter office intent on damaging any submissions. There is someone who will maintain the integrity and quality of the paper and, ifthere is time and opportunity, get back to an author and make suggestions. If the last two are not in the cards (or even if they are) all I can ask is that any writer trust that editing will be done for length, clarity and format but ~ot at the expense of the writer's message. By PAULR TAYLOR Volunteer editor since '86
Personal Values I've got dignity - for I've got worth I've got value and it ain't got nothing to do with money honey. So don't insult my dignity - my worth for money's a tool, cold cash and that is all It's not a heart, a conscience, an intellect, and 'unlike me' - unique as can be money can be replaced. inga g.
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We acknowledge that Carnegie Community Centre, and this News/etter, are occurring on Coast Sal ish Territory. 401 Main Street vancccver Canada ',./BA2T7 {P.04) 565·2289
THIS NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of individual contributors and not of the Association. WANTED Artwork for the Carnegie Newsletter -Small illustrations to accompany articles and poetry. -Cover art - Max size: 17cm(6 %")wide x 15cm(6")high. -Subject matter pertaining to issues relevant to the Downtown Eastside, but all work considered. -Black & White printing only. -Size restrictions apply (i.e. if your piece is too large, it will be reduced and/or cropped to fit). -All artists will receive credit for their work. -Originals will be returned to the artist after being copied for publication. -Remuneration: Carnegie Volunteer Tickets Please make submissions to Paul Taylor, Editor. The editor can edit for clarity, format & brevity, but not at the expense of the writer's message.
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