APRIL 1, 2020
carnnews@vcn.bc.ca 401 Main Street Vancouver Canada V6A 2T7 Email: carnnews@shaw.ca
(604) 665-2289
Website/Catalogue: carnegienewsletter.org
This is a shadow of the (un)usual Carnegie Newsletter Most news right now has to do with the pandemic; a stark reminder of what precautions to take, economic questions that seem to be answered in government announcements but are short on details, the disruption of social interactions and the ongoing drive for everyone to somehow advance their own agenda or cause or pet project. This one sheet wonder is not a manifesto, nor a distribe on what is or should be done. Each reader will have your own sites and trusted sources for updates. I will recommend the following sites, though, not yet able to sort out what is directly relevant to local residents or Downtown Eastsiders, regardless of where you actually live. The BC Poverty Reduction Coalition has a wide range of things that have been proposed and some results. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is home to much in the way ofpro~ressive analysis. The Vancouver Tenants Union reports on how this crisis is affecting renters. The City of Vancouver lists daily reports on what services are operating and what measures are in place. Both the Province of British Columbia and the Government of Canada have layers of material, but the financial assistance packages that have been extolled recently should be relatively easy to find. The Tyee is a good online source, as well as a site called Common Dreams. The latter is American in its content but gives perspective on corporate news. Locally there will be 'progress' reports on sites like the DTES Women's Centre, Carnegie Community Action Project, Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, First United Church, Western Aboriginal Harm Reduction Society, PIVOT, PACE, and more. Carnegie Community Centre is closed to the public, as is Evelyne SaIler Centre and the Gathering Place. Each is continuing with essential services involving food, though here (and elsewhere I think) on a take-out basis. Showers and laundry may be available at Evelyne SaIler but best to call or go to their web site to be sure. Back to just Carnegie, all programs are cancelled. There is a line of 6 or 7 Port-a-potties on E Hastings sidewalk Gust outside) as well as the underground washrooms on the corner.
Plans for Volunteer Recognition Week (Month) are suspended, as is the planned Carnegie Writers Festival hoped for in the 7_9th of May as part of the 40th anniversary celebrations. The hoped-for event for the anniversary in July may also be put on hold. The Newsletter is not being printed right now. The process of making it involved 1) getting content like writing, poetry, graphic art, announcements, programs being offered, event reports and more; 2) doing the editing and layout using Publisher, then emailing the finished paper to the Printer 2 days prior to publication and getting the collated stack delivered; 3) between 4 and 6 volunteers come together in the office to separate the stack into individual newsletters which are stapled, folded and readied for delivery (a process that takes from 3-5 hours for 1200 copies); 4) 2 more volunteers take 2 hours each to deliver to . 30+ places; 5) copies go via internal mail to City Hall and 4-5 other locations, with copies going via Post to those who pay for stamps, as well as embedding the paper on the website and sending it to over 150 email subscribers. With all volunteers and the various methods of delivery it takes 8-9 hours. This is about as up-to-date as it gets for now. Over the next 2 weeks I'll get more information on what is being done and what is plannedlhoped for. Please continue to write and submit stuff for the Carnegie Newsletter. We're all in this together and love is all there is. PAULR TAYLOR, Volunteer editor since 1986.
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