October 1, 1998, carnegie newsletter by Carnegie Newsletter

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1 Nlain Street, Vancouver V6A 2T7 (604) 665-2289 \5c151'

"Dispersal gets it all over, true. But containment hasn't worked. Mayor Phhp Owen, in the VancouverSun, 1998

"Displacement is not an effect of our policy. It is our policy." New York mayor Rudy Gi& in 1997, replying to questions about the effects of his zero-tolerance policy on the city's homeless and poor residents. i

disperse vb dispersed; dispersing

- : to break up and scatter about

displace vb I : to remove fiom the usual or proper place; esp :to expel or force to flee fiom home or native land. The Merriam WebsterDictionary, 1974.

Well, the mayor has finally spoken the dreaded word 'Ispersion'. That signals a new direction in city policy toward the Downtown Eastside -- or maybe officials have finally decided to be open about their true intentions. For about 6 or 7 years, Carnegie and other groups have worked with the City on the Victory Square Plan. Then the Housing Plan came along and we worked on that too. All along the assumption was that civic staff and politicians were committed to this community. They kept telling us that they recognized that this has always been a low income community and a place where

there has always beenlow rent housing. So when the big package of plans came out last month, it was full of nice-sounchg phrases like "no net loss" of low rent housing etc. But now, all of the sudden, it seems llke the Mayor has changed the agenda. In the final lines of a 5-part VancouverSun series on the Downtown Eastside, he told us that dispersion is a preferable option to containment. What does than mean? Well, it means that we've been right all along. We were right when we said that the Vancouver Police followed a strategy of deliberately concentrating the street drug trade and the sex trade in this neighbow-hood. Who heads the Vancouver Police Commission? Why,the mayor, of course. And now it sounds like we were right when we said that the city's real plan all along has been to push poor people out of the downtown area altogether. Despite all the soothmg words and phrases in the city's master plan, the final word belongs to the politicians. As it turns out, that word is 'dispersion'. Almost 30 years ago, city planners started publish-ing their visions for downtown Vancouver. That vision was summed up in the phrase that described downtown as the "cultural, executive capital of western Canada." Thls is a vision that doesn't have any room for the Downtown Eastside. How does dispersion work? All we have to do is take a look at what happened in mid-town and lower Manhatten in New York City. After Rudy Guiliani was elected mayor of New York, he unleased the police on homeless and poor people. Basically, if you didn't look right, you got pushed out of certain sections of town by relentless police harrassment and beatings. But the process had actually started in the 197% when developers started doing upscale developments all over lower Manhatten and then

up into mid-town, puspoor people out of their traditional neighbourhoods and creating more homelessness. In Vancouver, we've seen a similar process, as neighbourhoods all over the inner city, from Kits to Commercial Drive and Strathcona have gentrified. Now, developers have turned their eyes on the last cheap land in the downtown. And we're in the way. Our only way to fight is to r e k e to get out of the way. E. A Boyd

READING ROOM NEWS=-::-11. Here are some new books in the Reading Room (if they are out when you come in you might still find something interesting!): Area: Occult and New Age Dreaming Your Real Self: A Personal Approach Interpretation by Joan Mazza - how to uncover individual dream symbols. World's Greatest Unsolved Mvsteries by L & P Fanthorpe - exploration of the paranormal. Area: Canadian Biography Louis "David" Riel: "Prophet of the New World" by Thomas Flannagan. - Riel's relationship with the Catholic Church. Area: Hobbies and Crafts O r i m i Zoo: An Amazing Collection of Folded Paper Animals by R.Lang and S.Weiss. instructions on how to make animals out of paper Area: Physical Health. Positive Women: Voices of Women L i v i -n ~with AIDS edited by ARudd and D.Taylor - an international collection of writings If you are interested in using the Internet terminal in the Reading Room, ask for the Internet books kept behind the circulation desk (you'll have to have ID for these). Happy reading and surfing! Lin (while Andrew is on holiday)

Dear Friends,

The Community campaign called "Downtown Eastside Women Break the Silence Against Violence" has planned a series of events during the month of October to raise awareness about the ongoing violence against women in this community and to propose solutions toward Zero Tolerance for violence. We are asking that all people who live and work in this community take some action, such as having discussions with friends, inviting speakers, viewing films or participating in one of the organized events below. The media is constantly portraying this as a violent community. We can begin to take steps to prevent the violence that occurs within our community and to fight the violence that outsiders, including mass media, do to us. Please get involved!

Events scheduled so far: At Carnegie Community Centre (401 Main Street): October 7, Wednesday, 2 - 4 PM Workshop by Battered Women Support Services on "Violence in Relationships", Classroom 11, 3rdFloor October 8 - 29, Thursdays, 2 - 6 PM Wall quilt sewing project with Karenza, in the Art Gallery, 3rdFloor October 17, Saturday, approx. 4 PM Film about the Women's March against Poverty will be shown by End Legislated Poverty for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, in the Theatre, Main Floor October 19, Monday, 2 - 5 PM Wenlido (Self defense for Women), starting in

Classroom 11, 3rdFloor *'*Please sign up by coming to the Program Office, 3rdFloor or calling 665-2274 October 20, Tuesday, 1 - 4 PM Art against violence: Mask making, in Art Gallery, 3rdFloor October 23, Friday An open forum for men and women, in the Theatre, Main Floor Throughout October see selection of resources on women in display case in Art Gallery, 3 r dFloor

At Downtown Eastside Seniors Centre (509 E. Hastings): October 6 - 27, Tuesdays, 3 - 5 PM Campaign planning meetings October 26, Monday, 1 PM Discussion on violence against seniors At DERA Solheim Place (251 Union, 9'h Floor): October 21, Wednesday, 1 - 4 PM "Women know your rights about welfare and tenancy"

Literacy Bar Once again I am privileged to be included in the Literacy Day celebration at Carnege. I've learned many things and have virtually mastered some. I am in charge of the fax machine in the Learning Centre and tutor on the Freenet. Many faces have come and gone since last year but the commitment and respect remain the same. I truly believe that the Learning Centre has gone ahead, despite the Vancouver School Board leavmg. Under the direction of Carol, Sarah and Tim the LC is doing just dandy. Let's not forget the many volunteers who endow their time to answer the phone, maintain reception, help tutor and do all the other consequential tasks so others may learn what they need to master.

DOyou wvutC to see something funny? Go downstairs to the Library and ask for the Sept.15 edition of the Globe&Mail. On pages A19 and A23 it talks about plastic women and plastic men. Men get chest implants, leg implants, and the biggest seller is penis implants to make theirs larger. The article talks of the weights used to keep it long after surgery. It says that you can get your whole body to look like a weightlifter in less than 2 weeks! You can make your arms bigger than IIulk Hogan's.. you can get plastic muscle implants all over. There are more men getting plastic surgery than women now. A lot of men over 60 paid $50,000 to get the whole deal and after the plastic surgery appear to be 35-45 again.

Cal

Date and location to be announced: Workshops on:

violence against sex trade workers violence against lesbians anti-racism

November 13 - 15 Women's retreat to strategize on ongoing campaign to fight violence Look for updated notices thoughout the community as more events and activities are organized. For more information, resources or to get involved, please call 682-3269 #8319

Editor, Remove the criminal charge that illlegal drugs carry. Place the illegal drugs undeer the control of the Drug Act. Rh.N. Burgar

I HAVE TRAVELLED DOWN 1-HIS HIGHWAY OF HOPE ABANDONED AND BROKEN DREAMS. AN UNBELIEVER MY HOPE WAS SHAKEN BY ALL THE SORROW THAT I SEEN. EMMYLOU HARRIS [COWGIRL'S PRAYER]

Carnegie Writer's Circle conre cutd see &at wce 're all about everyone welcome to sit, listen and read

when: every Tuesday from 2 - 4 pm where: Carnegie Centre, 3rd floor

OLD MISSION CHSJRCH at Gore and Hastings In the 30's and 40's First United was the Rock of Ages (stdl is) for the down-and-outers of Vancouver - haven for the unloved, refige for the losers, last hope for the dying. ...not many survivors of ttus ancient mission left, but a few of us remember people life Jeannie McDuff, "Pin-Up Girl of the Hungry and Homeless", Jennie Pentland, "Florence Nightingale of the East E n d , Andy Turner, "tough, tough Boy's Worker", and a host of others includmg my own Dad. He was famous as Great Heart of Mgrims Progress, and "the Joe Louis of the pulpit" - for nearly 20 years he blasted the Devil fiom the streets of his parish.

SAM RODDAN

Lustily Love Love burns hot like fire, True Love, I DO desire. But Love from you I can not steal, Love is something you can only truly feel. Lust does not burn like fire, but is a flame, Never will your heart be tame?

that nature holds its own and lets go like this once I walked this valley, believing labour grand, aspirations tunneled into the deep, silent, grey heart of the world knowing, as survivors do, life could lurch, tumble, derail mountains walk, water rise, and yet in the morning light, glistening tracks our certainty, across the land would signal promise? future? the hope that childhood's fields run right now to our own, here even h s far asunder?

I mean,didn't we know the women dancing,the men

A Lust for me I know you'll always keep, For Lust strikes hot and deep. Whatever it may be, flame or fire, You are the one, I truly desire. Throughout our lives, each twist and turn, My feelings for you will always burn. Cassandra Jane Haavisto B.C.C.W. - Sept. '98

at the blinkered, heartfelt burlesque of stories lived and died for daily, entrained and detrained at potential whatevers of lust, wanderlust, each whoever's plain making of everything owned, rented, stolen let alone the unownable persistence we call that immense, raised landscape looming like own deaths in some trackless, arrogant jumble earth's last word whose language, above and below us is forever perfectly frank? 'eeney

lhere are also reports f m n the antarctic 7. of mnsicmsized chunks of icebergs falling i n t o the sea w i t h increasing regularity. And, of course, we're all amre of the holes in the o m layer above both poles of our little blue planet.

Sammy Sosa

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And still, the corporate-controlled govermwts of north hmrica keep treating the f o r e s t s like a c a i t y to enhance the c a p i t a l i s t system of e c o d c s instead of wrshipping than as delicate nrrhanisrs that regulate our heather and produce the air w breathe.

As seasom go, the best season ever has turned by Samny & k. lhey battled the w i l l but never each other and brought good SpoI-tmmhip hck.

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'Ihere are mall groups of people in this

Trees survive by ahsorbing m t e r , carbon dioxide, and soil nutrients. ll-~? tree's leaves convert of the mter and carbon dioxide i n t o f u e l f o r growth. About 99 percent of the mter is released from the leaves as mter vapor. A single large tree m y release about 900 liters of moisture per day i n t o the amphere. When sunlight strikes the mixture of carbon dioxide and mter in the tree leaves, axyglen is produced. 2,500 pounds of carbon dioxide is absorbed, and 2,000 pounds of oxygen is released f o r every 2,000 pounds of tree mod growth. Forests naturally capture and s t o r e c a r h . Burning the fossil f u e l s of o i l and gas unnaturally increases the production of car& dioxide. As mre and mre large tracts of trees disappear, mre carbon dioxide escapes i n t o our amphere instead of bestored and hamilessly released by the forests.

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It ms claimed decades ago that if the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere ever doubled, the polar ice caps w u l d begin to d t and

the average mrld-wide

temperature

muld

increase.

Guess &at. In this decade an expedition t o the northern mlar area discovered that

land h risk their persMal safety and freedan fighting a l m l y b a t t l e against the suicidal insanity of indtLstridl forest destruction. 'Ihey're called eco-terrorists and ridiculed as tree huggers by the corporate news lredia dm, a t the same time, instill public apathy by giving the b a t t l e the cartoonish ~ I E of 'me tar in the woods." And we, the public, w mt to be a p t h i i d We mt t o hear only the positive things about our collective existence, and j u s t let everything else r i d e on our dunb instinr t i v e optinrisn of the future. We just don't kant to deal with the real possibility of our g r e a t - g r e a t m c h i l d r e n ' choking f o r a share of the dj ' ' ' lg oxygen supply while baking in the increesing heat of the global inferno. 'No,'' w e say, "if it's not in the newspaper, it can't be so.''

Downtown Eastside Slowpitch League Yes, thls season is over. TheFalcons came first and the Spartans came second and the final game was one of the most exciting of the entire year. Since I am a native coach and have coached native teams, I'd like to share my observations and opinions on the importance of our community, the native community, being involved in the recreational life of the DE, and in particular the Downtown Eastside Slowpitch League (DESL). The DESL seems to have completely fallen apart this season. There was a singular lack of organization as most teams struggled to make it to the end of the season; however, I feel that community politics have and are playing a major role in the current demoralization of the League. Having coached a co-ed baseball team in the DESL for the past 15 years, I'd like to remind some of you of the old days of the League.. in the early eighties. There were the Derelicts with Earl Scott, the Drayom with Judy and Arlene, Norm Dennis from the Wolverine%and the league was run by Sandman, Bob Hay and Norm. Back then the league made money, it &d a good job in getting all the teams involved... there did not exist a policy of selecting a few teams and their friends a policy that has caused manipulation and destruction withn the league and contributed to the current chaos. In the early days the League teams played out of Oppenheimer, Strathcona and McLean Parks. (Today we have moved uptown and enjoy the amenities of Astroturf and night-lighting at Livingstone Park.). I can't forget old Sam S . , the Spartans'

loyal fan. He was right in there at League meetings, giving his opinions; he'd also give players advice on how to develop their skills while helping new teams find sponsorship. Sam was always there to lend a hand. At one time we had sixteen teams. We had teams from the North Shore - Top Gun and Sudden Impact - which we met in tournament play under

the shadow of the totem poles of the Capilano Reserve. We met Glen and his North Shore Caps who made the trip twice a week to play in the DESL. My memories go back to playing with the Orcas. Bob Hay and Casper always gave us a hard time in the playoffs; sometimes they won and sometimes we won, but it was always fun. The Bees and the Eagles were also a couple of topnotch teams in those days, and they welcomed good rivalry. The Braves, Young Guns Warriors, DT Rowdies, Performers and Timberwolves were all examples of native teams from the Eastside who got their start in the DESL and became contenders in both League and tournament play. We all benefitted from the DESL, developing social skills and just simply making friends. Another way the community benefitted was in crime reduction. When more people were involved in the DESL there was less substance abuse an3 less violence. It's always good to see so many Indian kids in the DESL, enjoying the benefits of a drug and alcohol-free environment. Some of their brothers and sisters have not been so 1ucky.The League provided an alternative to the negative activities of the street scene. I remember that when there was a ball game at Oppenheimer, it was standing room only. Both

My Dream 'dugouts' were crowded with people cheering on their teams. The benches on both sides of Cordova Street held old-timers who regularly came out for some affordable entertainment. It appears right now that there are too many mandates, that there are not enough Chiefs to deal with First Nations issues in the Downtown Eastside. Some questions: 1. Who has control and ownership of the DESL? 2. Who will fulfill the duties of Past President in the off-season'? 3. %?lo is officially elected with other teams' involvement for the new executive board? Some recommendatioits: 1. That the League executive take a more active role in fund-raising activities. (e.g. tournaments, dances, raffles, dc.) 2. That the League adopt a democratic process in the election of the executive and in the choosing of tournament trophies for females and males (i.e. for the MVP (Most Valuable Player)). 3. That the League support, in equipment and funds, an all-woman team to represent the Downtown Eastside. 3.That the League organize a team for men over 35 5. That the League support, in equipment and fund., a tearnlleague for boys under 14. . The DESL has a long history in our neighbourhood and it would be a shame and a waste to let it go. hhybe it is about time some of us put away our differences and come to the aid of our League and comniunity. By FRED ARRANCE

I love you, but it hurts so. I'm afraid to stay and afraid to go. I long to feel your touch, hear the sound of your voice, feel your lips on mine. Our bodies are close, but I'm afraid it is just a dream. Soon I will wake and you will be gone, and again I will be alone. Alone yes, but to have you just in my dreams I can't take; or is it just in my dreams I hear you say you love me, knowing I can never have you, to feel you touch my heart, and fly with my soul. If I reach for you, will you go? If 1 don't try, I will never know. 1 love you and this will never let me go; so should I open my eyes if they are closed? Will you take my heart when you go? 1 hear your voice so soft and low; give me your heart and soul. Should I them or let them go? Should I open my eyes and wake and find I'm alone, and you are just in my dream? No! I love you. Take me, take my heart and soul, let me dream. Some day I will reach for you and you may go, but for now let me dream oh let me dream. Linda Preston

often grow up with serious long-term health problems, adding billions of dollars to the health care bill. * Among families with a head under the age of 25, the incidence of poverty nearly doubled between 1981 and 1991 (7).Families are being tom apart by poverty, unemployment, and part-time work at the nightmare continues low wages. Child abuse and neglect increase with poverty because the stress of living with insufficYou know as well as I do that the poorer you are, ient money is intolerable. The mental health the worse health you are likely to have. We can system is filled with survivors of child trauma, say, along with Toronto's Department of Public and this is true even though most people who have Health, that "Poverty may be one of the greatest been abused in childhood never come to health hazards any society has ever faced." (1) The psychiatric attention. (8) To say that child abuse Ontario Medical Assoc. put it thls way: "Poverty and neglect are strongly related to poverty is not kills more people in Canada than cancer."(z) to say that poor people in general abuse and If you are poor in Canada you can expect: neglect their children. On the contrary, onIy a * An infant mortality rate 1.95 times hgher for small minority do so. "But the myth of classlessmale infants and 1.88 times higher for female ness directs our attention away from the crippling infants than the rate for people not poor. (3) * An accident, poisoning and violence mortality effects of poverty, the shrinking of choices, and the overwhelming stress that can provoke abuse rate 1.88times hgher for males and 1.45times and neglect." (9) higher for females. (3) * The return of tuberculosis as a dangerous kil Ler * A prevalence of mental disorders 2.09 times is related to poverty and abominable living higher for both sexes (3) * If you are poor and male you can expect to live conhtions. "TB is truly a disease of poverty," said Vancouver medical health ofticer Dr. John 6.3 fewer years and, if you are female, 2.8 fewer Blatherwick. (lo) The incidence of tuberculosis in years than those who are not poor (3) the Downtown Eastside is 2.4 times higher than [Statistically, women in the Downtown Eastside die 18 years earlier than women in wealthier parts the Vancouver rate and 7 times hlgher than the provincial rate in BC. (11) The rate of TB is 43 of Vancouver.(91 times higher among status Indians as among non* The rate of suicide for Canadian teenagers has Canadians born in Canada. (12) aboriginal quadrupled in the last 30 years, and poverty and * The HIVIAIDS epidemic is a health problem unemployment are factors in thls increase. The that "should be viewed as one face of poverty and teenage suicide rate is among the hlghest of the its aftermath." (13) The Hepatitis C epidemic is industrialized nations. For non-native males in also one face of poverty. Canada between the ages of 15 and 24, the rate is * Drug addiction in the Downtown Eastside is a now 25 per 100,000 population. For native males health problem associated with poverty, childhood between 15 and 24,the rate is 116 per 100,000 trauma, unemployment and despair. population. (s) * One in four poor mothers tummg to food banks * The increasing use of intravenous drugs by 12 to 15 year-olds, and the increasing number of 13 to for groceries suffer &om severe hunger (a) Low 15 year-olds involved in the sex trade is one face birthweight infants and malnourished children

COMMUNITY ACTION PROJEC October 1, 1998

What about the rest of the reports in the white binder ? (story inside)

STWTEGiC ACTiON PLAN GOES TO dOUPJCiL TClUR5DAY, OCrOBER 22 (NOT OCTOBER g) I n an unprecedented display of assertiveness Council may actual make some decisions in 3 weeks about this neighbourhood. It has been a long journey of meetings, discussions, debates and delays regarding municipal strategies that could improve the security and livability of Downtown Eastside residents. The Strategic Action Plan, to be decided upon by Council on Thurday, October 22 (it was to be on Oct.8), has five (5) specific objectives: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Reduce the incidence of drug addiction Reduce drug-related crime Improve conditions at the street level Improve existing SROs and build replacement low-income housing: 5. Help community people to find allies and seek a common future.

To achieve these five objectives Council is asked to consider eight (8) recommendations supported by a number of actions. Most of the recommendations, and the actions that support them, involve existing city by-laws, which are to be aggressively enforced under this plan. Some of the recommendations require provincial and federal support, particularly those related to drug issues. This appears to be far from certain. Others require the implementation of the City's Housing Plan. A report yet to be considered, if ever.

What's new are measures such as: working towards the regulation of rice wine - not really a new idea-; funding for street programming on Hastings St ($110,000 per year); an economic strategy to attract more businesses to Hastings St., perhaps the City even funding a number of community-based businesses; and, the hiring of a consultant to help resolve differences in the community in order to build a common future.

After much thought, CCAP is generally in favour of the Strategic Action Plan. However, there are some cautionary points that CCAP will make Council aware of.

1) First and foremost, if Council is serious about improving the existing residential hotels, then it must act to ensure that there are hotels around to improve. PASS A HOTEL CONVERSION CONTROL BY-LAW !! 2) ZERO TOLERANCE IS ANOTHER WORD FOR DISPERSION. All low-income residents are at risk of being caught in a drift-net approach to improving conditions at the street level, which leaves the streets unfriendly to anybody who is poor or different. The practice of zero tolerance measures in other cities has proven to be merely an instrument of gentrification.

3) CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG.. . MAYBE NOT. The hiring of aconsultant to do

conflict resolution is not considered that useful by CCAP. Why, because conflicting opinions on what is best for the Downtown Eastside is no excuse for Council not make decisions about this Community. Council routinely makes decisions affecting other neighbourhoods in the City even though there is not complete consensus.

1 )

4) REPORTS THAT MAY NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY. It is absolutely imperative that the Housing Plan for the Downtown Eastside be considered by Council before this Christmas. The time for discussion is over. Although CCAP is quite concerned about certain elements in the Housing Plan, they are fundamentally politcal in nature and not within the ability of city staff to resolve. They are Council's responsibility. Let's get on with it !

5 ) HOW CAN WE HAVE FAITH IN THIS PROCESS IF THE MAYOR FAVOURS DISPERSAL. In light of the Mayor's comments in the Vancouver Sun, any commitment by Council to a no net loss of the low-income residential housing stock within the Downtown Core is not to be taken seriously. Faith is further compromised by a recent letter to CCAP from the City Manager, who also favour dispersal over a policy of no net loss in the Downtown Core.

Getting to City Hall, October 22 CCAP will be organizing assistance for residents who need help getting up to City Hall on Thursday, October 22. Drop by our office, 2nd flr. Carnegie, ask for Tom or call us at 689-0397.

COUNCIL MEASURES TO KEEP IN MIND In October and May 1989, Council resolved to: 1) Adopt the broad objective of maintaining, upgrading and increasing the existing stock of core need housing in the Downtown. 2) Foster the social development of Vancouver as home to ; wide variety of people with many different racial, ethnic, cultural backgrounds and social, economic lifestyles. 3) Facilitate the provision of a wide range of housing forms and shelter costs to meet the needs of existing and future Vancouver residents of all backgrounds and lifestyles. 4) Maintain and expand housing opportunities in Vancouver for low and moderate income households, with priority being given to Downtown lodging house residents, elderly people on fixed and limited incomes, the physically and mentally disabled, and single-parent families with children. 5) Encourage the distribution of acceptable housing forms and affordable shelter costs equally among a11 residential neighbourhoods of Vancouver rather than concentrating :hem in a few areas.

New York City's, Mkyor Guiliani mistakes freedom for fascism. Freedom, Guiliani argued, is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being willing to cede to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do and how you do it. (New York Newsday 4120198) (In a recent Village Voice article it was stated that Guiliani's interpretation of freedom has cost the New York City over $90 million in one year in civil suits against the police for brutality and wrongful arrest. )

What is ass-backward about this entire development is that the community benems package (i.e. compensation for the negative impacts of this development) was negotiated in 11994 Four (41 years before the Community Impacts Assessment was completed by the Cify. The result is a communify benefifs package that in no way near deals with the impacts this project will have on the Downtown Eastside More on this next issue.

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of poverty, child trauma and unemployment. (14) * The increasing rate of alcohol and drug addiction and mcreasing problems with the law for people - - with mental disabilities is one face of poverty - a sign that the health and social needs of people are not being met. * Increasing homelessness with its many health problems is one face of poverty. * The increasing anxiety of residents of the Down town Eastside as they see gentrification destroying their homes is one face of poverty. A former Vancouver coroner, Lany Campbell, has said that the stress residents are under is far too much for many to bear. This is one reason there have been so many deaths in the Downtown Eastside. (16) * The stress of dealing with a welfare system that has declared class war on BC's poorest citizens is overwhelming both for those on income assistance and workers in the system itself. Stress can kill, as we all know. Low-income citizens are fighting back, though. In the Downtown Eastside we have a tradition of resistance and support going back to Vancouver's early days. By SANDY CAMERON To be conrimred.

References: (1) The Unequal Society: A Challewe to Public Health. Dept. of Public Health, Toronto, Nov.1985. (2) Brief to the Ontario Social Assistance Review Committee, Ontario Meleal Assoc., Jan.9, 1987. (3) I l e Unequal Society Nov. 1985 (4) The Phght of Women in the Downtown Eastside, by Linda Hossie. L'ancouver Suq Jan. 18,1982. (5) Help Wanted - economic securitv for youth, by Nadm Rehnby & Stephen McBride, pub. by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 1997, p.36. (6) Study Finds Severe Hunger in Poor Mothers. 17ancoriver Surh Apd 6, 1998. (7) The Relationslup Between PovertV and Child Health, by Gail Aitken and Andy Mitchell. in the Canadian Review of Social Policy, Spring 1995, #35. (8) Trauma and Recovery, by Judith Herman. Pub. by Basic Books, p. 122.

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Poetry and Prose Nights in the Carnegie theatre j

featuring writers from Carnegie and The Gathering Place

last Tuesday of every month from 7 - 10:15PM j sign up for each 10 minute time slot begins at 6:30 PM

)

refreshments! open mike! musical accompaniments if desired!

(9) Child Abuse and Neglect The Mvth of

Classlessness, by Leroy Pelton: in The Social Context of Child Abuse and Ne~lect,pub. by Human Sciences Press, NY, 1981. (1 0) Slun Tests Won't Work by Gordon Clark, The Province, March 24, 1996. (11) The Rhetoric of Health Promotion and the Reality of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside: Breedmg Cynicism, by Michael Hayes - in Community, Environment and Health: Geographic Perspectives,

ed. by Michael Hayes, Leslie Foster and Harold Foster, pub. by the University of Victoria, 1992. (12) Native tuberculosis rate unbelievable, by Alanna Mitchell, The Globe&Mail, Nov.30, 1994 (13) HIVIAIDS and Injection Drug Use in the Downtown Eastside, a report to the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board, Sept. 1997. (14) You Have Heard This Before - Street Involved Youth and the Service Gaps,by M.K. Chad & L.S. Thompson - commissioned for the Interministerial Street Youth Committee, 1997- funded by the Social Planrung Dept., City of Vancouver. (15) Collectinn the Fragments of Broken Lives - maior changes in mental health policy are talanZI their toll on the East Side, by Jeannine Mtchell, the Georgia Straight, Oct.21-28, 1994 (16) Woodward's a cornerstone of threatened Downtown Eastside community, by Bud Osborn, Christian Info News, Nov. 1995

effect. The deposits will be as follows.: Non-alcohol beverage containers 5 cents for up to one litre. a 20centsforoveronelitre.

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binner@cn. bcca

Greetings fellow binners & binnerettes: A special hello to Tom, owner of PnmeTirne Chicken on Carrall at Cordova Street. He has specials like 2 legs for a loonie. I found a CD player with the "Best of Ann Murray". I filed that llke yesterday's toast. As of Oct lst, the recycling changes come into

Alcohol containers I0 cents for up to one litre. 20 cents for over one litre. Milk and rice wine containers are not included j ~ t As some of you know I am a candidatee in the next civic election. I will be running under the middle finger party with Joe Kuntz as my campain manager. See you at the polls or at shitty hall. Don't forget that you know that you're in Canada if you fart and geese honk at you. Have a good month and & h Let's be careful out there. By Mr. Mcbinner

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a%!?!!?! w i 7 X A t f 6 - 1-1

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This is a course offered out of UBC to residents

What's happening to the Canadian pension plan?

Elastic Band (an epithet to Tom Gaudette)

Don't belleve the media myth that there is a pension crisis. These stories are being written by financial institutions that want to get a hold of ow: pension plan.

Come to a forum on October 2, 7 pm, to hea Monica Townsend, a renowned Canadian economist, speak and attend workshops all day Saturday. Where? 1400 Robson Street.

Big Hand it's a 'rich crop' that they are growing are 'rich crops' that have come before they have purged us from our homes from our beds from our families they have taken us, forsaken us, prices arc falling and the bombs have been dropped our crisis allures the penny-pinching criminality of that higher order those words so aesthetically obscured of gentrification.. of revitalization of h~gherideals creating graveyards in their treatiees of today but we can stand up yes we can stand up but our tears alone do not help we can stand up and memories can remain can remain, in the field of misery

I missed his funeral in the turmoil of my own existence hurrying on trying to succeed in some small avenue graded tbr the eventuality of being free to work cultivating my own garden I missed his funeral and am haunted by his shadow, very few knew his name yet some knew his style, he jisled and rattled in his backwards chariot they put him there many years before side effects shattering his existence shattering his resistance battering in the alleys as he lay crumpled, ill-treated, by the brats of today

I missed his funeral and shed a tear they tried to knock me down but I only stood up though I am on shaky rattled legs yes, I only stood up and thought of those rubber bands that he used to use to fix his wheelchair Paulette Carver

HOW FAR SHOULD WE GO? What do you think? The Carnegie Association is a registered charity that gets a fair amount of money each year from donations. Last year, for instance, we got a $3,000 donation from the Royal Bank across the street for weight room equipment. But, what if the bank asked for somethg in return? The Royal Bank often takes out newspaper ads featuring its donations policy as a way of highlighting its community activity. It usually talks about groups that get those donations. Carnegie has never been secret about its views on big banks and big bank profits. If they had asked us, could we have given them permission to let them use our name and profile in one of their promotional ads? These days, more and more donors, especially of the corporate type, - - are demanding returns for their donor investment. This isn't a new thing. We're in

a building that is named after Andrew Camegie, a US robber baron and steel magnate. It was built with money that was sweated by workers in steel mills in the last century -- some of whom were killed by strike-breakers. When Andew Camege died, his money went into the Carnegie Endowment, which gave grants for universities and libraries across North America. So, here we are, in a buildmg named after a corporate cut-throat. More and more businesses seem to have learned from Andrew Camegie. If

they give money away, they want to bd recognized for it. The question we need to answer is: How far should we go with this? Sometimes, donors want a plaque naming them put up in a room or a prominent place. Others, like the Royal Bank, want to use your name in promotional ads. The new Vancouver Public Library cards have the Concord Pacific logo on them. This is the result of a major donation to the public library system in Vancouver. At the downtown campus of Simon Fraser University, there are rooms named after big corpiirations and

business wanted to give us a substantial amount of cash. Would we re-name the library after the Bank of Montreal? Or would we call the seniors lounge the MacMillan Bloedel Seniors Lounge? What about the Seagrams Spiral Staircase'? In contrast, when the Vancouver Foundation gave Carnegie more than a quarter million dollars for renovations here, it didn't ask for anything track. What do you think? Should donations be treated as "investments?" How far should the Association go in giving donors returns for their donations. What can we do about it, if we don't like it'?Drop the newsletter a line. Or come to the Finance Committee meeting, the Wednesday before the CCCA board meeting*, and let us know what j~ou tSunk about this. Jeff Sommers for the Finance Com&ttee

* the board meets on theJlrst Thursday each rnorrtli.

A Cause of Depression Modem research into clinical depression began in the 1960s.Neurosurgeons were studying epilepsy through experiments on monkeys. Scientists would pass a small electrical current too a relevant part of a monkey's brain. At fmt nothing would happen, but after a series of shocks, the monkey would have small seizures. In time, the animal would need less and less electrical stimulus in order to cause seizure. Eventually it would have spontaneous seizures without any electrical stimulus. Apparently, anatomical changes had occurred. (Resachers call h s process "kindhg.')

Modem psychatry h n k s that human depression is caused in a similar way. Though monkeys can progress to epilepsy and humans to depression, the affect on brain cells, whether it be fiom physicaI or psychologtcal trauma, is quite similar. Following an initial traumatic experience, usually in childhood, a series of neuro-chemical reactions occur. They determine whether the cell makes new connections with other neurons or allows old connections to whither. Messages sent through the neuro-chemical process may become e n t w e d or never receive at all. At first, there may be no evidence of a reaction, but as the growing person is reminded through similar connectmg events, the faulty wiring system within the brain is activated. In time, these damaged

neuro-chemical pathways can send faulty information, independent of external stimulus and on a consistent basis. In effect, due to early trauma, a child's mental functioning can undergo anatomical changes. Eventually somethmg as simple as a cloudy day or a rude remark can leave a person bed-ridden or crying. It is then that a clinical depression may be diagnosed. Sluggishness of thought, low self-esteem, absence of pleasure and an inability to organize one's affairs are some of the symptoms. There is also evidence that a child may mherit a predisposition to the effects of, and be easily influenced by, trauma. Some children may be more susceptibleto trauma than others. (see Listeninst to Prozac, by Peter Kramer,

StephenKmnis

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Goodw~lCommittee As you know, too many of our patrons and volunteers end up spending time in hospital. If you've ever been hospitalized, you'll remember how slowly the time passes, and how much you appreciate visitors. We are looking for a few kindhearted Carnegie volunteers to donate a few hours of their time to visiting our friends in hospital. If you'd like to help, contact Anthea or

David Deeley, 6829 ~ l w e lSt., l Vancouver, BC

Pager: 604-450-0750

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: I'm a 33 year-old man 6ft 6in in height, too old to play sports. I smoke a little pot and I get ideas about inventions, sports, poetry and commercials, but I have dyslexia and strange ideas but very philosoph~cal.I become preoccupied by them but controlled on me&, and I have a beautiful daughter who I lose very much, and want to see her and have her enjoy my sense of humour, and help her become a success, and her get involved in social activities, and get her interested in school and the fun involved. No one could love Robyn more than me, the nicest dad in the universe. I really do have potential to invest someone's money and make a lot of money with my ideas. I guess I'm asking for a little charity for my lovely daughter, who was terribly hurt and traumatized by the loss of a beautiful little person, her sister 4 years old who was struck by cancer. I cried In the psych hospltal - (they locked me in a room for 2 days with no clothes, gave me medcation just because I pushed the door iyxn a little hard) - in great pain when I heard the news. I've never been violent since 1985, when I thought the world was endmg. I know now that the rich won't blow up the luxury, and we all know they're In control ot' the world. Maybe I could work out and be a wrestler in pro rugs.. 1just need a sponsor - I can make people laugh and have fun and be the life of the party, when I play pool and so on. If you would like to reply to this letter and be a sponsor please write to the above address. Everybody loved Skylar. May God be with her always. Yours most sincerely, David Deeley

PS: I forgot to say I write poetry and songs, and comedy. Hurt, needs advice, and so will Robyn.

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Cooking Wine The dr~nkingof coolung wine (salty rice wine) has had drastic and tragic effects not only on First Nations People but on many other people who live in the Downtown Eastside. At an average $3 a bottle it provides a potent but cheap source of alcohol, yet the salt content does irreparable damage to the internal organs. Those who resort to drlnking this noxious poison to delay the inevitable Dts quickly deteriorate, and millions of dollars allocated to health and addiction issues in the area are not producing any real changes. The regulation of liquor in government stores does not cover this substance - it is for 'cookmg'. Derrick Y.H.Cheng, Chairman of the Chinese Cultural Centre, spoke to the issue in the last Carnegie lVewsletter, being a h a n t that rice wine is for cooking and therefore a legitimate product. He tgnores or fails to understand the social and economic pressures on persons living in poverty and who perhaps are addcted to h s cheap form of alcohol. Oppenheher Park can a f f m the deleterious effects of consuming this wine, and its packaging w a r n no one of this. Tolerance or resignation

among residents leads to intimidation against using ths park, because of the raucous behaviour and outbreaks of violence among individuals who feel they have nothing fiuther to lose. Current ideas of cleanmg the streets and putting up pretty pictures are nice but don't get to the root of the problem - they may in fact just cover up the helplessness and homelessness. The problem of alcohol and drug abuse has been allowed to get out of control. It's a terrible thmg to see elders sleeplng and dying on the pews of First Church, but no one agency can deal with aU the problems. I feel many of the people employed in agencies and organizations know little about alcohol or drug abuse, but they perceive themselves as expert The focus for programs must be a traditional and cultural one. In primarily First Nations support groups, there should be respected elders involved - red elders, real pipe carriers, those who can conduct sweat lodges for healing and not just as a means to make money. Many community groups are using elderly people in order to obtain grants and program-money, but t h s practice is h d . The Downtown Eastside, once an affordable place for seasonal workers, has become a dumping ground for the helpless, home to an international street drug scene and a place where all manner of aberrations and addictions are permitted to take place in 1 1 1 view of the public and the police. The alcohol as coolung wine is relatively new to aboriginal people, yet it is devastating our people in ways that blights visited by the non-natives of the past couple of hundred years never did. Indian people are dying and our leaders, our elected representatives, seem caught up in budget cuts and continuing to fimd worn-out methods of dealing with t h s epidemic. Our Chiefs must begin to contact grassroots and front-line individuals. We must review the services at hand, commencing actions to stop and reverse this trend. Perhaps then we can utilise the resources we already have. . BYFRED ARRANCE

DOWNTOWN STD CLINIC 219 Main; Monday Friday, 10 a.m. 6 p.m. EASTSIDE NEEDLE EXCHANGE 221 Main; 8:30 a.m. 8 p.m. every day YOUTH NEEDLE EXCHANGE VAN 3 Routes City 5:45 p.m. 11:45 p.m. ACTIVITIES Overnight 12:30 a.m. 8:30 a.m. SOCIETY Val A.-$SO Downtown Eastside 5:30 p.m. 1:30 a.m.

5 $n 1998 DONATIONS UI

P a u l a R.-$10 Wm. .B.-$32 2p. I J o y T.-$18 a , C h a r l e y B.-$15 z O" t i b b y D.-$50 Sam R.-$40 . R i c k Y.-$45 n p, S h a r o n 5.-$30 BCCW -$25 Ray-Cam - $ I 0 ", H a r o l d D.-$20 (0 Sonya S.-$80 Yancy H.-$35 J e n n i f e r M.-$15 W o 3 r e n d a P.$IO n n

Neil N.420 l l e l e n e S.-$18 J e n n y K.-$18 Tim S.-$18 Thomas B.-$14 B e t h L.-$18 Bill G.-$100 I R o l f A.-$25 B r u c e 5.-$14 $12 BCTF S a b i t r a -$I5 S u s a n S.-$7 M a r g a r e t D.-$20 DEYAS -$I50 PRIDE - $ 5 0

c'&:.%

FREE -da?mons aaeplal

NEWSLETTER THE NEWSLETTER IS A PUBLICATION OF THE CARNEGIE COMMUNITY CENTRE ASSOCIATION Articles represent the views of contributors end not of the Association.

inark October 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, with a march and rally. All people will assemble at the City Centre Campus at ~unsmuirand Hamilton at 1 p.m. and march to Camegie for the rally. There will be speakers, entertainment, information tables, children's activities, a video of the Canadian Women's P.overtp March held in Quebec and, of course, food For more info call ELP at 879-1209. Y: A four-panel mural, part of the Walls of Change project, was swiped! The thieves had to have a ladder, a truck and tools, since the panels were securely fixed. If you have a clue or a hint about who ripped off this art, call Sharon at 665-2220.

have died and the throwaway talk of need for more &ox beds and treatment facilities seems to be just that - talk. A report from a committee of the Vancouver/Richmond Health Board was leaked to the press. It called for the establishment of 4 safe-injjection sites in the Downtown Eastside and it was met with much criticism. The march and rally were the users' reaction to thls inertia of people, the stifling non-action that leads straight to more people dying. It's easy for the non-addicts to write off those active in their addctions as better off dead, until a person known to them dies. This is a form of genocide. *Sex, predators, pimps, gangs, guns and kids'? The Child & Youth Strategy, unfolding out of the Neighbourhood Safety Office, takes all these

people failing to apply for Disability 2 benefits." Neighbourhood Helpers Project is holding a meeting at First Church at 320 E.Hastings from 10:30-1 :00 on October 6. One pressing question to speak on is "What's next and who's next?" *: The Vancouver/Richmond Health Board has issued a request for interested people to consider applying to become a member of this body. It's been responsible in the last year for declaring the K[V/AU)S emergency and for successfully asking R C Housing to acquire both the Sunrise and Washington hotels. There's a lot to it, but applications have to be in by Monday, October 5. Call Christine Mills at 775-2812 for infom~ation * '-How many deaths does it take until we h o w that too many people have died?" The Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) held a march and rally on September 19 to express grief and outrage at the overdose deaths occuring in record numbers. Since 1992 almost 2000 people

work to bring light to the exploitation of children for sex. Federal law - section 2 12(4) of the criminal code - has a loophole big enough to free virtually every person charged with buying sex from a person under 18. The perp has to believe that the kid was underage! This, along with the sleazier defense lawyers, has resulted in fewer than a dozen charges being laid over several years and the trade in children for sex is growing. The Child & Youth Strategy is launching a major initiative to train people throughout the community - in community centres, local hangouts, taxi drivers, delivety people, hotel clerks, anyone and everyone - on what to doo when sexual predators are spotted. The workshops will include how to get and report the kind of evidence needed to prosecute, what the signs of sexual predation are and what police need in order to make an arrest. The police are big supporters of this, due to their inability under current law to

* End Legislated Poverty is organising an event to

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arrest predators without accep+le evidence. Gangs such as the Indian Posse and the West Coast Players have been named as part of the problem, movmg kids around to different strolls and making the business of selling children for sex a going concern. Decades of ignorance give such slimy businessmen the current edge; no one wants to admit the size of the cancer. A recent tip identified the Vancouver Club, where many powerful and wealthy individuals socialise, as a drop-off point for children, mostly native and as young as 10, to be used for sex. Individuals, giving credence to the allegation, observed this activity for several days at the entrance to the Vancouver Club and were then met with retaliatory measures instigated by members.

Ontario bosses may get free workfare workers - fmm TIte L m g Haul - october

It's like scratching the tip of an iceberg - the amount of pedophilia and theee levels to which it goes are sickening. The Child & Youth Strategy is awaiting funding approval from the Law Foundation. More on this soon. * Posters are going up announcing a Gathering for Justice at the First Nations House of Learning on October 30th. The essence of this event is a report on the first intematioal tribuanl into residential school atrocities, held recently here in Vancouver. Speakers will include judges and participants fiom the tribunal, other Native survivors of these schools, scholars and commentators. The address is 1985 West Mall at UBC, it's on the Friday, and runs all day fiom 9:30 am to 6100 pm. For more information, call Karen at 531-7875, Amy at 2531891, or Email kdannett@interchange.ubc.ca

PRT

The 0-0 government may g & mployem the welfare cheque of people who are forced to take workfare jobs. That's just one of the horrifymg prospects facing people on welfare and workers in Ontario who will have to compete with workfare recipients forced to work for their cheques. 60 far Ontario workfare workers only work in jobs with non-profit groups and municipalities. To make sure that workfare workem don't unionize, the Mike Henis government has

introduced the Prevention of Unionimtion Act that makes it explicitly illegal for people in workfbre jobs to bargain collectively, join a union or strike. The Canadian Autoworkers Union (CAW) is askmg its member groups to oppose workfare for two reasons: to show solidarity with some of the most vulnerable people in our society, many of whom are victims of lay-offs and closures; and to prevent a cheap labour strategy where people on w e l k are forced to undercut wages of workers who already have jobs. The CAW says that $2.7 billion in Employment Insmce funds is going to provinces who will be able to use the money for workfare. They point out that in New York City, 22,000 public works employees were laid off. W i t h two years, 33,000 workfare people were forced to do their jobs. The union is aslung its locals to work with antipoverty organizationsand to make sure that the~r donations to the United Way are directed to organizationsthat don't use workfare participants