It's hard to believe that this beautiful city, full of high-rises, cafes, and parks is home to the most desolate neighborhood in all of Canada known as the downtown Eastside. In a 10 block radius, addiction runs wild, prostitution flourishes, and homelessness is a given. It was there in the middle of that madness that I became "one of them." For 24 hours, I wandered the streets, ate from soup kitchens, and earned a few bucks panhandling.
It happened to be that it was "Welfare Wednesday" - the day everyone receives their checks from the government. On a normal day, you will see people smoking crack and dealing drugs, but on welfare wednesdays, there is a whole new level of added frenzy. People finally have money and they have only one thing on their minds. Drugs! One girl we talked to, who had recently become a dealer, had a guy come up during our conversation, and ask to buy some crack. To my great surprise, she sold him some for 2 bucks! I never knew it was THAT cheap.
My partner and I wandered the streets, often stumbling across people shooting up heroine, but it wasn't until night rolled in that we could really sense the misery of the place. After our dinner at a mission (one of those where you sit through a sermon to get your food) we continued to walk the streets praying for people we saw. Finally at 1 am, we were given shelter for the night (well, for 4 hours that is) and crashed on the floor amidst grime and mice (yikes!).
The next morning (at 5 am), we dragged ourselves outside and spent the next few hours trying to find shelter from from the rain. After being shoed away from doorstep to doorstep, we finally found a place to sit- it happened to be the police station, how ironic. Breakfast wasn't being served until 9:30 am, so it was a LONG morning. At least, by that time we truly looked homeless!
The hardest experience for me, was panhandling (begging). I never expected people to show me so much mercy! The sign I held (which cleverly covered my painted fingernails) said: "Please Help", and help they did! Within 20 minutes, I had earned over five dollars, had a person try to find a shelter for me, and even had a guy give me his lunch (gulp). People were literally dumping their change in to my cup and all I could do was keep my I-am-so-helpless mask on. Perhaps it was the dirt I had rolled in before, or the fact that I am young and they thought there was still hope for me, but people just kept giving (little did they know I was planning a trip to Starbucks with their donations). When the guy gave me his lunch, I HAD to get out of there. I left Gastown and fled back to Hastings (downtown eastside). It was almost comforting to be amongst the crazies again.
So that was my wild experience as a homeless woman. I learned so much by mingling amongst "them" and felt God chipping a little bit of my prejudices away. Thanks for reading!
3 comments:
Heidi Heidi, Your experience was a delight to hear. Share more.
Stephanie
Heidi! This is great... when Derek told me you guys were doing this I wanted to stay for the experience myself... awesome! I miss Vancouver!
Hi Heidi, I came across your blog quite by accident and I live nearby (Abbotsford) so it interests me alot. This entry has expecially touched my heart. Several years ago when my daughter Emily was a high school student she went on a week long mission trip (with YWAM) to the Vancouver east side and two people from her group were picked to do the same thing and Emily was one of them. Although it was only for a few hours, she found it the hardest thing to do!! I commend you for spending 24 hours as a homeless person, it really gives you more compassion.
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