Abbotsford Police Sgt. Kevin Murray got a call one night at about 2 a.m.
There was a 12-year-old who needed a safe ride home, and he was happy to do so. When he arrived, there were actually several that ranged in age from 12-14. And as drove around, dropping them off at their homes, he said it became clear they each shared a common factor. They each had difficult issues at home they were dealing with.
“Every one of those kids had a problem at home, where they felt it was better to be on the streets than home at 2 a.m.,” he said.
He told the story to an audience at Abbotsford secondary school on Friday morning, as part of the day-long Character Abbotsford annual conference on homelessness. Murray was part of a panel speaking to the topic. He is also part of the Abbotsford Police Department’s street outreach response team.
He said the community should be focusing on creating youth-related programs to help improve the dynamics in families, in homes, as a way of keeping people from running away and keeping families intact.
“If we don’t fix the problems at home, we’ll never fix this,” he said.
‘This’ includes some of any city’s biggest problems; homelessness, drug addiction, opioid deaths and the crime rate.
The purpose of having the panel together was to “gain a data-based understanding from city leaders who are working hands-on with Abbotsford’s more than 400 citizens experiencing homelessness, and was hosted by Vijay Manuel, chair of Character Abbotsford and the head of MEI Schools.
Also on the panel were Kim Friesen and Mike Sikora.
Sikora has spent the past 15 years working with people who experience homelessness and have relationships with problematic substance use and mental health challenges. He has spent the past seven years working with municipal governments, most recently with the City of Abbotsford.
Friesen has been working with people struggling with addiction and homelessness for 20 years. Currently, she provides outreach and support services at the 123 Walk In Clinic, and OAT clinic (opioid agonist treatment).
But she calls herself a “street mom,” and is known as such in the community. She is on the streets connecting with her clients where they live, all the time.
She explained the barriers that her clients face as they move through life on one track, and the system on the other. And very rarely do those paths align in favour of the client.
Take, for example, a client who was able to detox and stay clean in jail who is willing to go into treatment. The “best places in town” for treatment, Friesen said, won’t take in clients from jail. They need to have lived back in the community for at least two weeks.
Back in the community with all their old connections, old habits and old problems. If they use again, they’ll need to detox again. And then they’ll perhaps get on a wait list.
The crowd of about 250 people including a large delegation of high school students, taking in the panel and several guest speakers.
Each of the panel speakers had different advice for those wanting “to do something,” but all of the advice including taking some time to decide why you want to help.
“Where is your passion?” Sikora said. “Go there.”
All of the dozens of organizations who work on housing, addictions and restorative justice, for example, could always use volunteers and money. They were divided on ways individuals could help on the ground themselves, which isn’t so different than the community itself.
Friesen said if people want to give something to those who are panhandling, then a granola bar or a pair of socks is always appreciated.
“Our folks on the street have trench foot,” she said, like soldiers had in the First World War from having constantly wet feet.
Murray said every time you hand out a “reward” to a panhandler, it keeps them from going to the organizations that have support available.
“They all know where they can go to get help,” he said. And further, some of those things could be hurting them. Some things, like gift cards for meals, can even be traded for drugs.
“Drug dealers have to eat, too,” Friesen said.
All agreed that people should not be going into homeless camps, especially not to drop off furniture.
Furniture “anchors” people to a camp, and further stigmatizes them, Murray said. “So much of that crap is brought there by ‘do-gooders’ because they don’t want to pay the dump fee and they think they’re doing something for them.”
At the end of the panel discussion they all chose a positive focus for the future, telling the audience to keep the momentum going.
“Change is possible,” Sikora said.
Homelessness is expected to have risen since last tallied, and a homeless count will be done again in March 2023. One of the things that is changing is that more seniors are now among the homeless, including those who have no history of drug use or homelessness. People with South Asian backgrounds are also becoming part of the demographic.
And about half of this city’s unhoused population say that Abbotsford is home.
Manuel noted at the end of the panel that Character Abbotsford started as a grassroots organization with just 12 people, and now is a large movement of like-minded people.
“The momentum is building for change,” he said.
Joe Roberts, known as The Skid Row CEO, also spoke at the conference and met with conference attendees afterward. In 1989 he was living on the streets of Vancouver as a homeless ‘Skid Row’ addict. Through perseverance, determination and his resilient human spirit, Roberts has pulled himself out of the darkness and despair, to become a highly respected business and community leader.
For more on Character Abbotsford and how you can help organizations in the city, visit characterabbotsford.com.
READ MORE: 12 projects focused on preventing homelessness receive $1.3M in Abbotsford
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