300 people including families and kids spent the day cleaning the beach in the Great Canadian Shoreline clean-up. Their pay, a free lunch.
On highway 10 at 152nd a man or woman waves a sign advertising pizza slices. The pay, minimum wage and a free lunch.
Downtown Vancouver there are daily line ups of people getting free lunches and dinners for doing absolutely nothing. Getting free shelter, welfare, and healthcare for doing absolutely nothing. Many of these people have the ability to stand on medians and street corners all day with heartbreaking signs asking for money or to wander around collecting stuff in their carts yet we never ask them to contribute in any meaningful way.
WHY?
Two reasons I can see.
1. Homelessness and poverty are big business for the program providers and it is in their best interests to continue the cycle of poverty. Ever seen how much organizations like the Portland hotel society pays its many managers and service providers. In my next post I am going to try finding some data on exactly this.
2. We do not have the courage to demand whatever contribution every individual can realistically make. When I was homeless in the early 80's we had a casual labor board and occasionally an employer from a local farm came in with a request for several workers. The shelter operators would give us a choice. Accept the jobs or leave the shelter. We were expected to work if work was available. We also could not stay in a shelter indefinitely. Prince George was a maximum of ten days a month, Dawson creek was maximum 2 weeks. Others were also different depending on the resources and employment available in the community. Unemployable individuals were eligible for welfare, we were not. If we came in under the influence we were evicted.
If the employable individuals were given a choice, work for their services, go into addiction treatment or get out, we would find that we would then have the resources to adequately address poverty and disabilities.
On highway 10 at 152nd a man or woman waves a sign advertising pizza slices. The pay, minimum wage and a free lunch.
Downtown Vancouver there are daily line ups of people getting free lunches and dinners for doing absolutely nothing. Getting free shelter, welfare, and healthcare for doing absolutely nothing. Many of these people have the ability to stand on medians and street corners all day with heartbreaking signs asking for money or to wander around collecting stuff in their carts yet we never ask them to contribute in any meaningful way.
WHY?
Two reasons I can see.
1. Homelessness and poverty are big business for the program providers and it is in their best interests to continue the cycle of poverty. Ever seen how much organizations like the Portland hotel society pays its many managers and service providers. In my next post I am going to try finding some data on exactly this.
2. We do not have the courage to demand whatever contribution every individual can realistically make. When I was homeless in the early 80's we had a casual labor board and occasionally an employer from a local farm came in with a request for several workers. The shelter operators would give us a choice. Accept the jobs or leave the shelter. We were expected to work if work was available. We also could not stay in a shelter indefinitely. Prince George was a maximum of ten days a month, Dawson creek was maximum 2 weeks. Others were also different depending on the resources and employment available in the community. Unemployable individuals were eligible for welfare, we were not. If we came in under the influence we were evicted.
If the employable individuals were given a choice, work for their services, go into addiction treatment or get out, we would find that we would then have the resources to adequately address poverty and disabilities.
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