Need Is Now, Get Organized
Editorial, The Surrey Leader
April 30, 2004
When it comes to helping the homeless, organizations and individuals working to make a difference face a formidable challenge. Hunger doesn't take a day off. The people living in vehicles after losing their jobs and their homes currently find nutrition in piecemeal fashion; a soup kitchen one day, a church dinner the next. Even those not technically homeless, but living on the razor's edge of limited income from social assistance or sporadic work try to make ends meet as best as they can, and groceries often come last in a list that includes shelter, transportation and clothes.
The consequences hurt everyone.
"Without food," says Charlie, who reflects many of the city's disadvantaged, "hardship comes, you start to think about how you're going to feed yourself."
Unfortunately, for some, crime is a last resort.
So when a citizen like MaryAnne Connor takes it upon herself to do something, and sets up shop in North Surrey to help the poor, she is a welcome addition.
She is meeting an obvious need, with upwards of 60 people a night showing up for warm meals.
But Connor's organization - the NightShift Street Ministry - is now out on the street itself, evicted from a King George building after the owner chose to rent out the property for retail space.
Another drop-in food centre, the House of Restoration, suffered the same fate. Free muffins and coffee didn't fit with the commercial zoning.
The hungry are left to search for an ever-changing roster of resources as the caring people who operate them scramble for new locations.
There is a reason for this.
Part is the tacit belief that the poor somehow deserve to be derelict - because they abuse drugs, or don't try hard enough, or any other multitude of reasons the more affluent frequently use to dismiss the real needs of the less fortunate.
This is the NIMBY-ism that makes it difficult for helping organizations to take root, or encounter public opposition when they do establish permanent quarters.
The other part is simply a lack of organization.
Surrey's long-awaited social plan is coming, and hopefully, it will act as an unifying umbrella for the hodge-podge of services - the Wednesday lunches here, the Sunday dinners there - that move and close and re-open elsewhere, much to the dismay of the needy.
Until then, Good Samaritans like Connor could use some assistance, from the city, from landlords, and from the community itself.
As Coun. Judy Villeneuve commented, a meal from Connor's group is better than food scraped from a dumpster.
We are heartened to note that action on this issue is under way.
Surrey has recently contracted with the Social Planning and Research Council of B.C. to examine the city's needs, existing resources and service shortfalls.
Part of that process will no doubt involve the coordination of resources.
It's a major undertaking, addressing a complex problem.
However, for those who are living on the street, or very near to it, the issue is a simple one.
Folks are hungry.
They need consistent, stable assistance, from the basics to long-term recovery strategies.
There are people out there who are willing to help.
Now, let's get organized and make it happen.