From addiction to recovery and back into academic life
“Talk to Ryan Glover to understand the true value of education,” an article posted on Vancouver Island University’s website suggests.
Ryan was once living in active addiction and spent years on the streets. “I don’t think I even had my Grade 9 before that,” he recently told the Nanaimo Daily News. Now living in recovery, Ryan is looking forward to graduating with a degree from VIU this summer. (more…)
Over the past year, a number of local organizations and groups have moved forward—facing and overcoming challenges and barriers—to step closer to their shared vision of helping some of Nanaimo’s poorest and most vulnerable citizens
On our program this week, we focus on three initiatives that have persevered and emerged with new locations, services, and/or facilities—and a shared “new lease on life”. Join us for our discussion with leaders from three Nanaimo people-focused organizations… (more…)
The city’s working group on homelessness has set funding priorities
The Nanaimo Working Group on Homelessness recently made decisions regarding the use of federal funding for local homelessness initiatives. But there were too many applicants for the limited funding available. One program that will not receive an annual grant this year is Haven Society’s Willow Wai initiative—a program that helps sex workers and other homeless women off the streets.
The funding decisions have raised questions about priorities, strategies, and approaches to dealing with homelessness in the community—against the backdrop of funding challenges. (more…)
Curtis Brick’s tragic death raises the issue of systemic racism
Curtis Brick died last month after lying in the sun at a Vancouver park on one of the hottest days the city had seen all summer. Curtis Brick was a homeless aboriginal man. Though the park was filled with people, he lay for seven hours until an aboriginal outreach worker intervened and called 911. Now questions about the way Curtis Brick was treated by emergency personnel has advocates calling for a coroner’s inquiry. (more…)
Homeless men share their experiences and hopes in a book club setting
In the fall of 2007, outreach nurse Donna Kelly recognized that books had often become the common ground between her and her homeless patients. From her original idea, a book club was developed for residents at the 2100 Lakeside Shelter for Men in Cleveland, Ohio and later in Joseph’s Home, a transitional shelter for homeless people. The homeless health literacy book club was the first of its kind in the U.S. “Sometimes healthcare isn’t just about passing out pills,” Donna told The Christian Science Monitor. (more…)
Nanaimo poet’s voice returns after a decade
Kim Goldberg is an author, poet, photographer and art activist. She has penned five full-length books, over 2,000 articles, and various chapbooks. Her poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and anthologies in North America.
Between 1997 and 2005, her writer’s voice disappeared and when it returned, “new poems started to pour forth.” Kim told the Nanaimo News Bulletin that the new poems “were completely different…they were about the homeless encampments I walk by every day in downtown Nanaimo where I live.” Her poems about urban decay will be published this fall under the name Red Zone. (more…)
