Roseburg Reunion (from Fresno CA)

I spent a couple of days in Roseburg OR on my way to Fresno CA to spend Christmas with my three daughters and two grand daughters. What a treat being included on a tour of the new holistic clinic in Winston with the Adult Outpatient Staff I used to work with. The picture is joining them for lunch.

There is an old Lakota saying, "only go places where the lights come on in people's eyes when they see you." Being greeted with warm hugs and noticing how everyone lit up to see me was very meaningful and humbling. I spent two days at my good friend, Jimmie Harris' "mountain retreat" and received the same welcome at the recovery meetings we attended.

A book I strongly recommend: Beyond  Homelessness: Christian Faith in a Culture of Displacement makes clear a house is not a home and describes eight characteristics of a home.  The most important to me is feeling  like I belong to a community. Even though serving in the DTES in Vancouver is my mission, it was very evident that Roseburg is still my home. This will further inspire me to encourage community for the homeless.

I will be in Fresno for a few more days, and then return to Roseburg on my way back to Birch Bay WA. On Dec 31, I will be part of three services at my home church, Redeemer's Fellowship. They are hosting a get together after the services at 12:45 for personal interaction. I hope you can attend.

Christmas blessings!
Ross

Poem "From the Kitchen"

I have a friend
who was eight years old the night
his drunk mother attacked him with a kitchen knife
he left that night, with no choice but to run
and never went back

I know a man who remembers
sneaking past sleeping nuns
in the dead of night to dig in the ground
for turnips and potatoes that the harvest
might have missed
recalls devouring them in
in the raw cold dark

I met a woman who was raped
by every man she ever met
until she was thirteen
battered and drunk she ran
to the streets and learned to make her living
quietly violated

I know a woman
who birthed her only child alone
in a hotel room, raised the child up
in a van
until her government saved the child
and left the mother to starve

I know a guy who got mugged
on his way home to home and family
got beaten so bad
he was never the same
lost the job, the wife, the child
and tonight, has no place to sleep

and Gabrielle, was a babe in arms
when his country went to war
he watched his world burn
with a gun in his tiny hands, was a killer
by puberty spends his days and nights
in empty doorways , on mission steps
in dark alleys for the last 20 years
trying to die rather than remember

I know a beautiful girl
who had it all, until she got so sick
so confused by the vacancies, and voices
that she couldn't sleep
and forgot to eat
and frightened everyone so much
with her ranting that they turned out the porch lights
and double bolted the doors

My friends are homeless
frightened, threatened, and alone

I have friends
who fight harder, daily,
than you will ever have to
and all they are crying for
is one
open
door

Lara Thesenvitz—Cook, First United

Crisis Resolved at the Church.

 "The City has stepped up with $500,000 worth of funding and the Province has agreed to open two additional shelters. With the Extreme Weather response in effect for tonight, everyone in the DTES should find a place to sleep." This was announced at 4:00 PM December 2.

Thanks for all who were involved contacting those in the political process and those who prayed and gave their thoughts to this homeless dilemma in the current cold weather. It is forecast to be 30 degrees in Vancouver tonight.

The host team who are the "on line" staff with a number of volunteers were exhausted today from the emotional stress of having to refuse lodging and staggering meals the last two days and nights. I'm in awe of their spirit of service and ability to deal with the troubled that reside at the First United refuge.

Shalom,
Ross

Crisis at the Church

This morning when I got to the church I was met by locked doors and this sign. We had some notice of the current crisis, but weren't prepared for this in the daytime. We were only recently informed of a  regulation that the church can only hold 240 people as there is a ratio of people allowed in the building to the number of flush toilets. The weather has been near freezing lately and there have been up to 270 folks spending the night.

Previously ignored, the current enforcement of this regulation is related to recent provincial government cutbacks in funding temporary shelter for the winter. This reminds me so much of the state cutbacks treating addiction when I was living in Oregon. Society continues to ignore their marginalized.  First United takes seriously the Biblical mandate of Matthew 25:35-45 and I John 3:17.

All shelters in DTES have been full during the recent cold spell. As a refuge, First United is willing to take the resulting overload of people, often when the shelters are already closed for the night.The staff puts down mats and provides blankets in the dining area for the overflow from the bunk bed area. Last night for the first time in 4 years over 30 residents were turned away. These were men and women the staff knows personally and by name. This was very painful for the night staff having to enforce this limit. There was a report this morning of one man going into a nearby store, shoplifting, and then waiting to be arrested so at least he would  be warm for a few nights.

As the church seeks to comply, this morning we were informed that staff in the building also counts towards the 240.  Many of the day shift coming to work couldn't enter the church until the same number of residents left. Meals had to be served to about 30 people at a time. Usually over 200  folks are fed in two sittings. The choice for many tonight will be finding some way to survive the weather rather than waiting in line for the bathroom. How ridiculous!

The church is asking for donations of extra blankets and sleeping bags as they consider creative options. Ric Matthews called a press conference in front of the church today. I have full confidence in his abilities as a negotiator gained from his experiences in S. Africa helping resolve conflicts after Apartheid was defeated.

Your thoughts and prayers through this are so important and appreciated.
Ross

Higher Level of Care

As a chaplain at First United Church, I have gained a voice with the leadership and staff. I have never met a group of people so willing to give of themselves to those who have been marginalized from mainline society. The dislocation of homelessness generally  results from poverty, addiction, and mental health problems.

As a member of the "Research and Policy" Committee I am an advocate for a Higher Level of Care for the residents.  By that I mean evolving beyond primarily providing meals and lodging to more active  intervention and treatment of addiction and mental health issues. The staff already assists in so many other ways, for example this year they are helping 3400 DTES residents file income tax returns.

Of course this would require major adjustments in space and funding. The bold and future plans shown in this architectural drawing would allow a higher level of care if actualized. However like the US, Canada is  finding it increasingly more difficult to fund mental health and addiction treatment. I am so grateful for those who are supporting me in this venture.

For now, one pragmatic possibility would be modeling approaches from the Recovery Cafe in Seattle WA.  My good friend Craig Burmeister (from Roseburg) and I tried to visit today, but it was closed for the Thanksgiving weekend. I will be visiting in the near future and will share my experience here when I do.

I hope all my American friends are having a wonderful Thanksgiving season. I was in Canada at a workshop with Gabor Mate, author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction. What an opportunity with only 50 others attending allowing a high level of interaction.


I appreciate your thoughts and prayers!
Ross

Workshops Update

I just completed the second workshop in the area of Washington where I am now living. It was a smaller group which encouraged a high level of interaction. The group wants to meet again to further expand their knowledge of addiction and recovery.  They began to consider becoming a recovery community interested in helping their local churches deal with addiction. We are going to regather in the near future to consider just what this would look like and what would be the involvement. I will also be contacting those who attended the first workshop I conducted here. This combined group will also help create interest in others in local churches to attend future workshops.

While most of you will be having Thanksgiving next week, I will be in Vancouver BC attending a workshop with Dr. Gabor Mate, author of In The Spirit of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction. It was reading this book that began my interest and eventual involvement in DTES. It will be an opportunity to  interact with him personally as the workshop is just for First United Church. A couple of his videos can be seen on this blog by scrolling down on Dislocation.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Ross

Recent Newspaper Article

"First United Church at Hastings and Gore in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is not your typical comfortable-pew, middle-class church. In fact it doesn’t have pews or any notion of catering to the middle classes.

Compared to most churches, First United has a decidedly different take on its mission. First United works with street people. It turns no one away and is the refuge of last resort for the most marginalized on the Downtown Vancouver Eastside.

It is not a pleasant place. Most of those seeking help have serious mental-health or addiction issues or both. What was once the Church sanctuary is now stacked with bunk beds. People seeking shelter and refuge come and go with no questions asked. Meals are provided as well as other support services.

I’ve visited the Church a few times and I never fail to come away with the utmost awe and respect for those who work and volunteer at First United. They work under the most trying conditions. Kudos as well to the United Church of Canada; instead of walking away from one of Vancouver’s most troubled and desperate neighborhoods, it dedicated its property to helping Vancouver’s poorest, then rolled up its sleeves and went to work helping those who have no place left to turn." 
(Bruce Stracham, The Prince George Citizen, 11-10-11)