[homeles_ot-l] Fwd: [cathycrowenews] December 2007 Newsletter
Terrie
mocharebyl at gmail.com
Thu Nov 29 12:53:46 EST 2007
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Crowe News <crowenews at tdrc.net>
Date: 29 Nov 2007 12:30
Subject: [cathycrowenews] December 2007 Newsletter
To: cathycrowenews at povnet.org
*
Newsletter # 40 ~ December 2007*
Dear Subscribers,
Below is the fourtieth edition of Cathy Crowe's monthly newsletter. This is
a great resource for individuals who care about homelessness and housing,
health and other social issues.
You can also view Cathy's newsletters at her website at:
http://tdrc.net/index.php?page=newsletter.<http://tdrc.net/index.php?page=newsletter>
Further information about subscribing to the newsletter is found below. I
want to hear from you - about the newsletter, about things that are
happening in the homelessness sector (what a sad term!), and about good things
which will provide inspiration for all of us.
*************************************************************
*Cathy's (not Oprah's) 'Favourite things'*
This time last year, my newsletter was called *Giving and Taking: 'tis the
Season.* I wrote about *giving,* including acts of philanthropy, the little
girl Hannah Taylor who raised $1 million dollars to help homeless people,
people who give with kindness and I asked some prominent Canadians whether
they give to panhandlers. I also wrote about *taking,* in particular the
taking of federal funding from valuable social programs.
I urge you to visit *Giving and Taking: 'tis the
Season*<http://tdrc.net/resources/public/Crowe-Newsletter_dec_06.htm>,
if only to see the picture of Scrooge who remains a Scrooge!
I recently read a Globe and Mail article by Judith Timson describing the
marketing phenomenon of Oprah Winfrey, which makes women in her audience
scream with joy and makes Timson squirm in discomfort. Only hours later I
found myself squirming as I was flipping channels and got caught up in the
'O' spectacle.
It was Oprah's *'Favourite Things for 2007'* show, held in Macon, Georgia
where, according to the oprah.com website, on any given day 45% of the
residents of the town are tuned in to the show. I suspected there were
other important stats to know about Macon, Georgia. According to the US
Census Bureau's most recent stats, 33% of female householder families in
Macon, Georgia live below the poverty line and 25% of all households in
Macon receive means tested public assistance.
I watched the Oprah show with curiosity, noting the extreme levels of pomp
and circumstance in the first 5 minutes of the show. Carpets were rolled
out, huge wrapped presents were carted in, then Oprah arrived on stage, all
the while the mostly female audience was universally screaming and crying -
really, crying with joy. It only got worse.
Oprah crossed the line with this show, showering each audience participant
with $20,000 worth of extravagant gifts including: a fridge that also
functions as an entertainment centre with an LCD and DVD hook-up, kitchen
appliances and high-end kitchen ware, a set of $42 soaps, $55 worth of body
butter and perhaps the most necessary thing for the American woman who wants
to get ahead and off welfare - 'O's Guide to Life. As each present was
paraded through the audience by an army of Fed-Ex and other employees, the
audience continued screaming and crying. It's very possible that some of
the audience winners were Macon householders living below the poverty line -
that would be great. But I suspect the biggest winner at the end of the day
will be the billionaire herself and the 'high-end' companies that
manufacture items like the $350 blender.
As I approach my 20th year as a Street Nurse and witness worsening
homelessness and poverty, I'm reminded of the wise words of Charles Pascal,
Executive Director of the Atkinson Charitable Foundation. When I first met
Charles a number of years ago, he told me that he thought I didn't ask often
enough for what I needed. He counselled me to learn not to be modest when
it came to asking for help. My New Year's resolution therefore (which I'm
starting today) is to ask for what I need. I thought if Oprah can flaunt
her '*Favourite Things*', so can I. My *3 Favourite Things* deal with the
'upstream', i.e. they provide solutions for homelessness or what I now call
'finding the cure'. If you can give a donation this year, I am asking you
to consider giving to one of my *3 Favourite Things.*
*
Favourite Thing # 1: Building housing with St. Clare's Multifaith Housing
Society*
I often say that I am a nurse, not a carpenter. When I received the
Atkinson Charitable Foundation Economic Justice Award, I vowed I would work
towards ensuring that our federal government returns to a fully-funded
national housing program.* I haven't given up on that.*
In the interim, I wanted to learn how to build affordable, social housing.
I joined the Board of Directors of St. Clare's Multifaith Housing Society,
which has an excellent track record of building housing, particularly
impressive given the funding void that still exists. St. Clare's has
completed three housing projects over the last ten years. In 2001 St.
Clare's converted 25 Leonard Avenue in Toronto into 51 units of affordable
housing – the first affordable housing built in Toronto since 1995. I am
very happy to announce that St. Clare's has recently been approved to build
two new affordable family housing projects. The address 48 Abell will have
190 units and the address at 200 Madison will have 82 units.
Visit their website here <http://www.stclares.ca/>, and also read their
invitation to donate
here<http://tdrc.net/uploads/file/fundraiser_2007_St_+Clares.doc>,
to provide more details if you are able to help.
*
Favourite Thing #2: Toronto Disaster Relief Committee (TDRC)*
Many of you will know that I co-founded the TDRC <http://www.tdrc.net/> in
1998. Don't let the name deceive you! The *Toronto* Disaster Relief
Committee declared homelessness a *National Disaster* in 1998 and helped put
the issue of homelessness on the national radar:
- a federal cabinet minister was appointed to deal with the issue;
- a new federal homelessness program was funded (SCPI – now HPI) and
over $1 billion allocated to homelessness over the last 8 years;
- more monies federally and provincially were allocated for housing
through the Affordable Housing Program;
- increased awareness and political responses to emergencies ranging
from tuberculosis outbreaks to extreme weather hardship and deaths;
- local wins such as the housing victory for Toronto's Tent City
which have had a ripple effect across the country;
- growing recognition and outrage that the extent of homelessness and
inadequate housing in Canada constitutes a violation of human rights.
TDRC never takes government funding and believe it or not, has existed for
nine years on special project funding and on donations from individuals,
faith and labour groups.
They have now launched a daring project that looks at the #1 prerequisite
for health, named in the Ottawa Charter for Health
Promotion<http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/ottawa_charter_hp.pdf>–
peace. This project will examine the diminished spending on social
programs while Canada wages an increasingly expensive war in Afghanistan.
If you can donate here's the info: Make the cheque payable to the Toronto
Disaster Relief Committee or if you would like an income tax receipt, make
the cheque payable to "Phoenix Community Works Foundation" and write on the
bottom that the donation is for the "homeless project". In either case,
please mail your donation to: TDRC, 6 Trinity Square, Toronto, ON M5G 1B1.
TDRC website <http://www.tdrc.net/>
*
Favourite Thing #3: Home Safe – a film about homeless children with Sky
Works*
Several years ago former journalist (now Toronto City Councillor) Adam
Vaughan declared to me that in his opinion, politicians would never deal
with homelessness until a homeless child or children died. I was angry,
outraged, frustrated and sad. Then I remembered it had already happened.
Then, I got more angry, outraged, frustrated and sad. I was lucky that my
friend and film maker Laura Sky was on the receiving end of a lot of that
emotion and together we delved into the troubling concern that the issue of
homeless families is so invisible that only deaths would necessitate a
political response.
I sit on the Sky Works Charitable
Foundation<http://www.skyworksfoundation.org/>Board of Directors and
Laura and I, with tremendous Board support, began a
dream. We realized that we could and should do a film together on a subject
that remains hidden – in suburbs, rural communities, in motels and
overcrowded apartments – homeless children and their families in this rich
country.
I am the Executive Producer for this project (fulfilling a long time dream
to make a movie) and Laura is the director. It is an ambitious project. We
have been involved in research for over a year and plan to film in Calgary,
Sault Ste. Marie, Hamilton and Toronto. The film will engage children and
their parents, it will give them a voice and it will provide a community
development and organizing tool for years to come. I believe it will have
the power to move mountains and ultimately convince the government to build
housing.
*"Nothing could have prepared us to witness Canadian children waiting in
line to sleep on a church basement floor, carrying their possessions in
small hockey bags, hanging on to parents who had no home to offer them. The
children were quiet, tired and subdued. Exact figures are hard to arrive at,
but a very conservative estimate puts the number of homeless children in
Canada at 22,500."* Please click here to read more about this
project<http://www.skyworksfoundation.org/newProjects/?sectionID=newProjects&subSectionID=homeSafe>
I'm happy to report that we began filming in November. We organized a
special children's forum on homelessness to coincide with the visit of
Miloon Kothari, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing.
Children from Calgary, Hamilton, Toronto and the GTA, some with a history of
homelessness and some not, voiced their concerns to Miloon.
<http://tdrc.net/uploads/file/Skyworks_annual_+appeal_letter.pdf>
Please read this appeal for funds
<http://tdrc.net/uploads/file/Skyworks_annual_+appeal_letter.pdf>Skyworks
Winter Newsletter<http://tdrc.net/uploads/file/Skyworks_Winter_Newsletter_2007.pdf>
*A final thought……*
I would be honoured if my *3 Favourite Things* became your treasures too. I
know that some of you may not be in a position to give financially but I
hope you'll find a way to stay connected to one or more of these projects.
*
When they're home – make them care about homes.*
I am asking everyone to complain to their Member of Parliament in Ottawa, or
when their MP is 'home' for their holiday break. Where is the money for
housing? What will happen in 2009 when 3 federal programs come to an end –
the affordable housing agreement, the rehabilitation program (RRAP) and the
federal homeless program (HPI)? Where is the national anti-poverty
strategy? Where is the national child care program? Where is the money for
cities?
Peace.
Cathy
Thanks to Bob Crocker for editing and Dave Meslin for design.
*Back to Top ^*
*****
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There is no charge for this newsletter. Please forward it to your friends
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Sherbourne Health Centre, 333 Sherbourne Street, Toronto, ON, M5A 2S5.
------------------------------
--
Terrie ( mocharebyl at gmail.com )
"If you see an injustice being committed, you aren't an observer, you are a
participant." June Callwood
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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