“On the street I saw a small girl cold and shivering in a thin dress, with little hope of a decent meal. I became angry and said to God; ‘Why did you permit this? Why don’t you do something about it?’ For a while God said nothing. That night he replied, quite suddenly: ‘I certainly did something about it. I made you.’”
The sessions—which are free and open to the public—will be moderated by highly-acclaimed journalists Kathryn Gretsinger and Charlie Smith, and the great David Diamond (Headlines Theatre’s trailblazing co-founder and current Artistic Director). They “will get at the nuts and bolts of creating safe, affordable and supportive housing. Each day deals with location, financing and necessary supports and services.”
Moderated panels will be made up of people who have experienced homelessness, Metro Vancouver city councillors and business leaders.
Panelists will each present a short talk on the day’s topic, followed by an open dialogue with the audience.
The ideas discussed at the Sessions will generate an official Community Action Report—designed “to inform policy.” In fact, Headlines Theatre has written agreements from the following organizations to receive the report for their research for national, provincial, regional and local strategies on mental health and homelessness:
If you’d like to participate (and you really really should), The Community Dialogue Sessions are being held in Vancouver at the Firehall Arts Centre:
280 E. Cordova Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
November 24, 25 and 26 @ 1:30pm each day
Admission is free and open to the public
For more information call 1-604-871-0508 or email info@headlinestheatre.com.
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Learn more at headlinestheatre.com
Then…
Read Irked posts tagged “homeless”
Read Irked posts tagged “theatre”
Read Irked posts tagged “mental illness”
Read Irked posts tagged “British Columbia”
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Cyberbeg.com offers hope, by providing a way for homeless people to connect with potential donators. Think of it as a website dedicated to tangibly helping people. Before the emergence of “digital panhandling,” homeless people had no way of broadcasting their need for help to a large audience. After two years of posting cyber begs, the site has raised almost $23,000 for its members.
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Here’s a corresponding news segment from David Abel’s outstanding feature for Boston.com:
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Then…
Read Irked posts tagged “poverty”
Read Irked posts tagged “technology”
Read Irked posts tagged “creativity”
Read Irked posts tagged “campaign watch”
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You know how much homeless blogger Tony Clemens’ recently prescribed medications cost per month???
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In other news, Tony’s been “evicted” by the new guys in town >>
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Huffington Post:
“After a whirlwind week that saw their family featured on the front page of The Huffington Post (and Irked!) and $30,000 raised to help them pay their overwhelming medical bills, the Stein family is back with a message of gratitude and hope for the HuffPost community. TampaBay.com visited the Steins at home on Sunday morning. They discuss how amazed they are that the [online community] came out in such strong numbers to support them. Gary Stein thinks of them as a symbol of the hardships faced by families across America.
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According to Philip Stern writing October 9th on the Homeless Man Speaks website, Tony Clemens’ heart was “a thin beat away from not working at all. The cardiologists are doing everything they can. Thank god for socialized medicine. Tony says many, many thanks for all the good wishes and prayers.”
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Then, writing October 16th in a post titled On the street once more, Philip states: “Tony was sprung—so to say—yesterday. He’s back at his old location [on Roncesvalles Avenue]. His face has good colour (it’s autumn, after all). I bought him a coffee from Alternative Grounds and I gave him a toonie so he could buy a bagel from Mabel’s.
And…
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Quoting Philip Stern, writing on HomelessManSpeaks.com:
Hi Everyone, I just visited Tony at St. Joe’s. He’s got cancer, probably in the lungs, though it’s not certain if it’s in one lung or two—or even which lung. While I was there, the doctors took him for an x-ray, but I don’t know the results—if any. In addition, he’s got heart problems, and an ugly hernia protruding from his upper abdomen.
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Our thoughts, prayers, support, and deepest deepest condolences are with Tony during this difficult time.
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And…
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*PLEASE NOTE: Tony’s on the 4th floor of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Toronto, Room #4M16. If you’d like to visit him, he’d be delighted. Any ready-to-eat food you can bring him (only stuff that is easily chewable) will be very much appreciated, as his appetite is well beyond what hospital meal portions can fulfill. Before you visit, check the hospital visiting times and associated regulations at stjoe.on.ca/patients/visitor/index.php.
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Quoting Jane Armstrong, writing for The Globe and Mail:
A proposed provincial law that would give police the right to force homeless people into shelters during bad weather has angered civil libertarians, who claim the move is a back-door bid to clean up Vancouver’s streets in time for the Olympics. The proposed law, which is the first of its kind in Canada, won’t pass a Charter challenge, B.C. Civil Liberties Association president David Eby said Monday. “The proposal is absurd,” Mr. Eby said. “I’m picturing someone face down on the sidewalk in handcuffs for the crime of being homeless and refusing to report to the nearest homeless shelter. “And that is not something that is … permissible under the Constitution.” Housing advocates and outreach workers who work with Vancouver’s homeless population said the proposed law is fraught with logistical problems: What will police do if the homeless person refuses to go to the shelter? Can shelter staff force people to stay in a shelter if they don’t want to be there? Will the law force city police officers to become de facto social workers, coaxing reluctant people into shelters on rainy and snowy days?
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Read the rest of this article on theglobeandmail.com >>
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Remember Tony Clemens, the warmhearted homeless blogger we first profiled in March 2008 and then again in October ‘08?
Tony’s not doing so well.
