Well today has been an interesting day. I woke up this morning around 6:15 as normal, put away my bedding and such for the day, and headed downstairs. We had breakfast and I was going thru my morning devotion. As I finished, Andreas, one of our YouthWorks leaders approached me and let me know that we needed to talk. He asked if I drove a white SUV-like thing with Oregon plates.
"Yes?" I responded hesitantly.
"It was broken into last night," he responded.
I don't even know what I thought at first, but I knew I was angry, and I knew it was going to create a lot of issues for our group today. Upon further inspection, they had used a screwdriver to break the glass on the passenger side front door. I'm still not sure what they were after. There was a package of Oreos that was left in the back last night, but it was left untouched. There was a package of small bags of pirate booty under the front seat. A couple of those were taken, but most of them were left. My phone charger was gone, my bluetooth-audio connection device (which was hidden in the center console) was gone, and the rest of the cord tossed out the window, and everything from in the front seat area thrown all over the car. The passenger front seat also has a cut that almost sliced clear thru the leather. At this time, it's still in tact, but I doubt it'll last long. As time passed and I was cleaning up, I also realized they had stolen by wheel lock key. This is a key that works specifically with one lug nut on each of my wheels to prevent theft of my wheels and tires. Without that key, however, a flat tire leaves us stranded.
The car is currently in getting a new passenger window, I just went and purchased a new phone charger and now I'm waiting for them to call to tell me the car is ready. As a side note, please know that no one was hurt, the glass has been cleaned up and surfaces wiped down, and all of the kids' personal information/identification/birth certificates were locked up in a highly secure area inside the church.
My group, made up of Emma, Britney, Levi, Adam and Adrianna had to join Sara's group today to go work at The Lookout. Unfortunately, the site we were supposed to be assisting, Food for Families, had to be called to let them know we would be unable to make it.
This all comes after the previous day being the best day yet! We volunteered at the Union Gospel Mission (UGM), which just moved into a new building here in the DTES 2 years ago. It was a $23MM project, and amazingly, they are debt free! The building and the program is spectacular. Not only do they help those in need in the name of Christ, they work really hard to make sure that everything they do is working towards making the lives they touch better. Between the outreach workers that stroll the streets daily, making relationships with those who live on the streets in the area, the emergency shelter, the detox center, and the GED program, there is so much happening at UGM! Unfortunately for me, we weren't allowed to take photos most of the day.
We started our day with a tour of the eight-story facility, located next door to their old facility which is now a Women and Family Center. After that, we met Mike, a man who used to live on the very streets of the DTES we've been working in. Almost 20 years ago, he became clean, and went to work to help those who were facing the same struggles he did. He has been with UGM for over 17 years. Mike graciously took us on his "street walk" tour. We started at UGM and worked our way west, towards Gastown. He showed us many of the organizations that work with the residents of the DTES. He pointed out the pros and cons of some of the organizations we walked past. We talked about the pharmacies that dispense methadone, a drug meant to help people coming off of heroin. Unfortunately, some have become addicted to the methadone instead of using it to come down off of the herion addiction they have. Methadone has pretty awful side effects as well after extended use. Some methadone users, who are supposed to consume the liquid while at the pharmacy, leave quickly, spit it back into the bottle it came from, and sell it on the street. This helps feed their other addictions.
Mike explained to us that there are over 9000 addicts just in the DTES alone, and not nearly enough resources to help those who are looking to get help. While going hungry in Vancouver is virtually an impossibility with all of the soup kitchens and shelters providing meals, addictions, lifestyle choices and housing costs still present a barrier to solving the issues faced here. Most peole receiving assistance receive approximately $375/mo. The average rent for a decent apartment in downtown is $1400/mo. Many low income apartments are available, but the "slumlords" that run them do all they can to take advantage of people. Old hotels converted into SROs or "Single Room Occupancies" are all over the DTES and provide alternative housing, although most share one bathroom per floor (similar to the Westwind) and most have few, if any, kitchens to prepare meals. The landlords will take rent from these individuals of $250 with a $150 security deposit, and find any excuse they can to kick them out, keep the deposit, and re-rent the room to someone else. Recently, the city of Vancouver has been trying to buy up these buildings and convert them to government-owned low income housing, but many of the landlords are not willing to sell.
Prostitution, another huge problem in the DTES, can be seen even onthe blocks that our host church is located. Today, as I drove to drop the car off to be fixed, I had one woman, obviously under the influence, approach my car (as I had no window!!) and ask if I was looking for a "date." When I politely declined, she asked if she could at least get a ride down the street, which I apologized and explained that I had an appointment I was headed to. Many of these women being exploited got involved in a very tricky way. These female natives, called "First Country" people, may have run away from home for some reason, maybe due to issues at home or other reasons. Many of them find men downtown who take an interest, hear their stories, and offer to help them forget all about their worries. They offer them many types of drugs, take advantage of them, and, assuming they come to their senses at some point and want to return home, now find out that their "friend" wants payment for all of the items provided. How would a teenager be able to come up with $4000? They end up working for the man they've become indebted to thru prostitution or selling drugs, often becoming addicts themselves and going into a downward spiral.
Mike took the time to point out the positives as well. Many of the people living downtown, while broken, drug-addicted people, are generally good. When they see kids (or in our case, our youth) walking down the street. Most put away their drug paraphernalia, were respectful of us, and many shared kind words with us (as they saw by our nametags that we were volunteers from UGM). Many of them look out for each other, despite their addictions. And many, with the resources provided by UGM and others, are becoming clean, learning about God, getting jobs, and becoming respectable members of society -- just like Mike.
Mike also told us a story about Kelly, but I'll let the youth write to tell you about Kelly! For now, I'm going to pick up the car--it's ready to go!
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