Friday, September 24, 2010
City Council Thursday 23 September 2010
Short read given to City Counsel on Thursday about the need for better shelters and the change of the status quo.
To be most humanistic and cost effective we have to know what the HOUSING FIRST model really means. It does not mean to put a homeless person in a shelter or in a SRO or in a transition house or in a supportive unit and say that this is HOUSING FIRST and your new home. The homeless must be in a temporary well run shelter system first then they go directly to affordable self-contained market housing with off site supports, if necessary. Get rid of SROs, supportive housing, transition housing and even social housing.
There is a mountain of recent acadmic research to say that HOUSING FIRST is the most cost effective and humanistic way to proceed. See acadminc literate : Pathways New York.
Supportive Housing is best described as a hospic with 24 hour security ie. a minimum security prison.
Market affordable housing units have to be scattered in every housing complex; not ghettorized in one buildings or on one floor or in one section. If supports are necessary the resident can go offsite and access them. Those with deficits will not change unless they want to and there is no hard evidence to suggest that high cost supports (dedicated supportive housing) will change enough behavior long-term to warrant the method or cost.
By scattering housing in for-profit rental communities, we need no money to build more social housing.
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To be most humanistic and cost effective we have to know what the HOUSING FIRST model really means. It does not mean to put a homeless person in a shelter or in a SRO or in a transition house or in a supportive unit and say that this is HOUSING FIRST and your new home. The homeless must be in a temporary well run shelter system first then they go directly to affordable self-contained market housing with off site supports, if necessary. Get rid of SROs, supportive housing, transition housing and even social housing.
There is a mountain of recent acadmic research to say that HOUSING FIRST is the most cost effective and humanistic way to proceed. See acadminc literate : Pathways New York.
Supportive Housing is best described as a hospic with 24 hour security ie. a minimum security prison.
Market affordable housing units have to be scattered in every housing complex; not ghettorized in one buildings or on one floor or in one section. If supports are necessary the resident can go offsite and access them. Those with deficits will not change unless they want to and there is no hard evidence to suggest that high cost supports (dedicated supportive housing) will change enough behavior long-term to warrant the method or cost.
By scattering housing in for-profit rental communities, we need no money to build more social housing.
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Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Update
Nothing seems to be happening.
However, I am thinking about creating a movement for the humanitarism and priortization of social policy from an individualist point of view rather than a representative point of view.
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However, I am thinking about creating a movement for the humanitarism and priortization of social policy from an individualist point of view rather than a representative point of view.
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Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House
Yesterday I attended with a new Canadian friend for a few minutes the Open House at the DTNH on East Hastings Street at Princess Street. The theme was food. Everyone in the NH was very healthy looking and they were eating finger foods. No near-hungry down-and-out people there. I picked up a nacho chip and dipped it into a green coloured dip. I think it was avocado. I was immediately chastised by one of DTNH employees who told me that my mode of eating nachos was not hygienic. Apparently, according to her you are suppose to spoon out dip to a separate plate rather than just dip the nacho in the dip bowl. I stared at this ignorant woman with disbelief who then advised me that she was a PAID employee as if had some authority and she continued on and on that my mode of eating a chip-and-dip was unhygienic. I suggested to her to remove the contaminated nachos and dip. She didn't. Her behaviour embarrassed me in front of my new Canadian friend, Ellen Woodsworth, Suzanne Anton, funders and others who were at the DTNH opening.
PS I checked with two of my Mexican friends last night who laughed at the instructions given to me as to how to eat a nacho. I was told that eating nachos was a sharing/community thing and Mexicans would never parcel out bits of dip to separate plates.
Addendum. On my way out I asked the E/D of the DTNH why there even was a neighbourhood house considering there seems to be at least one community center on every block in the DTES. I was told to take it up with the funders. Another addendum, why are there so many paid employees working in non-profits, whatever happened to volunteers and the residents helping each other. Maybe it has something to do with creating union wage/make work projects. Funders just give give give give only to say that they give give give give.
PS I checked with two of my Mexican friends last night who laughed at the instructions given to me as to how to eat a nacho. I was told that eating nachos was a sharing/community thing and Mexicans would never parcel out bits of dip to separate plates.
Addendum. On my way out I asked the E/D of the DTNH why there even was a neighbourhood house considering there seems to be at least one community center on every block in the DTES. I was told to take it up with the funders. Another addendum, why are there so many paid employees working in non-profits, whatever happened to volunteers and the residents helping each other. Maybe it has something to do with creating union wage/make work projects. Funders just give give give give only to say that they give give give give.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Sunrise-Soya and the VPD
I got written up in the Georgia Straight newspaper on Thursday regarding me being physically assaulted. You might want to read up about it. I do not have the time right now to comment about being beaten up over a eight cent tomatoe. When I went to the VPD police station a week ago Friday to ask it to take pictures of the bruising caused by its members it refused. So much about the police policing themselves.
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Thursday, September 9, 2010
Not well
I have not been visiting my blog in order to post as for the past month I have been lacking in energy. I have moments when my "activism" comes out (see http://downtowneastsideenquirer.blogspot.com)but I am trying to contain my ballistic incidents as I have no choice. I lost 40 pounds in two months, I sleep 12-14 hours a day, and I feel extremely weak. I am fortunate that three of my fuckup friends who know they are fucked up are now looking after the doggies so I can spend my time sleeping.
My next campaign will be http://araizapets.blogspot.com. It will be a campaign to change the Residential Tenanacy Act to legally allow pets in all rentals based on Ontario's rental legislation. If you support this, email me your name, contact address, phone number would be welcomed, and any comments. I will be sending updates to you and research on why pets are necessary especially for the well-being of empty nesters.
I really do not want to deal with the marxist control politics that is happening in the DTES. Groups go after a large population membership base and then do everything possible not to include those members in decision making by creating committees upon committees with the same core members in them.
When I feel better I will be continuing to look into the Society Act and how whimpy it is. The new proposed Act has to take into account not process but rather the need for a universal set of rules.
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My next campaign will be http://araizapets.blogspot.com. It will be a campaign to change the Residential Tenanacy Act to legally allow pets in all rentals based on Ontario's rental legislation. If you support this, email me your name, contact address, phone number would be welcomed, and any comments. I will be sending updates to you and research on why pets are necessary especially for the well-being of empty nesters.
I really do not want to deal with the marxist control politics that is happening in the DTES. Groups go after a large population membership base and then do everything possible not to include those members in decision making by creating committees upon committees with the same core members in them.
When I feel better I will be continuing to look into the Society Act and how whimpy it is. The new proposed Act has to take into account not process but rather the need for a universal set of rules.
.
Friday, August 27, 2010
911 Emergency Ambulance
UPDATE:9 September 2010. I was able to finally find out who the gent was that I helped. He lives upstairs in my building and I did know who him. When I went to St. Pauls he told me that no one from the building or anyone else had contacted him. I was the only one. The downtown eastside is awash with money to make sure that its residents are community but when someone goes missing for two weeks he vanishes into cyberspace and nothing.
On Wednesday I had the occasion to come across a gent who was in medical distress. I saw him from two blocks away trying to get someone's attention that he needed help. I ran up to him and it was obvious that he was in need of medical help. He was very disoriented. I had Kenny the manager of the building next door phone 911. No one came. I paniced and I ran upstairs to phone 911 and again report the incident. No one came. On the third try the operator admitted that no ambulance was sent as they had to data entry a form so that she could decide which of the three types of emergency vehicles she should dispatch. The man was a stranger. I did not know his name, address, or his medical history. I am fed up with who comes up with these policies which in effect seems to give 911 operators the right to kill someone by insisting on information which I kept telling her I did not know. I have been trying to find out what happened to this gent and all I get is the round around. Try to find the non-emergency number for ambulance service. There is no non-emergency number for ambulance. The closest thing is its administration number who just directs you to its website. Well I didn't have access to a computer what would I do then. The admin number said they would not tell me about anything considering I was a third party and my problem was I should have demanded this information from the ambulance attendees as they transported the gent to the unknown. I do not understand how the confidentiality of a patient in this situation would be illegal. All this stuff about confidentiality is so that we become desensitized to what is happening to others around us. Why would I ever want to help anyone in the future. Those that want confidentiality should have a sign on their foreheads saying do not save me as confidentiality is more important than humanity.
On Wednesday I had the occasion to come across a gent who was in medical distress. I saw him from two blocks away trying to get someone's attention that he needed help. I ran up to him and it was obvious that he was in need of medical help. He was very disoriented. I had Kenny the manager of the building next door phone 911. No one came. I paniced and I ran upstairs to phone 911 and again report the incident. No one came. On the third try the operator admitted that no ambulance was sent as they had to data entry a form so that she could decide which of the three types of emergency vehicles she should dispatch. The man was a stranger. I did not know his name, address, or his medical history. I am fed up with who comes up with these policies which in effect seems to give 911 operators the right to kill someone by insisting on information which I kept telling her I did not know. I have been trying to find out what happened to this gent and all I get is the round around. Try to find the non-emergency number for ambulance service. There is no non-emergency number for ambulance. The closest thing is its administration number who just directs you to its website. Well I didn't have access to a computer what would I do then. The admin number said they would not tell me about anything considering I was a third party and my problem was I should have demanded this information from the ambulance attendees as they transported the gent to the unknown. I do not understand how the confidentiality of a patient in this situation would be illegal. All this stuff about confidentiality is so that we become desensitized to what is happening to others around us. Why would I ever want to help anyone in the future. Those that want confidentiality should have a sign on their foreheads saying do not save me as confidentiality is more important than humanity.
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