A small donation can make a big impact – running shoes helps partially paralyzed woman get mobile, safely
On October 29, Scotiabank donated $20,000 to the Union Gospel Mission’s Women and Families Centre day shelter, a contribution that will transform the lives of many women. Union Gospel Mission can do what it does because of contributions, big and small, each having their own impact. This donation is in addition to the $27,000 raised by the community during the Scotiabank 5K/half marathon.
Opened in February 2012, women’s day shelter is provided in collaboration with the Downtown Eastside Women’s Center (DEWC), to help provide emergency shelter for women around the clock. It meets the dire need for safe shelter for women fleeing violence, unsafe housing or homelessness on the Downtown Eastside.
The UGM Women’s Centre has been able to utilize gifts great and small to help improve the lives of women in the shelter and in its programs. One great example is Tracy, a long-time UGM community member who is paralyzed on one side. Just prior to the Scotiabank 5K/half marathon this summer, she received a Runners and Rackets gift certificate that had been donated to the Mission.
Like many women in the eastside community, Tracy was already working hard at improving her own life, but needed some support. For her, walking is a challenge and falls are a reality. Earlier this year, she caught the itch to walk the Scotiabank 5K, and joined a group of UGM ladies who were training for it.
“For six months, she came out to train wearing a pair of $29.99 sneakers,” explains Skye Walks, Outreach Worker at UGM. “She had saved hard for those sneakers, and had worn them to the ground. She was the only lady who did not miss a single training day.” Tracy received the gift certificate near training day. With it she was able to specially order a pair of New Balance sneakers, specially designed to help with her leg strength. Since then, Tracy has only fallen once.
“Because she now has the proper shoe support she needs,” explains Walks, “Tracy has been able to build up her strength and prevent herself from falling. The day of the race, Tracy walked faster than anybody in the group. Volunteers couldn’t keep up with her. She would not stop.”
Walks, who has known Tracy for many years, says it has been amazing to accompany her on this journey, and that the transformation in Tracy is apparent.
“This has been an incredible experience for me,” says Tracy. “I have noticed an improvement in my confidence, my strength and my mood. Sneakers are hard for me to find, and these fit like a glove. I’m so thankful I can keep doing what I love.”
Thanks to the $47,000 donation from Scotiabank and the community, many more women like Tracy will receive opportunities for continued and sustained growth and success with their own individual and unique set of challenges.
November 10th: UGM will be at the Abbotsford Heat’s Community Corner
If you love hockey and you love UGM, we have the perfect event for you to mix these two wonderful worlds.
On November 10th, UGM will be at the Abbotsford Heat’s Community Corner in the Abbotsford Heat vs. Oklahoma City Barons game. For those of you looking to get your hockey fix as the NHL lockout drags on, look no further. With three NHL players on the ice that night, not only will you be getting that much-needed fix, but the deal gets even better. Enter our promo code when you purchase your tickets, and 50% of your ticket cost will be donated to UGM. Automatically. With no extra cost to you. Pretty swanky, right?
So, a quick recap:
- Promo code = UGM
- Enter promo code when you buy tickets
- 50% of the ticket cost gets donated to UGM
Bonus – Three NHL players will be on the ice: Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins
You can buy tickets through www.abbotsfordcentre.ca and use the promo code: UGM – or, here is a direct link to enter the promo code and then purchase tickets:
http://ev10.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/EVExecMacro?linkID=global-abbotsford&evm=prmo&RSRC=&RDAT=&caller=PR
Tickets start at $15, and the event takes place Saturday, November 10th at 7pm.
News this week
High debt, little work plague Canada’s youth: report
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/high-debt-little-work-plague-canada-s-youth-report-1.980193
Senior poverty rising in Halifax, says report
1 in 13 seniors living in poverty in the HRM
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2012/10/02/ns-senior-poverty.html
The poor ain’t what they used to be
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/commentary/the-poor-aint-what-they-used-to-be/article4575748/
Can condo-zones save Vancouver’s beleaguered Chinatown?
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/28/can-condo-zones-save-vancouvers-beleaguered-chinatown/
A call for pragmatism in clean-needle debate
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/article4580629.ece
Why aren’t children on reserves receiving equal welfare funding?
http://www.openfile.ca/toronto/story/why-arent-children-reserves-receiving-equal-welfare-funding
Vancouver housing a landlord’s market: task force
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2012/10/02/vancouver-housing-a-landlords-market-task-force
Beauty Night Society touches the lives of thousands of women on Vancouver’s DTES
http://www.wevancouver.com/news/171412801.html
News this week
She Drove Trucks, Now ‘I Can’t Make Ends Meet’
Rochelle Bergman wants politicians to know ‘nobody could live’ on her disability payments.
http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/09/20/Disability-Payments/
Housing homeless cheaper, more effective than status quo: study
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/housing-homeless-cheaper-more-effective-than-status-quo-study/article4563718/
Supreme Court decision in SWUAV – the short version
http://www.pivotlegal.org/scc_decision_in_swuav_a_triumph_for_access_to_justice
Goldcorp donation paves way for addiction medicine fellowship at St Paul’s Hospital
http://www.straight.com/article-786471/vancouver/goldcorp-donation-paves-way-addiction-medicine-fellowship-st-pauls-hospital
Welfare food challenge will see Vancouver participants live on $26 for a week
http://www.straight.com/article-788041/vancouver/welfare-food-challenge-will-see-vancouver-participants-live-26-week
Supermarkets and the urban environment
In preparation for Homelessness Action Week (HAW), the team here at UGM has been busy putting together the Eastside Stride, a two-hour walking tour of the community for anyone who wants to know more about the Downtown Eastside (DTES), past and present.
The goal: to raise awareness and promote education within Greater Vancouver.
The bonus: it gives employment to local residents in an empowering and dignified manner.
There is both a walking tour and an audio tour, and for the audio tours, we’ve been having people from the community meet up with us and have their voices recorded, speaking about whatever organization they represent—or, in the case of one little man—whichever elementary school they may happen to represent.
Christian, age eight, came in to the boardroom of UGM and represented Lord Strathcona Elementary School like a champ two weeks ago. When asked to give his opinion of the ‘hood, without hesitation he shouted “I love it! …Strathcona, I really like.”
Christian had no shortage of great things to say about Strathcona—for instance, did you know that MacLean Park has a huge climbing thing?!? Just as I was about to put my brain to work figuring out just how huge the huge climbing thing is, I was pulled back to reality, the Human Geographer in me left itching to relocate notebooks from semesters past, and to draw parallels between classroom content and real-life happenings:
“Well, the only thing I don’t like about the neighbourhood is that there’s not like, a supermarket anywhere around here.”
I have since located my notebooks.
Christian said that if he had a hundred thousand million dollars, he would definitely put in a supermarket, a toy shop, and a few other apartments – in that order. So why is it that an eight year old kid who loves playing in parks and riding his scooter with friends care so much about having a supermarket close by? Because he is one smart kid.
Food insecurity is a concept that describes, among other things, an insufficiency in the amount/kind of food required for a healthy lifestyle. The health effects of food insecurity are varied, and to name a few, include increased risk of diabetes, depressive symptoms in adolescents, and academic and social developmental delays in kids.
The bottom line: access to affordable, nutritional food is crucial, and Christian knows it.
Weekly News Roundup
Some news that may be of interest to the UGM community and friends.
Local
School district looks at child poverty numbers in Richmond
http://www.richmondreview.com/news/170363656.html
Women march for social housing on 10th anniversary of Woodward’s squat
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Women+march+social+housing+10th+anniversary+Woodward+squat/7249282/story.html
Council to consider mid-rise condo development for Downtown Eastside
http://www.openfile.ca/vancouver/blog/2012/council-consider-mid-rise-condo-development-downtown-eastside
Out of Province
More Canadian single dads head rise in lone-parent families
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/09/19/census-single-parent-families.html
Census: Canada’s foster children counted for first time
http://www.vancouversun.com/life/Census+Canada+foster+children+counted+first+time/7267111/story.html
Ontario dead last in terms of inequality, poverty and funding for public services
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1248577–ontario-worst-province-in-terms-of-inequality-poverty-and-funding-for-public-services
Saskatoon Food Basket Challenge: Residents Live Off Food Basket For A Week
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/18/saskatoon-food-basket-challenge-_n_1894160.html?ir=Canada+Living
Unmask the Mental Illness Myth
Psychiatrist Thomas Szasz’s theories that brain disorders aren’t real influence policy, pop culture today.
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/09/19/Mental-Illness-Myth/
Homelessness and the Streets, part II of II
By Shawna, UGM Community Engagement Co-ordinator
Shawna is our amazing Community Engagement Intern. She’s a Human Geography student at SFU, and in this post, she turns her sharp mind on to an analysis of her experience of the space that people – whether homeless or “passers-by” – occupy on our streets and sidewalks.
Homelessness and the Streets, part I of II
By Shawna, UGM Community Engagement Co-ordinator
Shawna is our amazing Community Engagement Intern. She’s a Human Geography student at SFU, and in this post, she turns her sharp mind on to an analysis of her experience of the space that people – whether homeless or “passers-by” – occupy on our streets and sidewalks.
Interactions between passersby and homeless people occupying a space on the street provide many examples of the ways in which power and space make and re-make one another over time. My own interactions with individuals in this quasi-public space of the street have revealed several assumptions of my own regarding the power and agency of homeless persons and of myself. By recognizing the actors involved—that is, who is involved—their agency and the forms of power they employ, much can be learned about the space of the street.
In my journeys along the streets of the Lower Mainland, I have found myself conflicted between my supposed role as a citizen to maintain mobility along the street and between my feelings of guilt associated with ignoring marginalized individuals. I noticed this feeling of dissonance one day in particular, on my walk from Waterfront Station to Harbour Centre as I passed a woman who was asking me for spare change. Instead of giving her the usual quick apology and nod, I stopped to talk with her. By contesting this mobility, I was given the time to connect with this woman and learn her name. While I did not give her any money, I acknowledged her presence and made efforts to treat her as an equal. This interaction was one of the first that started me seriously thinking about the ways that my interactions with homeless people are performative (in that they are shaped by what society constitutes as normal behaviour) and the ways in which space and power affect these interactions.
In the Lower Mainland, the space of the street is centered on notions of mobile populations. Its intended use is that of a route to travel along to reach one’s destination. It is a transient space. The city instrumentally enacts power that shapes the meaning of the street by prohibiting activities that block the flow of persons. While signs preventing loitering are predominantly absent from the majority of street space, citizens have internalized this social norm. As such, the transiency of the street becomes performative, with citizens serving to enforce this meaning daily. When individuals (some of whom are homeless) occupy a space on the street, they are actively contesting this meaning of mobility. Reinforcing this meaning, on the other hand, is the gaze of the populations of passersby who do not acknowledge the presence of stationary persons and continue along their way. In this sense, dispersed power is employed by a group (creating associational power) to maintain the flow of persons on the street. The meaning of the street is continually contested and rewritten by two groups, therefore: stationary individuals and mobile citizens.
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