The holiday season

 

The holiday season
 Written by,  Sharleen Cainer, BSW RSW
  The holiday season is around the corner. I don't know too much about how others are feeling, but I feel an incongruency, hanging around my neck like an albatross. I find it difficult to celebrate a holiday, when I know there are so many people who are living the lives of the unsheltered in Durham Region.
You might wonder, why should is all of this unsheltered business be my problem, when I have shelter, and a paper to read while I enjoy my sheltered existence?  You don't know why; well, I can tell you why. The homeless population is growing exponentially around the world, but let's look in our own backyard, because it is growing there too. You might wonder and say, "yeah so"? Well, I will tell you why you should worry about your ability to shelter yourself and your family.
The democratic, capitalist social structure predicates on the ability of an individual to be able to earn enough money so as to marry, produce children, own a car, and a home. For the purposes of explaining, this is overly simplistic. However, when Canada's Founding Forefathers envisioned this country, it was seen to be able to provide for Canadians a land where a basic quality of life included a house. The economic plan in Canada, was geared to an employed man being able to provide a home for his family at the cost of one quarter of his earnings. Canada then introduced personal taxation in 1917 and it was to be temporary by the way until we got over the hump, that being the deficit resulting from the war. OK, so the good old days!!
Moving forward at a galloping speed, here we are. Personal taxation is now CRA and they will take what they want. The more financially challenged members of society will be paying the most tax. That is how it is structured. It is almost embedded in the documents so that unless you have studied taxation or economics, you may not know about it. So, with the CRA taking 30% of your income, the bank taking closer to 50% of your income to pay mortgage and that other tax, the property tax, people begin to struggle. Some bills go unpaid, unexpected expenses arise, and credit ratings start to diminish.
This is where it gets interesting. With a poor, to bad credit rating you need even more money to pay your mortgage or your credit cards. Needing more money to pay the escalating costs of living, you and your declining credit scores begin an expediated ride down a slippery slope into poverty. The bank manager will demand you live within your means, but that seems difficult when you, who of gainful employment is unable to demonstrate the financial prowess required to fund an average priced accommodation to shelter you and your family.
It is in these moments that issues such as domestic violence, or depression, or substance abuses or somatic illnesses begin to take up residence in your home and the day-to-day living becomes soul crushing for many.
Homelessness is not a problem that just suddenly happens. It is the culmination of many moving parts that come together in a melody of destruction. Many components of those moving parts are beyond the control of those who live trapped in this dark web of despair. Then what happens when we throw a pandemic onto the wood pile? If you ever doubted the seriousness of this situation, just review the earlier videos of Doug Ford's facial expression when he finds out we have a pandemic. That look of fear remained on his face for months.
We at Welcome Home for Less urge everybody to explore what it means to be humane. Engage in random acts of kindness. Help those who are less fortunate. They may not have been as lucky as you, but they still deserve humane treatment. Some people are just "down on their luck" so to say. No matter how hard we work, or how gifted we are, we still need to have some luck on our side. Nobody feels you did not dig deep and work hard for your reality.  Think about how you feel after you give to someone who needs to receive. Every year I donate to an organization that will match my donation by 10x instead of buying presents for my family. My family all agree there is not much that we really need.
Last week in Oshawa a number of things happened that we should be ashamed of.  There was a shooter on the roof of a building shooting at homeless people. In another situation there was a homeless man who was dragged from his tent while sleeping, beaten, and robbed by three masked men. Another homeless man, sleeping in a tent, was dragged from his tent, and beaten by three masked men.  These are cowardice acts of violence perpetrated on the weakened members of our society who are not in a position to defend themselves and deserve our protection.  
The Prime Minister put up 1 billion dollars to solely house and care for those who continue to remain unsheltered. Mr. Trudeau understands the necessity of looking after constituents. Unfortunately, the governing bodies who are responsible to administer these funds are struggling to come forward with a direct plan to shelter the unsheltered. Despite the efforts brought forward by many community groups to pitch in their talents and efforts, the situation remains unchanged. At Welcome Home for Less, I remain hopeful. A change is gonna come.