UPTOWN

For over a year now Dawn Scott (one of our elders at Uptown) and some friends have been going to the downtown east side of Vancouver to share some of themselves and some small but significant gifts with those who live there in great need. I have been amazed at the stories she has told of the various times she has ventured down town and her experiences of giving and receiving among those who need so much and yet have so much to give. The following is a report she give of some of those recent jaunts.

“So one day after my divorce I’m sitting and thinking, oh my God, what’s going to happen if I go to hell because nobody loves me? So I made a wish. I said please let me be somewhere where a hundred people will say I love you. And it was here. Everyday somebody says I love you or people on the street blow me kisses or touch their heart, you know, from across the street, and these are signs that mean I love you. I don’t know what I did to my parents for them to hate me, but let me tell you this: being here, around people that love me, is everything. I’m probably going to die alone, but I know that one hundred men and women love me for me. I tell you, this is the place I got my wish.” Helen Hill – age 62 – Downtown Eastside

Friday night April 3 Christine and I decided to make a run to the DTES – it would take three visits in one week to deliver all of the amazing donations we have been given. TRIAGE is open 24/7 so we went there first with bags and bags of hotel toiletries and warm clothing. The eyes of the staff on duty that night just lit up when they saw the little bottles of shampoo and toothpaste and soaps…”That is EXACTLY what we need right now!” We smiled at each other – somehow it doesn’t surprise us….

TRIAGE (Caters to mentally ill – houses 28 clients)

Our next stop was St Chiara’s across from Oppenheimer Park. We had some really cute children’s and teen’s clothing and shoes which we knew would go over well in the Jackson Avenue community, and also a large amount of pasta and sauce and canned goods for their community meals. As we walked towards the main house where the meals are served we saw a couple of the daughters of Lane and Kathy Walker playing in the front yard with some smaller children. Their 12 year old Elisha-May recognized us and ran to help us carry some of the boxes. We met Kathy at the front door to their home and noticed a LOT of children inside. There has been an infestation of bed bugs in the DTES so all of these children were hanging out at the Walkers while their homes were being fumigated. Kathy was telling us about their movie night and suddenly we had several BEAUTIFUL black children all crowding around us. They were part of a family of 13 from Burundi who had recently moved to Vancouver. Kathy reached into one of the boxes we brought – someone donated an orange sequined heart-shaped satin pillow that I had tucked in the box, thinking some little girl would love it. Kathy handed it to a little girl who said thank you and then ran to the couch and sat with that pillow against her cheek…just loving the treasure she had been given. Her little brother hugged our legs and smiled up at us – just melts your heart! As we left the children playing skipping rope, a few Hell’s Angels drove up across the street. We couldn’t help but observe the amazing diversity on the four corners of Jackson Avenue and East Cordova Street:

(1) Children playing at St Chiara’s

(2) Hell’s Angels in Oppenheimer

(3) Mentally challenged hooker (There is a residence for these girls across Cordova from St Chiara’s)

(4) Disabled man in a wheelchair

Only on the Downtown Eastside.

St ChiarasElisha-May

It was getting dark but we had over 200 pairs of socks and approximately 100 near-new running shoes with us that night and we knew that First United was open. We pulled up to the side door and a street couple with their dogs helped us carry the always-needed footgear in to the church. Probably half of what we brought would have been distributed the next morning when they opened for foot care. We had some dog food and doggie treats at home that were donated by someone who kindly thought of the four-legged friends of the homeless so I asked the couple with the dogs if there was a place downtown that gives out pet food for free. They said that Mission Possible allows the SPCA to use their facility on Thursdays to supply people with provisions for pets. We would return in a few days with the kibbles….

Monday the 6^th was another warm sunny day. We stuffed my car full of women’s clothing and shoes and new underwear and feminine products and diapers and toys and dog food! We arrived at the Union Gospel Mission’s Women’s Drop In Centre at 10:00am and were able to hang out with the ladies for a couple of hours. They were in desperate need of the underwear and bras we brought. We were also able to bring lipsticks and lotions and purses – items that really give these ladies a lift. Christine and I got talking with a sweet lady – about our age – named Wendy. She lives in a shelter close by and has a terrible story of an arranged marriage and awful abuse. She still manages to smile and laugh and I wonder how she has the strength to keep going. A lovely woman named Dianne is volunteering at the centre today to sing with the ladies and we all sit around a table and join in. Before we leave we bring in boxes and bags of clothing and shoes to take to the men’s side.

WendySinging with Dianne

After leaving UGM we drove one block down Hastings Street and found Sheway. (Sheway is the Coast Salish word for “growth”) They provide health and social service supports to pregnant women and women with infants under 18 months who are dealing with drug and alcohol problems. We had toys and diapers and infant’s clothing to give them – they were so thrilled to accept them! There was a play area for toddlers and the ladies were being served a hot lunch.

We ended our day at Mission Possible. We thought we would just drop off the dog food with them but ended up staying awhile and speaking with their executive director Brian. He described Mission Possible as “Family to the forgotten, and companions to the lonely.” Here was another front-line organization providing food and clothing AND pet food. We will certainly be back with more donations for this fabulous group.

Mission Possible

The highlight of our week was Good Friday – exactly one year since Christine and I started our work in downtown Vancouver. We decided to take our usual socks and granola bars and do some walking around. We had also been given two really nice Gund stuffed toys and I threw them in my bag thinking we may find a child who may want them. We parked at Oppenheimer Park and then decided to keep on walking to “Pain & Wastings”. We had always driven around and parked and delivered goods and then jumped back into the safety of the car. It seemed appropriate on our year anniversary to get out amongst the people…and we were SO blessed by doing just that. As we walked up Cordova and on to Main Street we started to encounter more and more people in need of a kind word and some clean socks. We then made our way down Hastings and stopped in at InSite to leave a message for Carmen. (You may remember her story from my previous emails….) A few doors down from InSite a young woman in an InSite T-shirt and holding the arm of an elderly gentleman looked desperately at us “Please – can you take Mickey to the Lux?” I looked at her and said “The what?” She went on to explain that the Lux is a hotel on the next block down…Mickey has a crumpled piece of paper in his hand that states “My name is Mickey and if you find me, please return me to the Lux.” This poor girl was working the desk at the InSite recovery house and couldn’t leave her post. We took this sweet mentally challenged old man down the street and walked him into the Lux. As we made our way up Columbia we continued to give out socks and granola bars…We passed an alley and could see several addicts shooting up beside filthy dumpsters….SO sad. We turned up Cordova and found an interesting older woman who accepted our socks and told us she would like to knit us a scarf for the next time we are down. So sweet! We took a few more steps and encountered quite a few men…we hadn’t realized we were now outside the HUGE Harbour Light Centre which is run by the Salvation Army. We had several really amazing conversations with these brave souls who were all in the recovery program at the centre. One named George was going to see his daughter the next day and the Gund plush dog I had made a perfect gift for him to give her! He had no money to buy her anything and he told us we were a “Godsend”. Another man was going to be a grandfather very soon so he took the plush seal for the baby. A couple of the men cried when they told us their stories. It was gut wrenching. We met an interesting man named Andrew with his pet ferret “Axel”. We paused at Wendy Poole Park and the Evelyn Saller Centre and then returned to Oppenheimer where we talked with a few addicts. We marveled at how one year ago we had been afraid to stop the car at Oppenheimer and now we walked freely there…and we are humbled and grateful.for this fabulous group.

Thank you so much for supporting us with your donations and your prayers. This “team” continues to make a difference…Dawn