Letter writer Kate Nixon says those accessing services and supports downtown are navigating life after being failed systemically and by our society.
It has been an immense privilege to get to work with those in my downtown community for these past years.
I have come to know and care deeply about the people that are being discussed in the media as of late. I have been with people in some of the worst moments in their life and I would like to begin this article with speaking to their character which unfortunately does not get spoken of in a way that does this community justice.
I have seen members of the downtown community run down the street to open the door for elders, walk around and clean up garbage, perform successful life saving measures like CPR and naloxone and do what they can to make sure that their peers are fed and clothed despite themselves not having the means. It should not be about meritocracy, regardless of what people do for others nothing changes the fact they are human beings who deserve housing, support and health care.
I also want to speak to the immense strength that this community has to be facing such great adversity and to carry on and try to exist within a broken system, nobody wants to be in this position but yet so many in our community are faced with this reality. The downtown community is exceedingly intersectional, varying from those living with housing insecurity, substance dependencies, racialization, colonialism, unhoused youth, settling in as newcomers, mental health barriers, chronic conditions, disabilities and more. The truth is, the community that accesses services and supports downtown are navigating life after being failed systemically and by our society.
One downtown business owner was quoted saying she feels there are two very separate issues. One is finding support for the marginalized people who need it, and the other is providing safety for others downtown.” We can not talk about these issues as if they are separate when they are the exact same.
Providing safety means living in a community where people are met where they are at and embraced for who they are. When we discuss safety we need to ask ourselves who we are including in that conversation because in my experience those who do not have access to the basic fundamentals of human rights like access to shelter, food and hygiene are at a great risk.
Not having these basic needs met puts you at a higher risk for health complications, hate crimes, death and more. Whether we like it or not this is what is happening for so many of our neighbours. It is uncomfortable to think that people do not have a safe place to lay their head down at night, it is disturbing that people often go without access to washrooms and running water, it is worrisome that people are living with serious health issues with next to no support, it is painful to think people are hungry and cold and it is heartbreaking these are people within our community.
The way we as a society view this issue in such a segregated way needs to change. We need to uplift these community members and give them a voice. We need to meet people where they are and find solutions that embrace the full identity of individuals.
Stationing bylaw, investing in brighter lights and increasing the police budget is not going to feed more mouths, house more people and staff more health care services. We are experiencing a multitude of crises within this community and no amount of enforcement of laws and stigmatization will even come close to addressing the root cause or finding solutions.
We do not have to look far for examples of harm reduction based solutions.
We do not even have to leave Guelph to look at solutions, organizations here in Guelph like Sanguen, The Community Health Center, Royal City Mission, National Overdose Response Service, Your Downtown Guelph Friends/The Helper Bees and see that there are people working proactively to address these issues.
We have to come together and we have to do so recognizing that this is our collective responsibility to look out for one another.
Acts of service and acts of kindness and support will exceed far beyond in this community than surveillance and stigma ever will. Once we recognize that the health and safety of our community relies on our neighbours' needs being met we will then come to a place of being able to say, “We can fix this.”
Katherine Nixon, S.S.W
Guelph
