DP Homelessness

Dear Canadian Government,

“Do not judge by appearances, a rich heart may be under a poor coat.” - Scottish proverb.

I used to work as an accountant at the RBC bank in Niagara Falls. Life was terrific - there was work flowing into our branch, had my own spacious apartment, cooked my own meals and slept in a cozy queen-sized bed. However, here I am, wearing ratty clothes and posting from the local library. So how could I get into such a terrible situation in such a short period of time?

A man in my branch botched their part for a big project. All he did was miscalculate a small line of information. Our partner had moved the project to another company. Our reputation was ruined and word had got around that we weren’t reliable. Our trust with many other branches and companies diminished. Soon, dozens of people were fired, including me. After two days, there was a “for sale” sign in front of our office. I sent resumés to countless banks, but no one trusted me, as I was from a department that they saw as faithless.

That is how I became homeless. I’m not an alcoholic or a drug addict. You might think I’m dangerous and an uneducated criminal, someone that left their home to terrorize the streets. I have a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Ottawa. Anyone can be homeless. I didn’t choose to be homeless, and I have never committed a crime.

Homeless people need your help. Spreading the word will help us more than you think. We don’t just want your money. A smile or a simple hello will make our day.  The biggest solution to homelessness is to prevent it beforehand. Campaigns, volunteering in fundraising drives, support projects, we need all the help we can get. Talk with each other and bring this issue up in your next meeting. Together, we can stop homelessness.

Sincerely,

Daniel P

AP Homelessness

Blog Post: How it feels to be homeless-second draft                      01/12/16

   

Two years ago I was married with 2 beautiful children. So you're probably wondering how someone with such and amazing life became homeless and well the truth is anyone can become homeless.

My husband’s sudden and unexpected death really hit me hard. I lost my job, my house and my kids. I had no one and nothing. Until I found that drugs and alcohol could ease the pain. I stayed with a friend on and off. I spent every dollar I had on drugs or alcohol but sooner than later I really had nothing. I became homeless.

So here I am, everyday feeling cold beaten and unwanted. The days are cold but the nights are colder. Each night I sleep under a tree or on a bench or I just don’t sleep. Sitting here in this library is the warmest I’ve felt in 6 months. The people passing by stare at me with disgust and children whisper. I just want to say “I know I’m poor and ugly but there’s nothing I can do!” but I’m always too cold to speak or move.

Being homeless is awful, it sucks but I really hope that someday I will get on my feet again and have my life back.

-Alicia P.

Blog Post: How to make the situation better- Second draft

Being homeless is sad, dark and so, so cold. That’s why I think the government should try, just try to save up money or get donations to build more homeless shelters around North America for people like me who don’t have the basic survival needs. I don’t think people realise how important food drives really are. Having even a little something to eat is very lucky for me but most food drives don’t have very much donations these days. Please donate to food drives today for the homeless. Sometimes the smallest things can make a huge difference.

-Alie. P

AT Homelessness

Blog Post!                 

A.Telega

It’s been years since I’ve been homeless and not a minute passes that I want my normal 13 year old, life back. Having to find a newspaper of some sort sleeping and staying warm on a cold park bench, cold as can be. I’m waiting for someone to lend me a hand, that’s all I want, donate some change to help with the problems I have.

It’s hard to get off the streets now, don’t you understand. I used to have nice clothes, now there torn and ruined. I used to have company always by my side with me through everything, now all I have to see is people ignoring me, making faces, not even slightly taking a few minutes of their time to help a young innocent child who’s lost everything they could ever want in life, they just will never understand what it really means to be homeless, but yet I have no one, not a single person has come to me and ask to help one bit.

Do you know how much that hurts me….Do you? It hurts me to much. I’ve been on the streets for years and now look at me crying every night wishing to be with the people that I love once again. No one can hear me...can they? I mean nothing to anybody anymore.

Even being homeless is hard, there are standards that need to happen. Even when you’re homeless you still need a good health, as in eat healthy to increase your mental health, another standard that should happen is some adults, teens, and/or children they don’t seem and look homeless but you don’t know their personal life and what happens to them. Most teens and children i see they sing for money to go to school, it helps because most of the time people can’t resist children and teens who sing at least because they are incredible too and obviously you should donate. Help a cause of homelessness and help others live a good healthy life with a roof over their head, food to last them forever and loved ones around you.

MW Homelessness

First Blog Post: How it Feels to be Homeless - second to last draft

1-12-16

1:00 pm

It’s scary, being homeless. I’d never felt so afraid or so alone in my life. I was used to being the center of attention, having been a successful neurosurgeon until I got into a plane crash and damaged both of my hands beyond repair. Now, I was hardly noticed, stranger’s eyes glazing over me as if I was as insignificant and typical as a street rat, scavenging for scraps. Which I was, if you judged by the way people looked at me when they did acknowledge my presence. All I could feel from them was judgement, their stares making my face burn with shame until I was sure I was nothing more than a scorch mark on the pavement.

I was lost. I didn’t know what to do or where to go. I had no one to turn to except my parents, and even they turned away from me when I wasted all of their money on alcohol after discovering that it could numb the pain. My hands and my practice had been my whole life and with the loss of them, I spiralled into a bottomless depression.

When the weather started to grow colder, I started to lose myself. I had basically accepted the fact that this was my life - feeling cold, lonely and unwanted. Sleeping in alleyways and on park benches. Still, there was the tiniest part of me that clung onto a little shred of hope in a hopeless situation. Hope that things would get better, that I would get better, that this wasn’t going to be my life forever.

That’s how I ended up here, feeling warm for the first time in a long time, surrounded by dusty books and heavy silence. The only noise that I can hear is the clacking of keys and the soft rustle of pages being turned. I can finally get some privacy, since everyone is too wrapped up in their own storybook worlds to notice one skinny girl in ratty clothes with trembling hands.

Maggie W.

Second Blog Post: How to Make the Situation Better - second to last draft

1-12-16

1:56 pm

I stayed at a shelter once, but it was torn down because they didn’t have enough money and the government wanted to build a new mall. After that, I tried to get a job but after sending out resumé after resumé and receiving no reply, I got the message. No one wants to hire a has-been surgeon with hands that can barely lift a coffee cup without spilling a little coffee over the edge.

Something else that really bothered me, still bothers me, is the stigma. Itʼs something that we all struggle with, a big, black stain painted over us making people think that we are less than we are and that we dug ourselves into this hole, and thatʼs not the reality. Not all homeless people are homeless because of their own shortcomings.

I guess the point that Iʼm trying to get across here is that I would like the government to provide more funding for homeless shelters so they can stay open and take care of those who need their help. I am also asking that the government provide more job opportunities for us so that we can make money and begin to improve our lives. It doesnʼt have to be anything glamourous. I would accept a job working at the homeless shelters themselves.

One last thing. I would like to begin erasing the stigma surrounding homeless people. I know it wonʼt happen overnight, but if it could be made known that itʼs not our fault that weʼre in this situation, weʼre not all drug addicts or hopeless drunks and weʼre trying to make our lives better.

Maggie W.

DW Homelessness

My life was great. I had a big house, three decent meals each day, and we were a happy family: me, my older sister, my mom, and my dad. Then, things went downhill. My sister was diagnosed with cancer. My family gave up almost all of our money trying to save her. Three years ago, we lost her during her fight with cancer and we were broke.

I am a homeless teenager and I live with my parents in a van. I go to school, but I might drop out in the future so I can work to support my parents’ and my health. When I am at school, I feel as if I am an outcast. I have different clothes, people ignore me, and no one wants to be around me. They make it seem as if they are scared of me. The other students at school think I am homeless because there is something wrong with me, and that makes me upset, angry, and frustrated. I only want to be treated fairly like others without them judging me on where I spend my nights.

During my three years of being homeless, I think that homeless shelters with food and warmth should be more convenient and available for the homeless! It is difficult to find one when you rarely access to the internet.

My family constantly struggles to feed the three of us and keep us warm during the cold weather. We usually have one meal a day, and we keep the rest of our money to pay for gasoline (to keep the van warm). We don’t have much more money to keep it that way, and I am scared for what will happen in the future. My family needs money. I want the government to create a system where people who are wealthier can loan money to the homeless. Once we find a house and a job, we can pay them back.

Daphene W.

RW Homelessness

Government Blog Post

Backstory

I went homeless in a blink of an eye I had a house had a family. But now we took different paths my wife and I have split while being homeless which is rough. At least I can get money by playing the piano a few months ago i got to buy a Dollar Store toy piano. To earn money. Also i've been trying to get a job and get at least get a apartment.

Suggestion

Anything would help a homeless person even a quarter would help us. But my solution I ask to the Government is that in this world we have foster homes for kids. See the Government thinks about kids that lose family but not the homeless kid and adults that lose houses and food. Yes I know foster aren’t like a real home. But it’s something so i ask why can’t the homeless have a foster home to stay for a while come in sit down and let's talk in the foster home we should have.

-Russell.W  

   

Homelessness Awareness

Throughout the month of November and December, 8M students looked closely at homelessness in Canada through various readings and videos. One of the videos they watched was called “Switching Places with the Homeless” https://youtu.be/rEx4Czjo-NM.  The video tells the real-life story of Ed, a man who was unable to work after a foot injury and became homeless as a result. Richard Leblanc has devoted his life to combatting homelessness, switched places with Ed, and lived in Ed's van for a couple months while Ed lived in his house.
As a final assignment, students were tasked with writing blog posts from the point of view of someone hit by homelessness.

As part of the writing process, students were asked to consider the following before drafting their first drafts.

What did your life use to look like?

What happened that led to your situation of being homeless?

Where do you sleep?

How do you stay warm?

Where do you keep your clothes and other personal items?

Do you think you can get off the streets again?

Can you do it by yourself?

The scenario was this:

Now imagine, as a homeless person, you spend a lot of time at your local library. It’s quiet, it’s warm, and you can read or use the Internet. You keep a low profile and don’t call any attention to yourself. One day while you’re browsing the employment listings, you come across a website set up by the federal government.

While a lot of different groups are working to solve the problem, the government has finally decided to invite homeless people across the country to guest post on a special new blog:

1) expressing their feelings about being homeless and

2) what they think would make the situation better.

Post to the government blog. Explain your views of what needs to be done. Which of your basic needs are not being met? What do you propose would meet them? What kinds of supports do you need to help you get back to where you can be a contributing member of society?

Students worked through the writing process, writing drafts, sharing those drafts with others, receiving feedback and implementing in their writing. You will see those blog posts featured here in the coming days.

Criteria	Needs Work	Getting there	Got it!
The writing is clear and detailed, It accomplishes the purpose (expressing feelings of being homeless; explaining how government could help)	The writing is vague, Doesn’t really let the reader know how the writer feels, offers limited explanation	The writing is somewhat clear and detailed, It accomplishes the basic purpose	The writing is clear and detailed, It accomplishes the purpose
IDEAS • ideas and information • use of detail	• no clear purpose • can’t hear the author’s voice • lacks specific and relevant examples and details	• focused around a purpose • can hear the author’s voice sometimes, at other times it could be anybody who wrote this • some specific and relevant examples and details, but others are vague and irrelevant	• focused around a clear purpose • the author’s voice comes through loud and clear • specific and relevant examples and details help the reader to understand the writer’s message
ORGANIZATION • opening; ending • organization and sequence • paragraphs	• no introduction and/or conclusion is predictable • no logical sequence, series of random ideas • no paragraphs, just a solid block of text	• effective introduction; conclusion is predictable, reader may still have questions • some logical sequencing, some ideas flow from one to another while others seem random; organization is clear, one idea per paragraph	• effective introduction • conclusion leaves the reader satisfied • logical sequence, ideas flow from one to another • organization is clear, only one idea per paragraph

December Trait

For the month of December, I will be looking for evidence of integrity shown by students in 8M. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of Integrity is:

• firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values. (incorruptibility)

Simply put, doing the right thing even when others or not, or even when no one is watching. 

I know my students have integrity, so it should be hard to choose just two. 

1. 
   
2. 
   

Welcome et Bienvenue

Welcome to the 8M blog. For the rest of the year, we will be posting announcements, work, comments, and many other things that are related to grade 8 French Immersion, most especially 8M but not limited to 8M, at Prince Philip.

Happy reading!