BC Lags Behind Other Provinces in Life Satisfaction

[blender]

I'd say its more indicative of how addiction and mental health problem cut through all layers of society and should be a reminder to us that it is necessary to recognize that every person is actually an individual with their own story, good or bad.
When we start looking at "these people" as a homogenous group we as a society are moving away from helping them.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by blankall

Kind of illustrates how thin the line between productive member of society and homeless cop killer is in our society right now.

It's remarkably insane. It's not even a slippery slope anymore. It's an anthill with a banana peel on it. Sneeze the wrong way and you're displaced.

As a displaced person myself I've come across many folk way better off than I who also live out of their vehicles. They have better vehicles and have better equipment to make surviving .....more comfortable but I think that speaks to how the middle class has been squeezed out now as well.

I'm just glad my only vice or addiction is cigarettes. That's costly enough as it is. Let alone a constant need for a fix for any narcotic be it pharmaceutical or street level. I cannot relate to that end of the spectrum of the displaced. It's easy to see how those ppl got there though.

The mental health crisis (a severe lack of proper care or even understanding of teach individuals issue) on top of a crushing depressing housing availability, the threads folk hang on by are frayed.

I have friends with severe addiction issues from improper mental health care, you can only do so much for them because their needs vastly outweigh your capacity to give. It's tough to watch friends disappear into the void while you're standing there helpless to do anything but hold your hand out to take them somewhere, anywhere they could get proper help, but they don't take it because they've been through the system before and came out feeling far worse about their situation than when they went in for the help.

I've seen and head with mine own eyes and ears how some of the front line health care workers speak to these people. Through no fault of their own mind you, they themselves are overworked, stressed beyond the maximum, and under constant barragement from those who need help, the government. They've had enough too. You can only care so much before you yourself get worn down.

I cannot imagine seeing 20-100 ppl a day rolling through your doors with a million stories you're trying to wade through to see if you can help them.

It's a deep and wide ocean of desperation for everyone.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Another day, another overnight glass smashing of a small business owner. Walked out this morning to grab a coffee and walked past a local pizza place and saw that the owner was cleaning up the broken glass from their front door. There's no cash on site left overnight so I don't know what these people are doing this for.

Maybe this guy? He's free again after hit the same place.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2548209

[cam_calderon]

Originally Posted by dammage79

It's remarkably insane. It's not even a slippery slope anymore. It's an anthill with a banana peel on it. Sneeze the wrong way and you're displaced.

As a displaced person myself I've come across many folk way better off than I who also live out of their vehicles. They have better vehicles and have better equipment to make surviving .....more comfortable but I think that speaks to how the middle class has been squeezed out now as well.

I'm just glad my only vice or addiction is cigarettes. That's costly enough as it is. Let alone a constant need for a fix for any narcotic be it pharmaceutical or street level. I cannot relate to that end of the spectrum of the displaced. It's easy to see how those ppl got there though.

The mental health crisis (a severe lack of proper care or even understanding of teach individuals issue) on top of a crushing depressing housing availability, the threads folk hang on by are frayed.

I have friends with severe addiction issues from improper mental health care, you can only do so much for them because their needs vastly outweigh your capacity to give. It's tough to watch friends disappear into the void while you're standing there helpless to do anything but hold your hand out to take them somewhere, anywhere they could get proper help, but they don't take it because they've been through the system before and came out feeling far worse about their situation than when they went in for the help.

I've seen and head with mine own eyes and ears how some of the front line health care workers speak to these people. Through no fault of their own mind you, they themselves are overworked, stressed beyond the maximum, and under constant barragement from those who need help, the government. They've had enough too. You can only care so much before you yourself get worn down.

I cannot imagine seeing 20-100 ppl a day rolling through your doors with a million stories you're trying to wade through to see if you can help them.

It's a deep and wide ocean of desperation for everyone.

I sincerely hope this doesn't come off as rude, but how did you end up living out of your car?

I'll probably answer my own question here to be honest. I was in Vancouver back in 2013 and there was lots of talk about the property market being out of control even back then. Sad to hear about the social issues the city is facing.

[SeeGeeWhy]

Has anyone ever tried to receive mental health support?

You’re going there as a dysfunctional person, and the entire process requires that you are not that. There are several walls that even mild dysfunction will prevent the next step from occurring. It’s the most frustrating and demoralizing experience, especially when you feel like you need help and have no idea what to do or where to go.

[JohnnyB]

It's getting back to that always dark and always wet time of year again. Not a great time for people with mental illness or people living without a home. Just anecdotal but feels like I'm seeing more people in rough shape or having breakdowns in the last couple of weeks.

[blankall]

Originally Posted by dammage79

It's remarkably insane. It's not even a slippery slope anymore. It's an anthill with a banana peel on it. Sneeze the wrong way and you're displaced.

As a displaced person myself I've come across many folk way better off than I who also live out of their vehicles. They have better vehicles and have better equipment to make surviving .....more comfortable but I think that speaks to how the middle class has been squeezed out now as well.

I'm just glad my only vice or addiction is cigarettes. That's costly enough as it is. Let alone a constant need for a fix for any narcotic be it pharmaceutical or street level. I cannot relate to that end of the spectrum of the displaced. It's easy to see how those ppl got there though.

The mental health crisis (a severe lack of proper care or even understanding of teach individuals issue) on top of a crushing depressing housing availability, the threads folk hang on by are frayed.

I have friends with severe addiction issues from improper mental health care, you can only do so much for them because their needs vastly outweigh your capacity to give. It's tough to watch friends disappear into the void while you're standing there helpless to do anything but hold your hand out to take them somewhere, anywhere they could get proper help, but they don't take it because they've been through the system before and came out feeling far worse about their situation than when they went in for the help.

I've seen and head with mine own eyes and ears how some of the front line health care workers speak to these people. Through no fault of their own mind you, they themselves are overworked, stressed beyond the maximum, and under constant barragement from those who need help, the government. They've had enough too. You can only care so much before you yourself get worn down.

I cannot imagine seeing 20-100 ppl a day rolling through your doors with a million stories you're trying to wade through to see if you can help them.

It's a deep and wide ocean of desperation for everyone.

All it takes is a look at the overdose statistics to get an idea of how many people are falling off that hill. The number of people experiencing homelessness isn't decreasing (in fact, it's obviously increasing). If you have 2200 people a year dying of overdoses (granted not all are without homes but many are), that means every year thousands of new people are losing their homes in BC and replenishing (and expanding) the number of people on the streets.

In the last 10 years, the number of overdose deaths in BC has increased almost ten fold.

https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/bi...licit-drug.pdf

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by JohnnyB

It's getting back to that always dark and always wet time of year again. Not a great time for people with mental illness or people living without a home. Just anecdotal but feels like I'm seeing more people in rough shape or having breakdowns in the last couple of weeks.

Conversely though the cold wet weather reduces street disorder, the tents tend to get packed away and the DTES gets less crazy

[JohnnyB]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

Conversely though the cold wet weather reduces street disorder, the tents tend to get packed away and the DTES gets less crazy

Again, just anecdotal, but I feel like in the summer I see more people on the streets but fewer people who seem really distressed.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by cam_calderon

I sincerely hope this doesn't come off as rude, but how did you end up living out of your car?

I'll probably answer my own question here to be honest. I was in Vancouver back in 2013 and there was lots of talk about the property market being out of control even back then. Sad to hear about the social issues the city is facing.

Not rude.

It was only supposed to be for the Summer of 2019 by choice. Traveling all over the interior and AB for the music festival circuit. Then the pandemic hit. After that, Victoria's vacancy rate hasn't budged and prices skyrocketed. I was off work for a year in the middle of it on EI. Had a pretty serious cellulitis thing that kept me off my feet and work for 4 months.

Went through 2 jobs post EI and pandemic before settling into
A good one. Been playing catch up on bills, repaying friends who've helped me.

That's how I ended up living in my car. It was only supposed to be for the summer. It's turned into 3 years in the blink of an eye.

Going to ride out this winter and leave.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by dammage79

Not rude.

It was only supposed to be for the Summer of 2019 by choice. Traveling all over the interior and AB for the music festival circuit. Then the pandemic hit. After that, Victoria's vacancy rate hasn't budged and prices skyrocketed. I was off work for a year in the middle of it on EI. Had a pretty serious cellulitis thing that kept me off my feet and work for 4 months.

Went through 2 jobs post EI and pandemic before settling into
A good one. Been playing catch up on bills, repaying friends who've helped me.

That's how I ended up living in my car. It was only supposed to be for the summer. It's turned into 3 years in the blink of an eye.

Going to ride out this winter and leave.

What would you say is your biggest challenge?

I'm not overly well versed in this kind of thing, but I had a client who once mentioned that their biggest issue was the lack of a 'Permanent Address' which prevented them from qualifying for housing support or other Government support.

So I let them use my address until they got on their feet.

It was incredibly easy to help someone with nearly no drawbacks for me.

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by Locke

What would you say is your biggest challenge?

I'm not overly well versed in this kind of thing, but I had a client who once mentioned that their biggest issue was the lack of a 'Permanent Address' which prevented them from qualifying for housing support or other Government support.

So I let them use my address until they got on their feet.

It was incredibly easy to help someone with nearly no drawbacks for me.

Saving money actually is the biggest challenge. Factor in nearly double gasoline usage in the winter, not being able to cook regularly. I actually have a pretty cool kitchen set up out of the trunk. But weather dependent.

Other challenges include late night washrooms for those emergency #2's.

Sleeping spots. Tough to keep one pinned. I've been lucky enough to have 3 in rotation in some secluded spaces. But 2 of them are going to be going away soon due to development.

As for addresses. I have a friend who let's me use his and provides the shower use regularly.

Laundry is easy as it's like living in an apartment. Laundromat are plenty in theses parts.

If one was smart and being minimalist, you buy a nice extreme cold rated sleeping bag for sleeping.

Only other challenge is dealing with condensation, haven't cracked that nut yet.

[cam_calderon]

Thanks for the insight. Not much I can offer except to wish you the best.

[Galakanokis]

With deals like this what's the worry?

https://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-ad-s...onth-1.6126471

[FlamesAddiction]

I came across an ad for a rental apartment in Coquitlam a while back that said the tenant had to speak a certain language. Neither was French or English. Is that legal? I know people will rent to whomever they want to anyway, but it seems like blatant discrimination to advertise it.

[activeStick]

Not sure but it should be. I saw rental ads in Ottawa back when I was a student there many moons ago which wanted French speakers. I also don't think if the ad said French or English somehow makes it okay.

[btimbit]

I recall a few years ago of one in Calgary where the landlord specified Punjabi speakers only. That sure blew up online

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

I came across an ad for a rental apartment in Coquitlam a while back that said the tenant had to speak a certain language. Neither was French or English. Is that legal? I know people will rent to whomever they want to anyway, but it seems like blatant discrimination to advertise it.

while it is blatant discrimination and illegal frankly I'd rather know up front and not waste my time if I was looking for a place

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by btimbit

I recall a few years ago of one in Calgary where the landlord specified Punjabi speakers only. That sure blew up online

My wife's grandma lives alone, speaks very little English and always has punjabi tenants in her basement incase something goes wrong and she needs to communicate to them.

I imagine most of these ads are more based on communication & safety than racism.
But yes, still technically discriminatory.

[TheoFleury]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

My wife's grandma lives alone, speaks very little English and always has punjabi tenants in her basement incase something goes wrong and she needs to communicate to them.



I imagine most of these ads are more based on communication & safety than racism.

But yes, still technically discriminatory.

If it was an English speaking landlord doing the same thing, it would make headlines nationally and the landlord would be canceled out of existence