Continued from the previous week, the morning’s tour in January 2023 of the places that we have peer navigators working and where we work to help and make an impact continued. It continued to be an educational and eye-opening experience.
From Metro we took a drive-by tour of Kelowna’s homeless tent city, so that we were aware of its location and the situation of the people living there. I don’t know how many people live there. There are many tents spread alongside the tracks. It was quiet on the weekday that we went by. From a distance, it could be an impromptu urban campsite…but it isn’t. It is an ongoing urban tragedy. People, mostly those with substance use disorders and / or mental illnesses are living in very thin, not weather-tight tents, with no protection from the elements in sub-zero temperatures. Some we could see cooking what seemed to be kettles, so perhaps coffee, since it was morning. We were chilly in our heated vehicles for a few minutes. What were they feeling in their tents for how long? And this was after it had warmed up to near 0 after weeks of -20C. I can’t imagine what they have endured. I truly cannot.
The city has installed two C-Cans to store the tents and belongings when taken down for safekeeping here as well. I’m told they are supposed to take them down daily during daytime hours, however I didn’t follow up on these details, and there were many tents up during the day we went by. I don’t know the protocols and procedures for how those C-Cans are opened and closed and locked and when and how they are accessed. I do know that whether in Kelowna or other cities, there have been fires in tent cities because of the high risks of trying to keep warm in such small enclosures in extreme temperatures is treacherous.
It is heartbreaking that each of these people has a story to tell that may be lost. They have family members who are also hurting. They have parents or siblings who will always feel this pain too. They may never know the whole extent of the suffering of their loved one here. They may have children who will always feel this pain, and may follow them down this path. There are many reasons for us to work together to help and to solve this, not only for the basic humanity of it, but for generations to come.
We next went to the Kelowna Public Library 2nd floor to meet up with our PEOPLE peer navigator there. There is a similar peer navigator position at the Rutland library. This was a very informative stop with an incredibly knowledgeable and experienced peer navigator. Our peer navigator at the Okanagan Regional Library in downtown Kelowna is not a highly publicized service that I was aware of, however, if there are homeless people or other vulnerable people who come in off the street to the library, or people who seem to be suffering from substance abuse disorders or mental illness in the library that the library staff struggle to serve, they are directed to this office, on the second floor and our PEOPLE peer navigator for the last 2+ years works with them.
She assisted so many people, in so many positive ways! She has diffused many different situations, provided referrals to numerous social services, assisted people with finding housing resources, has harm reduction kits, she has names and numbers to all sorts of helpful people and places that someone looking to get to a new place in life needs. She has information on indigenous healing and services. She has training information. There are no signs or brochures about this service or even for her office that I saw. She, and her counterpart at the Rutland library, have lived experience and can relate to and can help those seeking to find a way out of their current distressing situation. This is the amazing work that PEOPLE is engaged in now and has been doing. This is the work we want to do more of and are asked to do at more facilities in Kelowna. We have more people like this amazing peer navigator ready to get to work and make a difference.
From the downtown library, we headed to the outdoor Kiosk and washrooms near the Queensway Bus Exchange in Downtown Kelowna. To be honest, I had never been there before. I had only driven by the bus exchange and never really paid any attention to the kiosk or the washroom. I am a little ashamed to say that, however, I am now much more informed, and I am now part of the solution. At the kiosk, we learned that the recent bitterly cold snap did considerable damage and froze the pipes on one of the 2 working toilets in the washroom facilities. When there are only 2 toilets for the outdoor toilet facilities for the downtown homeless population, that is a real practical and critical issue. There are people lined up waiting to use the toilets.
The staff here, peer navigators again, people with lived experience of having lived on streets or having had substance use disorders themselves, they let us know that they have a time limit on the toilet use out of concern that they do not want anyone to overdose in a toilet and them not respond. I personally can’t imagine being these staff members. I can’t imagine always watching that timer out of concern for overdose for the people you work with. It is much easier and cleaner to write about homelessness and substance use disorders and ideas for fixing it, but when you are down on the street and standing beside the people who are using, and speaking with them, and looking at them wondering if they will be ok today, if they will make it another day, that is something different.
These are not numbers. These are real, living, breathing, feeling people. They wave at their friends, and they are wary of strangers. They smile and laugh. They tell jokes. They hurt when they fall. They cry when they are sad. They love their pets. They miss their families. They want a roof over their heads. They like music. They get cold. They are someone’s child.
Back to the kiosk. There is information available from the PEOPLE peer navigators at the kiosk about community services and supports and harm reduction. They can provide anyone interested with information on resources to help them on their journey to wellness. The peer navigators are not judgmental. They are supportive and helpful. They are not social workers. They do not complete all the documentation for another person, but they will set them on the path to where they can go to get the help they need. Or help start those inquiries. They are a friendly face who can say, I understand, because I have been there. And if they have not exactly been there, PEOPLE has a network of other peer navigators that they can tap into and see if there is someone else that they can ask, if needed.
The kiosk is basically a bright orange metal box which in any other situation you might think is a holiday equipment rental kiosk or tourist information booth type of location. In this case, however, it is a place where people on the street can stop in for information and resources. They can go to the bathroom in a real bathroom, not in an alley or doorway or some other unhygienic place that the community does not want to happen, and that is undignified for the person too. They can safely dispose of needles in sharp proof containers. This is the services provided at this kiosk. This is funded by the City of Kelowna, and the smiles and caring are fueled by the PEOPLE.
I have heard about safe injection sites, and I know that we have them, but again, I have been either naïve or willfully blind about what exactly they are. We toured one in downtown Kelowna next to the Ki-Lo-Na Friendship Centre before it opened on Friday. This was also very informative. This facility is really a 3-part facility. There is a mental health component, a safe injection site component and an urgent care / primary care type of area. I was very surprised at how new, modern, and bright this building was. We first came to it from the back alley. We passed by a couple of homeless, temporary covers people had over themselves in the alley and we slipped along the ice and puddles that is these people’s bedroom floor before reaching the back door. This is not a human existence at this point in Canada’s history to sleep on an ice melt back alley. We must make a better way, is the thought that keeps running through my mind. We couldn’t get in the back door, so we went around to the front.
At the front, there is a glassed-in security reception area and we waited for our contact to meet our group to take us through. Everything looked very much like a bright, clean, modern medical facility. The staff there were very conscious of taking us through in time and in an order that ensured that client / patient confidentiality was protected because certain areas opened before others to their clientele. We quickly followed down the hallways that they took us through.
In the end, we saw all the areas, and also could hear in the voices of the staff just how much they care about the work they do and the people they serve. Christmas decorations are still up in the supervised injection site area, and it’s clear that staff want those who enter to feel welcome, not judged. The walls are still a little bare, but they talked about the amazing creativity and skills of many of the people who come in and the plans they have for some clientele to create the artwork that will eventually grace the walls. There are a few pieces already in some areas and they are beautiful. There is also a photo of the original mobile safe injection site motorhome to remember how the program started.
Knowing that in some cases people can be in a highly distraught state coming into this facility, the staff showed us how one area was designed particularly to allow staff to safely assess and treat a patient in such a condition, while keeping the staff safe as well. The facility is designed to allow the staff from the different areas to work independently while also collaborating when needed and to share common resources. Clientele can enter through the front door or through the alley.
This facility and its staff create an atmosphere of safety for those who come to it. Part of that effort is working towards building or rebuilding trust in the medical system, or the caregivers that the clientele maybe haven’t had in the past, for whatever reason. As that trust is built, there is opportunity to begin the dialogue about wellness, about harm reduction, about getting medical treatment about other services that are available, about housing, about other social services, about employment opportunities. There is a pharmacist. There is a social worker available. There is hope.
This is not a simple needle exchange. This is hopefully a steppingstone to open the door to let life back in. It may not happen initially for all. It may not happen at all for some. But for others, this is the opportunity to let the light back in and be heard.
We hope that with PEOPLE reaching out and building up our networks with these people and groups, and with our peer navigators, we can help and enhance these places and people further. We can be more of the solution and together we can keep building to make a better reality for more people together.
A final facility we didn’t formally tour, but we did hold our meeting at for 3 days was the Ki-Lo-Na Friendship Society building on Leon Avenue. PEOPLE also has peer navigators here. This is an indigenous based group that supports the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being of all people through the development of the community-based services. In this case, part of the services provided includes this friendship centre located in the heart of downtown Kelowna on Leon Avenue. This facility and people and resources that use this as a hub also play a key role in bringing about change and in saving lives particularly in the vulnerable indigenous community due to their insights, understandings, and connections. This relates to the 3-day workshop and strategic planning team for Indigenous Harm Reduction knowing that this group faces additional hurdles and challenges that we need to identify and target in our plans and in our approaches.
We also had the excitement of a few drop-in visits from stakeholders from the City of Kelowna to say hello and see that the team was engaged and excited and that their own hard work to get the funding together for this project was coming to fruition.
The interesting thing about such a session is that we left the meeting energized with tasks, timelines, action items and to-do lists, however, I know many of us also left with a feeling that in addition to those items and lists, completing these is the like completing the edge pieces of a 1000 piece puzzle with no picture to follow. The good news is that these pieces are falling into place and the people are here to do it. This is a New Year. There are many people working hard and working together to bring New Hope to the Homeless in Kelowna. Keep watching to see what we are doing and to learn more about PEOPLE Employment Services and our partner funders, projects, teams, and heroes on the ground.
I am not passing judgement nor agreeing that one way or the other is the way to solve any of the social issues or challenges that we face. They are multifaceted. I do want to make sure that the people who are on the ground, in the front lines are seen and known. They are there every day, 365 days a year. They are actively making a difference. They are actively working to help save lives and to make an impact on the quality of life of our community members and of our community in general and to preserve the lives of the people who are struggling. We are working to make our city a better and safer place for everyone.
By Charlene Wiltink, BA, JD, Admin Assistant, PEOPLE Jan. 9, 2023
Next Up… The PEOPLE’s Wish List: What do Peer Navigators and their partners need to do their jobs and how can you help?
