Poverty in the City: It's Not the Agencies - It's All of Us

I spent the day on Whyte Avenue on Saturday. I was accosted by a panhandler almost as soon as I got out of my cab. Throughout the day I witnessed homeless and transient people pushing full shopping carts, sitting on the sidewalk, staggering around drunk, and swearing loudly. I saw the evidence of their lives scattered throughout the area: litter, broken bottles, stains on the concrete from all kinds of bodily fluids (granted - some of this may be the result of bar hoppers needing to rid themselves of their last few drinks). Yet this is still considered a desirable area of Edmonton to live, work, and hang out.

The next day, I took a walk through Chinatown, and saw pretty much the same things. However, in this case, many have come to expect problems in this area of the city with homelessness, addictions, and mental illness. Many of the city's agencies that serve this population are nearby. Some people blame the concentration of agencies for the problems. Some consider the inner city a much less desirable area to live, work, or hang out because of all of the social issues there. It is just an accepted fact that in that part of the city, excrement occurs (often literally).

However, as I observed this past weekend, these problems are everywhere throughout the city. And where there is an agency, there is perceived blame. The Neighbour Centre is near Old Strathcona and according to a friend of mine who used to work there, the actual neighbours of the centre are none too pleased. Not from where I grew up, in the Jasper Gates area, the Jasper Place Health and Wellness Centre (and its associated social housing) has garnered many of the same complaints I have heard levied against places like the Boyle McCauley Health Centre. Heck, the first place I ever saw a man urinate outside was in the parking lot of the Jasper Gates shopping centre.

The question is: what can be done about poverty and its resulting social disorder? There is no easy answer to such a complicated question. Yet it is so easy to point out the problems and complain about them - I myself am guilty of such behaviour - but not as simple to try to think of solutions. I am an activist with political leanings that are left of centre. This world view has shaped my perspective on social issues in general, and specific ones such as poverty and housing.

In my mind, the first question that needs to be asked is why there is poverty and homelessness in such an affluent city in the first place? All poverty, everywhere in the city - it is not okay to just accept the unacceptable in a lower income, rougher area. The answer, my friend, is systemic and will require systemic changes. Basically, we have a political and economic system (the two are inextricably interconnected) that is based on greed. The rich are getting richer and the middle class is being eroded.

So, the answer is not throwing more money at the problem. It's not further concentrating essential services and agencies in parts of the city that are already saturated. And it certainly is not gentrification. We - all of us - need to change the way we look at issues such as material wealth, consumerism, and the way we make a living. We need to question who we vote for and why, and try to effect change on a grassroots level.

As an activist, I get very angry at seeing the inequalities in our society. But anger will only take someone so far and no more. Anger needs to lead to action. Otherwise, it just leads to ulcers and depression. Maybe I am being overly idealistic here, but if idealism can be a motivating force (along with anger!), then maybe that is the first step towards what we need to do.

Social Media and Advocacy in the Inner City

On Wednesday, June 15, I had the privilege of being invited to speak at the inner city discussion group of the Edmonton Inner City Health Research and Education Network (EICHREN). The topic of the evening was "Social Media and Advocacy," and the organizers felt that my work with Boyle McCauley News, my strong online presence (particularly on Facebook and Twitter), and passion for social causes made me an ideal person to share my knowledge.

Most of the people at the meeting were young doctors, medical students, nurses, and people involved in inner city organizations such as the Boyle McCauley Health Centre and George Spady Centre. They wanted to know how effective social media was and how they could use it in areas of advocacy with which they are involved, such as harm reduction, safe injection sites, and needle exchange programs. The group was split pretty much down the middle in terms of those who were familiar with social media, and those who had no idea how Twitter even worked.

I talked a little but about how I gave Boyle McCauley News a presence on social media and how such methods can be used for informing one's contact base of events and information. Besides some technical questions about how it all actually works, one of the main concerns was access. I pointed out that access to computers, as well as literacy (both towards computers and in the traditional sense) could be issues for certain groups in the inner city, such as the homeless. People who are not homeless but lower income may not own a computer. Some discussion ensued about allowing access to the Internet at various agencies, as it was felt that if the technology was available and a person was able to use it, they likely would.

Other discussion ensued about the efficacy of using social media over traditional kinds of advocacy (such as those done in person or writing physical letters as opposed to emails), citing Malcolm Gladwell's article in the New Yorker Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted.

Overall, EICHREN is a group that is just gaining momentum. How it will use social media and for what purposes are yet to be established. It already has a Twitter account. The fact that the people involved are interested in social media and asking the right questions shows promise for what is potentially a strong push for advocacy of inner city health issues.