I’ve been thinking a lot about a simple phrase – “these people”. It comes up often in discussion about the DTES. Often it’s pejorative, othering – but it’s also frequently said in solidarity. My personal north star in how I understand the complexity of the DTES, Gabor Mate, often mentions “these people” – “these people need compassion. These people are suffering”. And I wonder how differently we would feel about the DTES and other communities that present us with social…
This may be my most lengthy post ever. But a lot has happened since I had something to really talk about. And this is it. Sometime in early fall, a combination of living and working in the DTES, participating in Sleep Out, the privilege of attending SVI Hollyhock and I’m not sure what other factors brought me to a moment of asking myself “what can I do?” What can I do about the socio-geographical place in which I find myself?…
Alright, I need to reframe this experience. What should you do if you walk past someone who is rolling around half dressed in a gutter, crying, at 11 at night in a rough-ish neighbourhood? Does it make a difference if they’re visibly a member of multiple vulnerable populations? What is the set of criteria for intervention? Can you help? Should you? How? I’m asking because I honestly don’t know, and I feel like I should know, that I need to…
I’ve been refraining from comment, putting off what I know I need to say. Because it makes me vulnerable. First it was because of a possible job. Then it was because of the potential impact to my business. But this has to be said. Maybe I’m the most intimidated by the thought that my opinion will mean little, and cost me lots. But there is an opportunity right now, to protect a special kind of culture, that I believe is…
So TONIGHT is the NIGHT!! Lisa So and I will be grabbing a piece of cardboard and a sleeping bag and #SleepingOut in support of Covenant House Vancouver. Why am I doing this? There are many reasons. I have experienced first hand the hopelessness and helplessness that is trying to support a loved one with mental health and addictions issues. There are so many brick walls and obstacles. It’s so hard to know how to help. I spend a majority of my time in…
Must be a full moon, the neighbourhood is lively tonight. On my walk back to the studio, there were two guys bent over a man on the sidewalk, checking his pulse. “He’s fine, just drunk” one of them told me. I decided to call it in anyway. He was bleeding. Notably, he was missing his index finger, long since healed. When the ambulance arrived, they managed to get him upright. At which point he proclaimed “You’re an asshole!” to the…
Snow is both annoying and awesome. It’s the same with all local universal changes in weather, and other things. It really intensifies the social fabric. Yesterday I was in a major hurry (me? no.) and was having trouble getting out of a parking spot and a guy jumped out of his car and offered a push. Today a car rolled through an intersection and would have smoked me, except it was kind of in slow motion so I had plenty…
I’m struggling right now, with an ethical, conceptual dilemma. A few weeks ago, I had an idea for a photo exhibition. I wanted to showcase community, as it occurs, within the walls of my studio, but also within the boundaries of my neighbourhood, my community. I learned that there was a photographer that lives a couple of doors down, who has been documenting the space outside of his window for the last couple of years. I went to see his…
So this thing I wrote got published! Here it is: ON VANCOUVER’S DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE COMMUNITY Denise Brennan owns and runs Creative Coworkers, the coworking studio where Misfit Press plies its trade. We invited her to be the first guest contributor to our blog and to share her stories about the studio’s neighbourhood – Vancouver’s complex Downtown Eastside. In this post, she tells us how her experience of living here affects how she thinks about things like community, security, and humanity. Last…