[mobglob-discuss] "House Swap Challange" with Vancouver City Council

[Harsha Walia]

* pls forward *
* Ways to Support Included Below *

An Open Letter to Mayor Sam Sullivan and City Council
 From Women in the Downtown Eastside (July 2, 2007)

This open letter is to challenge Mayor Sam Sullivan, Councillor Suzanne
Anton, Councillor Elizabeth Ball, Councillor David Cadman, Councillor Kim
Capri, Councillor George Chow, Councillor Heather Deal, Councillor Peter
Ladner, Councillor B.C. Lee, Councillor Raymond Louie, and Councillor Tim
Stevenson to a House Swap with women of the Power of Women Group.

The Power of Women Group a group at the Downtown Eastside Women's Centre
and we are dedicated to educating and raising awareness on social issues.
We are a group of women from all walks of life who are either on social
assistance, working poor, or homeless; but we are all living in extreme
poverty below the poverty line. Many us of are single mothers or have had
our children apprehended due to poverty; most of us have chronic physical
or mental health issues for example HIV and Hepatitis C; many have drug or
alcohol addictions; and a majority have experienced and survived sexual
violence and mental, physical, spiritual , and emotional abuse. For
indigenous women, we are affected by a multi generational legacy of the
effects of residential schools and a history of colonization and racism.

We believe that politicians far too frequently make declarations and
decisions about 'resolving' poverty particularly in the Downtown Eastside
(DTES) without having any idea about the painful reality of those who live
in the DTES. All the overwhelming and well-documented research and
statistics about growing poverty especially for single mothers, the
'housing crisis', violence against women particularly Indigenous women,
the effects of the Olympics, and the inadequacy of social assistance rates
seem to have little impact on policy-makers. Therefore, instead of
offering any new evidence or research or even our own voices and stories,
we challenge you to walk in our shoes, even for a brief amount of time and
for a fraction of the distance.

Our conditions for the House Swap challenge, that we believe are far less
onerous than our struggle which is a daily struggle and not time-limited,
are as follows:
- The House Swap will be for a minimum of eight weeks.
- Each council member lives off only $610 per month- the basic support and
shelter payment amount for a single person on social assistance. Excluding
shelter amounts, this averages to under $8 per day.
- There shall be no external financial support (including use of credit
cards or any other gift, credit, or loan of money) nor will Council
members have access to any private vehicles.
- The only external material support will be limited to clothes and food,
if needed, and provided by DTES-serving agencies as per their regular
donations policies.
- No media reporting of any kind.
- Each council member brings the following to the House Swap: basic
necessities, no more than two appliances (such as TV and stereo), and at
least ten items of personal sentimental value.
- We believe it will be much easier for you to rent a room in an SRO hotel
for the whole duration as you will not experience the discrimination that
we do when attempting to rent, therefore at least two weeks of the eight
weeks must be spent homeless.
- All Council work, including Council meetings, is conducted in the DTES.
We are happy to setup meeting rooms for this.
- Daily check-in with the Power of Women Group who will ensure no
conditions are being violated.

During the House Swap, we will live in the lap of luxury as you do; while
you will experience some of the following (we believe you will be able to
avoid many of them):
* Homelessness including sleeping in doorways, alleys, shelter beds, park
benches; having to carry as many belongings as you can with but chances
are that they will all be stolen including your wheelchair, your last pair
of clean clothes, and your items of sentimental value. If you are able to
access a shelter, you will have to leave by early in the morning, ensure
you are in by curfew time, and you may not be able to bring in a cart that
has all your belongings.
* Highly regulated schedule in order to ensure various appointments with
health care workers, Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance workers,
advocacy appointments, scheduled meals, getting in line early for a
shelter bed, arriving early to get clothing donations before it runs out,
and being able to access general services based on hours of operation of
agencies.
* Living in a Single Room Occupancy hotel room that is infested with bed
bugs, rodents, and cockroaches. Your entire room will be the size of a
closet with no bathroom or kitchen in the room and there will likely be
structural problems with the building that will result in leaks through
your roof and accumulation of mould in the room. The landlord may keep
your damage deposit after you leave; illegally enforce guest fees; deny
you essential services such as heat, running water, and elevator services
for those with disabilities; cooperate with police in illegal searches;
illegally enter your premises without notice; and illegally evict you. *
Going hungry, standing in a food bank line for 1 hour, eating rotting or
rotten food from a dumpster.
* Infrequent and irregular access to a bathroom therefore having to
defacate and urinate in the streets at times.
* Police violence including being woken up from doorways with multiple
kicks; illegal search and seizures; police entry into your premises
without warrants; and general heightened police surveillance.
* General and overwhelming sense of social isolation while living with a
complete lack of privacy, stigma, fear, disempowerment, anger,
frustration, chronic depression, grief, and desire for radical social change.

What you will experience in this House Swap Challenge will not come close
to the totality of our experiences; for example the history of violence
and abuse that has brought many of us women here; the addictions that
break our souls; the brutality of child apprehension many of us have borne
as a direct result of poverty; that many of us do not know our parents
because the legacy of residential schools and colonization has destroyed
our entire family; the chronic and often fatal illnesses such as AIDS and
Hepatitis C that have made us weak; the grief of living through the deaths
of our missing and murdered sisters; and much more. We have survived these
brutal realities and they have made us stronger.

Are you strong enough to bear a small percentage of our reality? If you
refuse to participate in our House Swap Challenge, or find some excuse for
why it is impossible or not feasible, then it will confirm for us what
many  already believe: that there is absolutely no political will to
eliminate poverty; instead government policies and social apathy will
continue to create and perpetuate the violence of poverty and
displacement.

To all those who believe that this is a fair challenge, we strongly
encourage you to please contact City Council at
mayorandcouncil at vancouver.ca or call at 604-873-7621 and tell them you
support our House Swap Challenge and tell them to participate.

To contact us, please do so via Harsha Walia, Project Coordinator at the
Downtown Eastside Women's Centre at 604-681-8480 x 234 or through email at
project at dewc.ca.


Signed,
Members of the Power of Women Group


Harsha Walia
Project Coordinator

Downtown Eastside Women's Centre
302 Columbia Street, Vancouver, BC, V6A 4J1
Email: project at dewc.ca
Tel: (604) 681-8480 x234
Fax: (604) 681-8470