Tonight, I (along with 40(!) other people) spoke at a Public Hearing concerning a proposed permanent shelter to be built in the city of Coquitlam. The place was packed with tons of overflow seating.
I got there an hour early and nabbed a front row seat with several other supporters. I was on the official speakers list and spoke a little after 8 PM - the hearing started at 7, so there were several other speakers ahead of me. Most were people representing homeless agencies supporting the initiative. There were a few nearby residents who expressed thier anger that this thing was going to be built so close to their homes - fear and insecurity rang out from these voices.
Message to City Council
Mr. Mayor, Council members and fellow citizens, thank you for this opportunity to speak tonight.
I come here tonight as a resident of the tri-city community and the chair of the tri-city ministerial – an umbrella group made up of a variety of different churches from across the tri-cities.
In that role, I have had many conversations with many pastors and other civic leaders concerning 3030 Gordon.
Not a single leader of any church has expressed opposition to the building of this Shelter. We might disagree on a lot of things, but on this issue the churches of the the tri-cites stand as one. We support 3030 Gordon.
3 years ago, 5 churches opened their doors to the homeless for temporary shelter, tonight, we ask the city of Coquitlam to open up more doors.
Doors of shelter
Doors of security
Doors of opportunity
Doors of hope
Some of you tonight who oppose this shelter, do so for a posture of fear – fear of what will happen to your neighborhood.
Instead of trying to win an argument w. you, allow me to share w. you part of my own story.
Several years ago, I would have been an opponent of this shelter.
I moved to the tri-cities from downtown Vancouver. When I first moved into the downtown core, I encountered a lot of homeless people – and I despised them
I wrote them off as losers who should simply get jobs. As part of my seminary training I was required to work at a church and I was given a job of serving homeless people a meal every Saturday night. For the first 2 months, I would slam the food down in front of them and walk away w.out saying a word. Eventually, I started talking with the men and women who came in – I listened to their stories.
I did not hear stories of people who were lazy,
Or were loving their care-free lives on the streets,
Or who loved shooting drugs whenever they wanted.
No
I heard stories of 13 yr. old boys getting kicked out of their homes
Stories of pre-teen girls who ran away from home, because they couldn’t stand being sexually abused anymore
Stories of men with severe brain injuries who had trouble remembering where they lived or what day it was
Stories of women who left the security of a warm home, because they couldn’t take another beating when he drank
I heard stories of pain, rejection, abuse and trauma.
I began to see that these human beings on their own were incapable of escaping their cycles of addiction and their feelings of shame, rejection and pain.
They needed help.
I am here to say to you tonight that there are 200 men, women and young people in the tri-cities who are not losers. They are men and women with stories of pain and rejection who come to us as a community and simply ask us for help.
Help in getting off the streets.
By rejecting this shelter, we are rejecting a sector of our city that is the most vulnerable and in the need of the most help.
I support 3030 Gordon because as a community, as a city and as a society it is immoral to allow 200 of our citizens live outside like animals.
It is immoral to not provide shelter for those who need help
It is immoral to turn our backs to 200 men and women – especially when we have the land, we have the commitment of capital – the only thing lacking is the collective will of the people.
You know, I’m a preacher, and I don’t talk for too long w.out talking about God - let me just say that no matter what you believe about God – jewish, Buddhist, muslim, Christian, sikh or if like most Canadians you mark none of the above – one thing we would agree on, is that if there is a god of love out there - he will be on the side of the poor.
In the Jewish Torah we read:
share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter
Jesus Christ said “Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.”
The Quran says: Righteousness is this: that one should give away wealth out of love for Him to the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.
I support 3030 Gordon, because there come times in our lives when we simply must do the right thing.
Building a permanent shelter in this city – in this community that provides warmth, food, clothing and help to get off of the streets is the right thing.
As a community, let us do the right thing – and make a decision based on love and hospitality, instead of rhetoric and anger.
Thank you.
(End of message).
As someone who speaks for a living - I know when I am "on" and when I am not - I was "on" tonight. I really sensed the Holy Spirit took charge of my words tonight, and for that I am humbled and grateful.
Support 3030 Gordon. Provide the poor wanderers in our community with shelter.
Comments
Peace,
Jamie
www.missional.ca