Shelter

There were strong winds and record-breaking snowfalls this past October, and many people I know had snowy driveways and power outages. I was spared, but I felt for others.

Winter has arrived. I’m thinking of shelter.

I love spring and summer and fall but, although I like the idea of winter and the seasonal cycles, I really don’t like the cold. And we’re in for another four or five months of it. It makes me appreciate having a warm living room and a comfortable bed.

These November days, when I drive through the downtown streets of my city, I see people lying on the street with their shopping carts and garbage bags. It’s heartbreaking to witness their suffering.

“Although homeless people have the right to vote, their other basic human rights are not being respected: the right to a home, a shelter from the elements and from external threat, a base from which to carve out a place in the working world and the social world,” says Dr. Anya Daly in an article in Philosophy Now magazine. She concludes that “Homelessness is my problem and your problem.” Her essay is well worth reading:

https://philosophynow.org/issues/123/Homelessness_and_the_Limits_of_Hospitality

It got me thinking about hospitality. I used to disapprove of NIMBY people, people who supported good causes but not where they live: Not in My Backyard. But now I‘m reflecting on my own behaviour. I have an extra room but  I won’t make it available to a homeless person. I am a NIMER, I conclude. I want to help but Not in My Extra Room.

Thankfully, there’s an organization just around the corner from me that is providing tangible help to the homeless.

In December 2008, the First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo opened a low-barrier shelter for unhoused people in the lower floor of their building. Initially, it was seen as a short-term initiative to support the growing population of homeless people in Nanaimo.

Now, 15 years later, the need is continuing to grow and the shelter still provides tangible, non-judgmental help: an overnight respite from the streets, a hot meal, and clean clothes. The shelter is open seven nights a week year-round from 5 p.m. to 7:30 a.m. It receives some funding from BC Housing, cash and in-kind donations from the members of the First Unitarian Fellowship of Nanaimo, as well as support from some individuals, business and organizations in our community.

But they need more resources; supporting them is one way for me to help and to ease my conscience. I won’t open my own doors to people in need, but I can contribute to this organization which does so every night of the year.*

Over one hundred and fifty years ago, Dickens wrote about what he called “houselessness” in an essay called  “Night Walks.” He described the yearning of the houseless “for any sign of company, any lighted place, any movement, anything suggestive of any one being up—nay, even so much as awake, for the houseless eye looked out for lights in windows….Walking the streets under the pattering rain, Houselessness would walk and walk and walk, seeing nothing but the interminable tangle of streets.” Dickens suffered from insomnia and left his home to walk the streets as a way of getting through the night. He wrote that it brought him “into sympathetic relations with people who have no other object every night in the year”.

A lot of time has passed since Dickens wrote that essay, yet. despite all the progress we’ve made as a society, the problems of “houselessness” and the need for shelter are still with us. All levels of government need to address this problem, but meanwhile the need is growing, as an ever-broadening number of people find themselves without a home. 

The Unitarian Shelter supports homeless people,  including seniors, people with disabilities, low wage workers, students, and people with substance use challenges.

Whatever the circumstances, everyone deserves shelter.

*Note: On December 2nd, the Unitarian Shelter is hosting an Open House. For more information, contact shelter@ufon.ca