On the damp concrete sidewalk just beyond the steps of the First United Church, a native man is splayed over a soggy piece of cardboard next to a bus stop. The glass walls of the bus shelter are long gone, having been shattered months ago and never replaced.
So much for fixing Broken Windows.
I’m on my way to the Hazelwood Hotel, just up the street, because I’ve heard a man with a warrant — a chronic offender — may be hiding out there. The arrest will have to wait.
I stop at the bus shelter to survey the scene. I can see the man’s belly rising and falling, so I know he’s breathing. The contents of his pockets are strewn around him on the sidewalk, including his ID and some loose change. The optimist in me finds comfort that nobody’s swooped in to steal the money off the ground. The realist knows the money was likely left behind by the person — or people — who already pilfered his pockets. Sadly, such crimes of opportunity seem to be tolerated around here.
There are a half dozen people waiting for the Hastings bus. None of them appear concerned or interested in the welfare of this poor fellow. I wonder if they’d be as indfferent if this were a bus stop on the west side of town.
I step closer and tap the man’s sneakers with my duty boots, trying to wake him. Nothing.
I lean in and catch a waft of Listerine. Mouthwash is the drink of choice for many skid row alcoholics due to its potent alcohol content and the ease in which it can be stuffed down a jacket sleeve and shoplifted. It smells like mouthwash is leaching from his pores.
I grab his collar and give him a shake.
“Helloooo. It’s the police,” I say. “Wake up.”
A young man appears from the church door at the top of the stairs and shouts down to me.
“I asked him if he wanted to come in, but he said no,” the young man reasons, then disappears back into the church.
It’s not quite dusk, but there’s already a chill in the air. The sky is clear, which means the temperature is likely to drop to freezing. I’m reminded of Frank Paul, the aboriginal man who died in a lane in 1998 after police failed to recognize how drunk and hypothermic he already was.
I unzip his jacket, make a fist, then rake my knuckles across his sternum to wake him up. The pain jolts the man from his stupor. Confused, he swats my arm then wraps his hand tightly around my wrist and yanks me in close. Experience tells me that drunk guys like to fight when they wake up, and for a moment I’m pretty sure the fight’s on.
After a few seconds he loosens his grip and drifts back into placid drunkenness.
I call for a paddy wagon to take this guy to the drunk tank, but before it can arrive the young man from the church reappears at my side.
“Here,” he says, grabbing the left arm and hoisting the man to his feet. “I’ll take him inside.”
Grabbing hold of the right arm, I prop the drunk man up and slowly walk him to the top of the stairs. The church door swings open and the overpowering stench of dirty, wet socks slaps me in the face. The young man and the drunk man disappear into the sanctuary, the door slamming shut behind them.
Located at the corner of Hastings Street and Gore Avenue, the First United Church has been a fixture in the Downtown Eastside for more than a century, providing social services and often giving people a place to stay when they had nowhere else to go.
The church was converted into a full-time shelter in 2008, and was given government funding to stay open year-round. It was meant to be a stop-gap, until more permanent housing was created.
The pews were converted into beds, with people sleeping head to toe on the benches. Bunk beds, showers and meals were later added. In that first winter, the church took in 240 people a night, on average. Some nights, there were as many as 350 people. Nobody was turned away.
Now, three years later, the shelter is being phased out. Funding, which was supposed to stretch into 2013, is now expected to be cut off this spring. We’re told the closure will coincide with a raft of new shelter beds and government housing that’s about to be completed.
Late last month — just a few days before Christmas, in fact — First United minister Rev. Ric Matthews quit. His reluctance to adhere to occupancy limits was one of the reasons for his departure.
I’ve never met Rev. Matthews, but I’m sure he’s a good man. He’s devoted his life to service and to helping those who are often beyond help — picking them up, dusting them off, and giving them a warm place to stay. You can’t fault him for that.
Unfortunately, it appears that Rev. Matthews’ mission to help people was his own undoing. The open-door policy at the First United Church turned the place into a free-for-all, with drunken fights on the street, booze and drugs in the lobby, and whispers of sex assaults in the sanctuary.
For the front-line police officers, this so-called ghetto mansion has been a nightmare.
Unlike most shelters on the Downtown Eastside, the doors to the First United remain open all night. People come and go as they please. Nobody has to register, and typically only first names are recorded, if any at all.
Soon after it opened, that bus-stop out on Hastings Street became into a mosh-pit of drunkenness. People who already had homes came by to party on the street, and occasionally to sleep in the shelter.
Drunks would wander into traffic, kicking at cars that lollied along at the new 30 kilometre per hour speed limit — lowered from 50 kph due, ironically, to the number of people who were blindly stepping out into traffic and getting hit.
Staff members forbade beat officers from entering the church to conduct walk-throughs, and bad guys began hiding out in there. Several police officers, including myself, were assaulted and obstructed while trying to break up fights and enforce the law in and around the church. Criminals quickly realized that if the police were on their heels they could run into the church and hide out. Even when in hot pursuit, we were often blocked at the door by staff.
To their credit, staff at the First United Church have done yeoman’s work for the past three years. Many of them are recovering addicts themselves, and others have overcome significant hurdles just to get where they are.
Nobody questions their commitment to helping some of the most difficult people in the Downtown Eastside. Many of the people who use the homeless shelter are on the streets because nobody else wants anything to do with them. They are often among the most severely addicted and mentally ill, with extreme social and behavioural disorders to boot.
The staff at the First United take them in, no questions asked. And for that they deserve praise. Like the police, staff members have also been subjected to verbal abuse and assaults, and while our relationship has been a tricky one at times, there’s little doubt they have nothing but the best intentions.
As we often say to each other around the Beat Enforcement Team office, you can either be part of the problem, or you can be part of the solution.
The folks at the First United Church have tried to be part of the solution, and to some degree they have succeeded. They’ve done their best to help people who have been pushed to the extreme margins of society and have repeatedly fallen through the cracks.
But they’ve tried to seal those cracks with a Band-aid, and it’s clear that just isn’t working.
So, while many will be sad to see the First United Church close its shelter doors this spring, I, for one, won’t be among those shedding a tear.
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I am going to be sad.
As one of the many outreach workers in the DTES,the First United Church was a great place to drop drunk men off at.
Now when we do our back alley outreach and come across a man who is too drunk or high we now have no where to bring him.
@Jennifer; Wouldn’t it make sense to take the person to the hospital or call an ambulance? Each time a person is admitted there is a record of who they are and why they were admitted. When the government compiles the associated data they could recognize how much is spent & recognize that prevention is a more cost effective alternative.
I would be curious to hear the perspectives of outreach and social workers in the DTES on the First United closure, and on their open-door strategy more generally. What is missing from the media coverage? If you would have a moment to offer your thoughts, I would be grateful.
@Mark
People in the DTES, when they are high or drunk don’t want to go to the hospital.
When your high as a kite,the last place you want to be is in a hospital with doctors and police around you.
It kinda ruins your high.
Even if I got one of these people to go to a hospital,I would have to convince them to wait until the ambulance got there,then convince them to stay in the hospital.
When I took them to First United Church, the person would at least stay there and could be looked after by the staff.
Based on what I’ve read, your belief that First United was ‘looking after them’ may have been a comfortable illusion not shared by those being harmed behind its closed doors. . .
@Yes Just Saying
Being a former staff member at First United Church (2009) I am just as shocked as you are about the sexual assaults,assaults that took place there.
The purpose of the church was to be a haven for those who were barred from ever other shelter or agency in the DTES,along with being low barrier and accepting people where they’re at…. drunk or high.
Other shelters I worked at have a policy that the person has to be sober when entering into the building or signing in for a bed.
For some people in the DTES that’s unrealistic and that’s why we would have people sleeping out on the streets every night.
It’s not a comfortable illusion to place men at First United Church if you just found them sleeping in the snow or so drunk they couldn’t defend them self or run for safety.
Example: One of the men who came to our church regularly was a chronic alcoholic,who was always being arrested by police for being drunk in public.
When doing my outreach at night I would go to the bar he was at when it closed and personally walk him to First United Church where he could hang out with staff and the people he built a community with at the church.
When he was at the church,he was not wondering the streets,causing fights with people or police.
And then he wasn’t being a pain to the VPD.
I am sure the staff at the church talked to him about sobering up,but he was drinking to deal with the trauma that happened in his life.
@Jennifer
One would surmise that anyone who is drunk or high (DTES or elsewhere) has no interest in the police or hospital. Regardless, without the incident being documented it doesn’t exist……much like not reporting property crime because you figure the cops won’t find my stolen bike anyways…..
For change to come the world needs to understand what’s really going on in the Eastside…whether they like it not. You need hard numbers and facts…because that facilitates outreach workers to say “here is your proof” when approaching the government for funding.
Just as we can’t allow the “pocketbook citizens” to make decisions on aid/assistance to the DTES we also can’t allow the victims to steer our choices to protect their habits. Don’t they deserve more? Even if it’s seen as “tough love”. You are not helping an addict by letting them sober up in a church.
Mark, there is plenty of evidence and data, both qualitative and quantitative, being collected on the DTES. The problem is not a lack of data or evidence, it is a lack of political will to acknowledge the research and develop evidence-based policy from it.
@Johnny: I was never implying no data was being collected. What I was saying is that it’s imperative that we continue to collect this information. I will give you my reasoning (see below)
When you call an ambulance & have said individual taken to the hospital there is a record of it. It’s all stored in a relational database & from that database the powers that be can set a cost to each visit. Someone will crunch these numbers & notice that 10,000 folks from the DTES were brought into the hospital for substance abuse. Assume we put a dollar figure on the cost of each ambulance trip & the subsequent care required for the individual and it comes out to $10,000 dollars per person. A time WILL come when someone with vision will recognize that it’s inherently CHEAPER to help out these people versus dealing with the problem after the fact.
After all, isn’t that why Insite was started? The government recognized that giving away needles to addicts wasn’t just medically wise, it was financially wise. It saves money. Another example is how some urban schools in poor areas feed their kids breakfast. Yes, the pocketbook citizens howl in protest, but the reality is a full belly makes studying easier which hopefully keeps the kid in school. My Mom used to say “a stitch in time saves 9″. I call it an investment in the future.
It’s not so much political will that we need, it’s a change to society’s perception of these folks. Society needs to recognize these folks are victims. AND that their addictions are often the result of their past. Perhaps a day will come in the future when we see addicts in the same light as we see victims of cancer and those on the margins of society will feel our empathy rather than our repulsion.
*LIKE* *AGREE* The First United Church is the worst enabler on the DTES. It started out as a great service and I didn’t feel so guilty every night going home to my wonderful, large and warm bed but now it’s a vile place to be.
I have always enjoyed your blog. Your writing is very good, however, I am saddened by the miss-truths in this blog. Being that you are a member of the VPD which is constantly being scrutinized, I would hope you would be more careful when reporting.
We have a very strong relationship with many members of the VPD. In fact my evening shift manager said that sometimes the paddy wagon will show up at our front doors and drop off an intoxicated community member because their facility is full to capacity.
As far as the the staff refusing to obey the fire codes, that is an absolute insult. We work very hard with the Fire Chief of Vancouver, John McKearney to meet all the requirements. In fact we just had a workshop for all Frontline staff with Firefighter Mulcahy on Novemeber 22 2011. We are all First Aid certified and are working to provide community memebers the same level of training so they may assist others in the DTES.
The staff at First United Church work very hard for this community. We do NOT do this work for the pay cheque. On average, we are the lowest paid frontline workers in the DTES. We are here because this is our community and we care. We are equally sensitive to the needs of this community as to the network of resources and people that help fill in the gaps to the services that we can not provide.
We have a team from Carnegie Outreach in our church to assist our community with finding livable housing. We are careful not to duplicate the resources in the DTES by working together.
Each time we call 911 for an emergency, our staff are quick to thank the paramedics and firefighters that show up to offer assistance. We are all down here working together. We are all very supportive of one another.
one final word; It isn’t unusual to have recovering addicts working in the DTES. Many people are drawn to this type of service work when they feel that they have a certain level of expertise to offer for having to walk a mile in the shoes of an addict. This however should not be confused as being under qualified. Our Staff are not just plucked off the streets and thrown into the trenches. We are educated and trained. Our hearts are wide open and i welcome any of you to come by for a visit, share a meal and have some laughs. You may gain some perspective on the work that we do here at First United Church.
Thank you,
Jennifer Dame
Engagement and Activities coordinator.
ps we are always looking for volunteers. if this work interests you, please drop me a line.
jennifer.dame@firstunited.ca
Jennifer. Fair comment related to the occupancy limits. I’ve made some edits to correct my over-generalization. Thanks.
@steve, thank you! keep fighting the good fight!
Jennifer Dame
Hi Steve,
At 11:00pm last night while unable to sleep I came across your blog. I’ve lived in Vancouver most of my life, have volunteered in DTES, and known several people who’ve lived on the streets of DTES, however what an eye-opener (and mind-opener) your blog is! I ended up reading your blog start to finish!
Thank you for what you do, and thank you for giving us insight to the policemen who work the streets, and the people who live there.
Sincerely,
Natalie Fraser
Natalie. That’s a heck of a lot of reading in one night. Thanks for the positive feedback.
Interesting!
I was doing some research on the history of the Vancouver police when I came across your blog.
I also posted it on our face book page.
I am sure all our other cop watch allies will find this to be an interesting read.
VCW
Hi Steve, I have been following your blog with interest since I saw an article about it in the Globe and Mail.
I work in the neighbourhood, and recently attended a meeting at VANDU.
At the meeting, the issue of the recent vending ticketing campaign was raised. Apparently, many people are receiving tickets for selling goods on the street. They are not being accused of having stolen property, but are simply receiving tickets for selling things on the street.
There is currently a Sunday market on Carrall St. that the city is threatening to shut down. The community wants a 7 day a week market so people have a legal place to sell goods they have recovered and rescued from the dump. They are asking that the ticketing campaign halt until a suitable solution to the market issue is found.
I am curious about the costs of this VPD ticketing campaign and the reasoning behind spending time and resources on this. It does not seem to be an issue of public safety or interest, but I would like to hear your thoughts, or perhaps you can direct me to someone at VPD who is willing to give me more information.
Thank you,
Jenna Robbins
Program Lead
DTES Neighbourhood House
Hello Jenna,
I’m not aware of any ticketing campaign related to street vending in the Downtown Eastside.
If people are receiving tickets for selling items on the street, it’s because they are disobeying a City of Vancouver bylaw that prohibits displaying merchandise or street vending without a license. Tickets are issued at the discretion of the police officer. It’s no different than jay-walking, urinating in lanes, littering or failing to plug your parking meter.
I do understand your suggestion that police have more important things to deal with. I’ve stopped many street vendors who’ve asked me why I’m not harassing the drug dealers. I’ve harassed plenty of drug dealers who ask why I’m not out jacking up some sex offender. And I’ve had more than a few Johns tell me I should be out trying to solve murders, not bothering them for picking up prostitutes.
I, myself, have issued a number of tickets to street vendors over the years. While there are a million things I’d rather be doing, I have multiple reasons for enforcing the bylaw. Here are five, just off the top of my head:
1. It’s the law. The City of Vancouver (my employer) says thou shalt not display or sell merchandise on the sidewalk without a permit. I’m not paid to agree with the law (in this case I do agree). I’m paid to uphold it.
2. Much of the merchandise bought and sold on the street is stolen. Booze, tobacco, razor blades, food and clothing are just a few examples. I’ve literally seized trunk loads of cigarettes, cold remedies, jeans and coffee from vehicles parked in the area. All of it was brought into the neighbourhood to be sold on the street. Knowing it’s stolen and proving it’s stolen are two entirely different things, which is why people are not likely being accused of theft or possession of stolen property.
3. Many of the items hocked on the streets are given away by charities and intended to help the homeless, not to be bartered away. A couple Sundays ago I assisted in handing out sleeping bags, which were donated and intended for people who were sleeping on the street. A number of people who came by to get sleeping bags told me they had homes and were going to trade the sleeping bags on the street for cigarettes or sell them for money. I frequently see people selling clothes on the street, which they’ve received from a church or a goodwill bin. I think that’s wrong.
4. It is a matter of public interest and safety. Street vending leads to street disorder, which leads to crime. If you’ve ever walked through the 000 Blk of East Hastings Street in the middle of the day, you know what I’m talking about. Drug dealers and drug enforcers are able to operate with impunity because they can so easily blend in. People smoke crack and inject heroin on the sidewalk. They’re all shielded by the masses of people with shopping carts full of stuff they have “recovered” and dozens more with their junk laid out on the sidewalk.
5. It’s a nuisance and an eyesore. I think people who live and work in this neighbourhood should be able to walk down the street without being hounded by people who are trying to sell them stuff. I’ve had more than one tourist on his way from Chinatown to Gastown flag me down to tell me someone offered to sell him a gun, a camera, booze or other items which were obviously stolen. I’ve seen mothers pushing strollers past stacks of pornographic videos and magazines laid out for sale on the sidewalk. I don’t think that would be tolerated in Kitsilano, Dunbar or Kerrisdale. Why should it be tolerated in the Downtown Eastside?
The City of Vancouver decided to create a Sunday street market on Carrall Street so that people could buy and sell merchandise on the street without receiving tickets. While it’s true much of the stuff being bought and sold is salvaged from dumpsters — cell phone chargers, paperbacks and VHS tapes — a great deal also appears quite valuable. I’ve seen people sell hundreds of dollars worth of padlocks, memory cards, power tools and clothes with the tags still on them, just to name a few. I’d like to see the dumpster that all that stuff got pulled out from.
I was not aware that the City of Vancouver was considering shutting down the Sunday street market. If that happens, perhaps VANDU could assist these street vendors in renting tables at a Sunday flea market or even help them establish a co-op, get a business license and open a storefront where they could legitimately sell their wares without fear of being ticketed.
Hey Steve:
With regards the comment on valuable stuff coming out of dumpsters there is a great deal of truth to that.
A close friend of mine worked for a household junk removal service. In just a few months he had salvaged a fully operational 50″ Flat Panel TV, a very nice oak coffee table, several $500+ office chairs, a iPod speaker system that is worth $400 bucks brand new (not a scratch) among other things. He said he regularly picked up working power tools, stereo equipment, computer equipment, books, DVD’s, kitchen equipment, bags of clothes, etc all which just ended up going to recycling or the landfill. When I asked why people toss things out he said many people won’t resell things on sites like Kijiji because they are reticent to allow strangers into their house/life. He tossed out far more good stuff than he salvaged just because of space.
I’m not denying some of it wasn’t stolen, but given the high population density and wealth in Vancouver it’s not that uncommon to see things of value end up in the trash. Some folks make a legitimate living out of it so I don’t see why the homeless couldn’t do the same. I’ve read there are homeless in Alberta cities who just collect bottles & cans and pull in $50 to $75 dollars a day. A good take if you can dig through dumpsters.
I’d like to see United We Can Where all the vendors hang out move to Kitsilano. Let’s see how long it lasts there. Will all the “vendors” move with it? You’re right, I should be able to walk down the streets of the FIRST NEIGHBOURHOOD of Vancouver so RICH WITH HISTORY AND HERITAGE without being offered 5 different illegal substances before I even make it from Carrall to Main. I love the buildings, I love the trees, I love the history but ONLY on a Sunday morning before 10 AM when the sun peaks East and shines on the newly cleaned streets. That’s when I go to Army & Navy for a grilled cheese sandwich.
Thanks for your continued efforts to keep MY streets safe!
I watched the news about the church closing down. Very sad. Where will all those who use the church go now? There isn’t enough housing or shelters to start with. Very sorry to hear of this and for those who will be left out in the cold. God bless all those who tried!!!
Hi Steve,
I’ve been following your blog since day one and I would just like to say that I really aprpeciate your blunt honesty. I have a lot of respect for what you have to say, whether I agree or not, and I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts and getting your perspective. It’s very refreshing to not have everything sugar coated and hear things as they are. I am working toward a career in policing and reading your blog helps me to stay grounded and focused on the reality of my objective.
Thank you for sharing.
re: Jennifer Dame’s comments:
Thank you Steve for writing this blog and in particular, this entry. I have found the entry to be informative and hope others will as well.
I am writing this comment to address a few of the inaccuracies of a comment previously posted by First United Church staff member, Jennifer Dame.
As a First United staff member myself, I disagree that that the church’s frontline staff members haven’t been hired then thrown into the trenches of the frontline. Until last spring, not even a policy and procedure manual existed for the largest frontline team at First, the hosts (other teams are still waiting for their manuals). The host team is the staff expected to maintain safety and order within the building amongst many other responsibilities. Also, it surprises me to read that all of First’s frontline staff are first aid trained when I have been asking First’s management for such training for years.
Lastly, if one is currently interested in volunteering at First, my advice would be not to submit a query or application to Jennifer Dame as she is not a volunteer coordinator and no longer the Engagement and Activities Coordinator. However, HR is accepting applications for a Volunteer and Activities Coordinator and this job posting can be sen on craigslist.
I’m happy to read your blog