Does Kelowna need the Gospel Mission?

[mexi cali]

The saying that most of us are only one missed paycheck away from disaster is very real. I know first hand from working for a company that had a large work force in a plant setting and one pay day came and the courier wasn't going to make it with the pay package and the panic I saw in the eyes of many was frightening.

I talked to several and their fear of missed payments and groceries was palpable. It was humbling.

Now imagine a lost job.

[daria]

please.i come from low income as a child ,I had to go to work as a 13 year old to help my family, so stop thinking you know everything about everyone.i think the mission gospel is great for the truly needy not the small time drugdealers hanging around there taking advantage of a free ride.

I'd suggest the same to you. Thankfully you do not get to define who is "truly needy," because I can tell you that people with addictions are often one and the same.

[the truth]

thank god you do then lol

[Poindexter]

I'm not sure what I said that was so wrong and deserved eternal damnation for. Sounded like a win win to me. I'm not saying stick them inside and lock the doors but if providing an air conditioned place for them to hang out during the heat of summer also lowers the number of vagrants around our central tourist district then why not?

And for your information I donate to the gospel mission because I've personally seen how they can save someone's life. So instead of simply vocalizing the morale high ground, maybe you should put your money where your mouth is and pitch in.

[Pookybear]

I'd suggest the same to you. Thankfully you do not get to define who is "truly needy," because I can tell you that people with addictions are often one and the same.

Now we have to feel sorry for people that chose to do drugs. Give me a break!

[Partmanpartfish]

I'd suggest the same to you. Thankfully you do not get to define who is "truly needy," because I can tell you that people with addictions are often one and the same.

Now we have to feel sorry for people that chose to do drugs. Give me a break!

I don't believe that's what she's saying. It's more of a comment on why some people turn to drugs.

Some people seem to think, 'well, everything turned out OK for me, why can't everything turn out OK for everyone?'

But, you know, 25% of the homeless in the US are veterans, for example. Perhaps some people have reasons everything didn't turn out OK for them.

[Poindexter]

A close personal friend of mine's son chose drugs in his late teens and spent some time at the gospel mission. I've known the boy since he was a child and he's a smart young man who made some mistakes and hit bottom pretty hard. That's when the gospel mission saved his life. There is a sense of camaraderie among the homeless and that place was his home. Because of the support and friends he made there he's turned his life around and is now healthy and a contributing member of society. People need a place to land when they hit bottom and if wasn't for the gospel mission that place would have been the grave. It's why I donate to the gospel mission and support it whole heartedly.

[Grandan]

Have a close friend who's son made some lousy choices in his late teens. He stayed at the gospel while owning up to his mistakes and kicked the meth addiction. Five years later he's got a job, an apartment and paying taxes. He would have been considered one of the undeserving people always brought up. Fact is sometimes people just need a place to land when they hit rock bottom. And a safe starting point from which to tackle addiction. The GM has saved many lives and helped countless others get thier life back in track. It's a place worthy of your donations, not your venom.

You only need to visit Jamaica to see what happens when there is no Gospel Mission. If you don't work you don't eat. Everyone does something for an income. By providing a safe place to land like the Gospel Mission when folks blow off education, working and generally joining up with like minded people to create a better place you are enabling them to remain at the bottom. The fact that friends son came back from the brink probably says more about the son's family and support than it does about the Mission. If the Mission did not exist he would have been forced to face up sooner.
The Mission exists because could good people cannot bear seeing those less fortunate suffer while they lounge in luxury.

[the truth]

bingo, we have a winner.enabling is dead bag on

[Poindexter]

Comparing Canada to Jamaica is a stretch. First of all the climate in Jamaica allows the homeless to sleep where ever they choose to lay down, year round. Secondly, desperate hungry people don't always work to feed themselves so the crime rate in Jamaica is not something we as Canadians would consider acceptable. I understand your point however and one we considered but you have to understand, not everyone at the gospel mission arrived there as a result of drugs. The mentally ill, people who come from abusive situations and those that have had a string of bad luck also end up there. Just be glad you aren't and try not to be so judgmental when it comes to the less fortunate. Not everyone deserves such a fate.

[Grandan]

Try sleeping outside during a hurricane and you would likely reconsider. People living in pallet houses covered in tarps perched precipitously on the roadside barrier just inches from passing trucks is a common site. Begging is common, scamming is too.

[nextimeround]

Then you can open your doors to the homeless and hungry!

Or, we could support a service like this that opens their door to the homeless and hungry - and likely does a better job of it than me.

[nextimeround]

You only need to visit Jamaica to see what happens when there is no Gospel Mission. If you don't work you don't eat. Everyone does something for an income. By providing a safe place to land like the Gospel Mission when folks blow off education, working and generally joining up with like minded people to create a better place you are enabling them to remain at the bottom. The fact that friends son came back from the brink probably says more about the son's family and support than it does about the Mission. If the Mission did not exist he would have been forced to face up sooner.
The Mission exists because could good people cannot bear seeing those less fortunate suffer while they lounge in luxury.

Supporting the less fortunate does not cause them to become dependent or enable them to continue to be at rock bottom. There's mountains of evidence to support the exact opposite in fact. Nice that you would reference Jamaica, a place I assume your wealth has allowed you to visit. But let's look at Jamaica, the place where as a tourist it's very dangerous to wander too far from your resort because poverty has created a huge issue with assault and theft.

I'm not a religious man but there's one saying that I always think of when I pass a homeless person "there but for the grace of god go I". For me it's not god, but it's a wise reminder that it doesn't take much to be in the place of people less fortunate than me and mine. You would do well to remember that.

[nextimeround]

please enough with the god card,this has nothing to do with GOD

How about "There but for the grace of avoiding bad choices, bad luck, bad health or bad economy go I".

[Grandan]

Nice that you would reference Jamaica, a place I assume your wealth has allowed you to visit. But let's look at Jamaica, the place where as a tourist it's very dangerous to wander too far from your resort because poverty has created a huge issue with assault and theft.

When we visited Jamaica it was on a shoestring. We did not stay in an all inclusive. We travelled by local transport through the south of Jamaica from Negril to Kingston, an area the tourist office advised us to stay away from. We stayed in bare bones cottages. We talked to local tradespeople, school kids, maids and gardeners. Wonderful, hard working people. Probably too scary for most but we loved it. We ate in the places where locals ate, witnessed a street fight with bottles being thrown by rival street gangs in the middle of afternoon rush hour.
We were scammed out of money in Montego Bay but it was a hoot, at least the guy hustled for his money instead of just holding out his hand.