Homeless forum downtown

[SteWe]

They don't stray far from safety.

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/2 ... vandalized

Now it has caused extra costs to CoK. What are they going to do about it?

junkies at it again

Hey truther... MATH!

Assuming every meter is used between 9am and 5pm:

$2 per hour X 8hrs = $16 X 300 meters = $4,800 X 2 days = $9,600

BUT "junkies" – doh!

[OldBlindDog]

I can picture it now – "junkies" as you call them with their pockets bulging, with bags of change lining the sidewalk in plain sight just hanging out on Leon from their rewards after ripping off 300 parking meters in two nights. You're a fool if you think that. You don't believe this was coordinated? "Hey Bob, I have an idea, lets pop open all the meters - as many as we can with a screwdriver we found - and grab all the change we can get. We'll figure out where to put it all later."

Who says thieving junkie scumbags can't coordinate a thieving effort? Bike theft rings are quite coordinated, for example.

I've never made an exact measurement, but I am sure a cart can carry a lot of change.

[SteWe]

I can picture it now – "junkies" as you call them with their pockets bulging, with bags of change lining the sidewalk in plain sight just hanging out on Leon from their rewards after ripping off 300 parking meters in two nights. You're a fool if you think that. You don't believe this was coordinated? "Hey Bob, I have an idea, lets pop open all the meters - as many as we can with a screwdriver we found - and grab all the change we can get. We'll figure out where to put it all later."

Who says thieving junkie scumbags can't coordinate a thieving effort? Bike theft rings are quite coordinated, for example.

I've never made an exact measurement, but I am sure a cart can carry a lot of change.

Curious now, what do you expect happens after with the cart full of change – talkin' heavy pounds of change, so heavy it probably weighs the cart down so much that perhaps a wheel or two give way from the weight?

[Fancy]

what are you going on about now? - I was replying to those that brought up the parking metres in this thread.

I had asked about the forum. Is there any more information on it?

[OldBlindDog]

Curious now, what do you expect happens after with the cart full of change – talkin' heavy pounds of change, so heavy it probably weighs the cart down so much that perhaps a wheel or two give way from the weight?

It's not that much weight. $9000 worth of loonies at 7 grams per loonie is 63 kilograms. Loonies post 2011 are 6.27 grams per loonie. You don't need a one ton pickup to haul that around. And remember, this possibly occurred over more than one night. That's a lot of time to accomplish this task, stashing goods along the way. As far as where money is stashed, sorry, I am not an expert as to where thieves stash things. Just saying, it's possible for a person or group of people without means to accomplish this task.

And yeah, maybe this stuff really belongs in the thread specific to the theft.

[Fancy]

^^ viewtopic.php?f=23&t=81343&p=2462311#p2462311

Lots of good people were there fwiw.

I'm sure there were a lot of good people there on the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition panel but I was wondering how many of the general public showed up to listen to the homeless discuss their problems?

[pieinthei]

Curious now, what do you expect happens after with the cart full of change – talkin' heavy pounds of change, so heavy it probably weighs the cart down so much that perhaps a wheel or two give way from the weight?

it would take them all of 2 minutes to find a dealer in an old beat up civic or bicycle with a back pack to get their fix, and get rid of their change.. no need to carry it around.. especially not for 2 days, they'd be robbed by a fellow JUNKIE in no time..

[Fancy]

You want this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=81343&p=2462337#p2462337



Did you go to the forum or hear anything about it? One would think there'd be a follow up in the news.

[the truth]

Curious now, what do you expect happens after with the cart full of change – talkin' heavy pounds of change, so heavy it probably weighs the cart down so much that perhaps a wheel or two give way from the weight?

it would take them all of 2 minutes to find a dealer in an old beat up civic or bicycle with a back pack to get their fix, and get rid of their change.. no need to carry it around.. especially not for 2 days, they'd be robbed by a fellow JUNKIE in no time..

i think stewe is over his head on this issue

[dle]

https://www.castanet.net/news/Kelowna/2 ... m-downtown

The forum will feature talks from people who have been experienced poverty and stigma, along with updates on the province's poverty reduction commitments.

“Harmful views of people struggling with poverty are not uncommon in Kelowna,” said Christine Mettler, Okanagan co-ordinator of the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition.

“I hear them at City Hall. I read them in the newspaper. I know that they are likely not due to malice so much as ignorance, but they can have real and damaging impacts. Stigma is a big barrier that prevents people from seeking supports.”

I read this and a red flag popped up immediately that definitely divides the community. Ms. Mettler is only one of a whole group of people who wants addicts, along with their criminal ways, accepted without question into the neighbourhoods. They try to lessen the blow by just using "poverty" as a blanket term as if that will somehow make people more accepting about drug users and their criminal activities. These WET FACILITIES are the problem - NOT people living in poverty who are not drug addicts.

People of the Aggasiz area WERE NOT in any way opposed to helping people living in poverty so stop trying to make them out to be misinformed. What they are opposed to is the WET FACILITY SUPPORTING DRUG USE. PERIOD. Not everyone feels drug use is 'ok'. Do addicts deserve help? Of course, but it has to be help that is going to do them some good and not be a detriment to others who don't choose that lifestyle. Ms. Mettler says "stigma" is a big barrier - well yes she is correct - and until these "help" groups understand that trying to shove DRUG ADDICTS and their myriad of criminal and street behaviours down peoples' throats only alienates them further, this is what will continue.

DRUGS. DRUGS. DRUGS. DRUGS. How loud do people have to yell to be heard? How many meetings do people have to go to before these groups take their fingers out of their ears and give the courtesy of listening to the people who even bother anymore to show up to these meetings. DRUGS is the problem - not the word POVERTY. They don't want DRUGS in their lives or their neighbourhoods.

Something ELSE has to be done about the DRUGS aspect. Stop trying to just say it's part of "poverty". Poverty can mean, and in a lot of cases does, 2 working parents, (drug-free) with a child who are barely making ends meet who can't find a place to rent in this town and eat at the same time. Who is building them a place to live? Poverty can mean a single mom (who is drug-free) who lost her job because a business left town and who hasn't been able to find another one yet and her savings are now completely gone and no EI? She's about to be evicted with her child. Who is building them a place to live? Poverty can be the elderly couple trying to live on CPP and OAS and GIS with medical issues that cause them to have to choose between medicine and rent so they choose medicine and get kicked out? Who is building them a place to live?

DRUGS is an entirely different circumstance. Of course drug addicts live in poverty too, in a lot of cases brought on by their lifestyle and their choice, but build those people rehabs - that's the help THEY need, not WET DRUG DENS plopped into the neighbourhoods of people who don't want to have to live with drugs.

None of these groups including City Hall, JH, BC Housing, Journey Home appear to be listening to that - they are just branding everyone heartless, or at the very least ignorant of the facts, or even worse, insinuating they are not intelligent enough to make the best community inclusion choices. The neighbourhood residents are not ignorant of the fact the people in question are DRUG addicts who will be allowed to use their drugs in their new digs, invite their drug dealers over for tea - that's been spelled out plain and simple for them and they are being forced to accept that behaviour and lifestyle whether they like it or not. How disrespectful is it to keep shoving something they disagree with down their throats and blame them for it happening?

Change the discussion. Make it be about where to place the drug REHAB centre....I think you will find people a lot more welcoming and understanding of that course of action. Don't shove WET houses down people's throats and expect peace and inclusion.

[the truth]

excellent post dle,

[pieinthei]

well done!! ^^^

[one wheel]

Thank you dle, you totally explained my feelings exactly.

[Andy S]

DLE wrote what many of us try to. The harsh reality is that a Sunday on the beach is changing sigh. Especially when folks walk around the body today :-(

[zoo]

like you said,,,,,