By Angela Hill

Living without comfort, homelessness discussed

Oct 11, 2011 | 3:14 PM

From his vantage point inside a cardboard box in the back of the room at the Indian Métis Friendship Centre Roger Riel watched the kickoff of Homelessness Action Week.

“I’ve never lived in a cardboard box, but I have lived on top of cardboard in, say, furnace rooms or apartment block hallways, using a piece of cardboard as a comfort from the floor,” said Riel, who was at the centre representing the homeless.

Riel said a couple of years ago, he was working part-time and collecting disability payments, then his circumstances changed, he was rolled for this rent cheque and began living in his truck, which lasted for a couple of years.

Then the truck broke down and he sold it and, “I’ve been couch surfing ever since,” he said.

While looking for stable housing he found places that had drug deals, fights and arguments.

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“My addictions have technically increased, but I’m a lot better at going without as well,” he said.
Riel said he wants to see more small apartments, with well-built bachelor suites and more casual, manual-labour jobs.

“That we could come in, in the morning get a job and finish the day with a paycheque. None of this waiting two weeks and we’ll pay you holiday pay. We’re not interested in that, we’re interested in what we did for the day,” he said.

Riel said he works as the opportunity becomes available to him.

A greater understanding of homelessness and the surrounding issues is an important step to a solution, said Mike Mitchell, chairman on the Homeless Partnering strategy.

“It’s really important (to raise awareness) if people don’t understand there is an issue, they are less likely to act,” he said.

“If people were more aware, they might be willing to do more.”

When he hears people say things that are negative about people who are homeless, he said he thinks it is because a lack of knowledge.

“I think the thing is a lot of people feel really comfortable in their lives so they don’t really recognize that there is a huge need out there,” Mitchell said.

“I would say, it’s easy to be critical, it’s harder to do something in order to fix it and help them move their lives in a different direction. It’s easy to be destructive, but it’s more positive to help people change their lives in a positive way.”

Wednesday’s Walk for the Homeless is a great way for the public to get involved, so is volunteering to work in soup kitchen or food bank to see what people are facing, Mitchell said.

Riel said he knows there are many reasons people are homeless, including addictions, low economic status, disability and violence.

“In reality I’ve been in and out of homelessness since I was about 16 years old because of different reasons in my life that involved violence. Violence can cause homelessness.”

ahill@panow.com