October | 2010 | AHA Media

Union Gospel Mission to Serve Thanksgiving Meal for Thousands

October 7, 2010 ahamedia Leave a comment

Union Gospel Mission to Serve Thanksgiving Meal for Thousands

What:

The Union Gospel Mission dining room will be a flurry of activity on Thanksgiving Monday, as UGM guests will be treated to a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. UGM expects to serve some 3,000 people throughout the lower mainland.

When:

Monday, October 11th (Thanksgiving Day); Doors open at 10:00am, meals served at 10:30am until 4:00pm.

Where:

616 East Cordova Street (corner of Cordova and Princess).

Other Locations Served:

New Westminster Drop-in: 33071 Railway Ave (doors open at noon)

Mission Drop-in: 658 Clarkson Street (doors open at noon)

Why:

UGM Senior Chaplain Bruce Curtiss explains that the meal is about more than just providing physical sustenance: “For many of our guests, this is a special time to celebrate and give thanks for what they do have, which is often very little. Over and over, we’ve seen Thanksgiving leading to hope, and hope inspiring courage, and courage – with friends to stand alongside – leading to transformed lives.”

Who – About UGM:

Union Gospel Mission has been reaching hungry, hurting, and homeless men, women, youth, and children for nearly 70 years. Through its 8 locations in Metro Vancouver and the city of Mission, UGM provides counseling, education, safe housing, and alcohol and drug recovery to those struggling with poverty, homelessness, and addiction. The heart of the mission is to demonstrate God’s transforming love, ease the burden of the most vulnerable, rebuild the lives of the broken, and offer dignity to those who feel cast aside. UGM is a proud member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities and the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. To find out more, visit http://www.ugm.ca.

To see an experience of last year’s dinner at UGM, please see here

Categories: AHA Media, April Smith, DTES, Free Food, UGM, Vancouver, Vancouver Downtown Eastside

Team Canada for Street Soccer at Rio 2010 Homeless World Cup Day 11 ( Last Day )

October 6, 2010 ahamedia 2 comments

Coach Alan Bates writes:

Hi Street Soccer Canada fans,

I bet you thought you’d read the last update. For the last few days I thought you might have already read the last update too. We’re all back home now and things have been busy for everyone. But the welcome back we’ve received from supporters, friends and family has been amazing. Too amazing to not find time for the last update. Thanks so much again for sticking right with us through the rough parts of the tournament and pledging your continued support.

There are more great photos from Sarah Blyth:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=494638&id=852065453&l=ba21c0b8e2

Day 11 of our adventure featured the final games of the tournament and the closing ceremonies. In the men’s final, Chile squared off against host Brazil (sorry to anyone who put money on my picks of Mexico and Kenya). One of Chile’s players would go on to be named the top male player of the tournament, but the game was all Brazil. The greatest football nation in the world put an incredible team on the pitch that was lead by their bespeckled keeper who can intercept incoming danger better than a patriot missile. Unlike the traditional free-flowing Brazilian game, there was a clear system being used by the home team. Whenever their defense intercepted the ball, they fed it to the goalie who immediately one-timed it straight up the middle to a striker who always knew what to do with it. I’m sure they make it look easy, but it’s definitely one to add to our playbook for Paris 2011. The women’s contest also featured Brazil in a match-up with fan favourites Mexico. Because Mexico had a men’s team and a women’s team, they always had lots of fan support. And it wasn’t just butts in the seats. The Mexican fans had face paint, whistles, headbands, noisemakers, and, best of all, several Mexican-style wrestling masks a-la Nacho Libre. Unfortunately for the Mexican faithful, the Brazilian women also proved too much for their competition and Brazil walked away with both trophies.

Despite falling slightly short of the big prizes, the Mexican teams were very impressive and there’s a Canadian connection to their success. One of the Mexican coaches got his start in Street Soccer coaching Team Canada. He now oversees a program in Mexico with over 6000 men and women enrolled. Roughly half the participants are women. Though we will likely never have as large a program in Canada, we would like to have more female Street Soccer players. How cool would it be to have a co-ed team or even a full women’s team in Paris? The other thing about the Mexican program that would be great to replicate here is the participation of a major sponsor. TelMex (the Mexican equivalent of Bell or Telus) sponsors the Mexican program and everything about their organization looks first-class as a result.

At the closing ceremonies, each player received a medal and each team including us received a silver plate stating this year’s ranking. We’re number 40! Woohoo! No shame there, believe me. In addition to the men’s cup and the women’s cup, there were some other extra awards for things like best male and female player, top three coaches (guess I bribed the wrong guy), etc. There was also a Fair Play award which went to… wait for it… Canada! There were huge cheers throughout the crowd from all our new friends as we collected our trophy as well as genuine Brazilian national team jerseys for each player and coach. Now, I’ve been around sports long enough to know that awards like this sometimes just go to the team that obviously couldn’t compete with the others and that everyone just kind of felt sorry for. That was not the case here. Our guys earned every bit of that award. Always cheering for other teams. Always cheering and entertaining the crowd. Ambassadors for Canada down every street we walked. Not taking a single card the whole tournament. Always respectful of the officials. The other volunteers and I couldn’t have been more proud of the self-generated genuine Canadian spirit that our players packed with them everywhere they went. Given the background of many of the players and the nature of this competition, I think we can all agree that it was special to receive the Fair Play award.

As the final gathering of all the teams, the closing ceremonies also provided a final opportunity for the players to collect souvenirs from the other teams. If there’s one thing people from the Downtown Eastside don’t need lessons in, it’s trading goods. The guys swapped shirts for bags, flags for pins, shorts for shorts (seriously), hats for wrestling masks, and acquired a huge array of items from around the globe.

Overall, I can only say that the Homeless World Cup was an incredible experience. I think it’s an experience the players will find strength in for the rest of their lives and it’s an experience that couldn’t have been provided without all of your support. To Street Soccer coaches, volunteers, fans, and sponsors right across the country: Thank you so much!

Until Paris 2011,

Alan

Categories: AHA Media, Alan Bates, April Smith, Downtown Eastside, DTES, Eastside Sun Eagles, PHS, PHS Community Services Society, Portland FC, Portland Hotel Society, Street Soccer Canada, Sun Eagles Street Soccer, Team Canada for Street Soccer, Vancouver Downtown Eastside

AHA MEDIA filmed at Downtown Eastside March for Women’s Housing on Sat Oct 2, 2010

October 2, 2010 ahamedia Leave a comment

ANNUAL DOWNTOWN EASTSIDE MARCH FOR WOMEN’S HOUSING

SATURDAY OCT 2 @ 2 PM AT DTES WOMEN’S CENTRE (302 COLUMBIA)

October 1 2010, Vancouver, Coast Salish Territories- In response to the persistent violence of poverty and homelessness, women in the Power of Women Group of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre are organizing the “4th Annual March For Women’s Housing” to demand safe and long-term affordable housing.

According to Priscillia Mays, an organizer of the march “There is a perception that governments are now dealing with the homelessness crisis, but the recent solutions are all band-aid ones. All of us are someone’s sister, someone’s daughter, someone’s mother. We have the right to safe and affordable housing, not just shelter beds. Without safe and affordable housing, many women are forced into unsafe and violent situations, leading to the ongoing unacceptable tragedy of women being murdered.”

A report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and Social Planning and Research Council of BC earlier in September 2010 found that, according to BC Housing’s own service plans and data, there an overall net increase of only 280 new social housing units over the past five years. Over 1550 of the so-called “new” supportive housing units are actually renovations and replacements of existing housing stock rather than additional low-income housing.

According to Beatrice Starr, an Indigenous elder and organizer of the march “We call on the municipal, provincial, and federal governments to commit to ongoing funding for new social housing; to place a moratorium on low-income housing conversions to condos in the DTES; to stop criminalizing the poor through police harassment and aggressive ticketing; and to put our needs for basic survival before corporate developer profits.”

In the midst of this housing shortage and affordability crisis, community groups are redoubling efforts to secure the promised affordable units at the Olympic Village (Millenium Water). While the initial development plan promised that 66% of the units would be affordable, that number has now been reduced to less than 10% and a majority of the promised units remain empty. In the lead-up to February 2011, the one-year anniversary of the Olympic Tent Village established at 58 West Hastings, a separate campaign will work to attain a moratorium on the sale of the promised units and will openly establish a Tent City at the Athletes’ Village under a general call to “Reclaim Housing.”

Anne-Marie Monks, a 60-year old woman with disabilities, states, “Why is it so hard to treat us as human beings? The government has the ability and the capacity—but not the political will—to ensure the elimination of poverty. I challenge any politician to switch places with me. Sleep in the alley, stand in a food line, and live off $6 a day; then perhaps you will understand our pain. No more empty talk.”