Archive
Dr. Bruce speaking on the topic of “Folk Devils and Moral Panic” – The Globalization of Addiction Nov 12th, 2009 at Noon – 2pm.
Thanks to Coco Culbertson of PHS Community Services Society for the following:
I would like to strongly encourage you to attend a lecture – as part of our staff development and training, being given by Dr. Bruce Alexander, on
Nov 12th at Noon – 2pm.
He will be speaking on the topic of “Folk Devils and Moral Panic” – The
Globalization of Addiction.
Dr. Alexander has studied addictions for over 30 years, and is a renowned
expert in the field.
He was one of the founding Board Members of the PHS Community Services
Society, and understands very clearly the role of harm reduction based approaches, policy, housing and the role of a strong community
in the DTES, and in the context of addiction.
He will be speaking at the Fletcher Challenge Auditorium (Room 1900) at
the Simon Fraser University Harbour Centre on Thursday November 12th from
noon-2pm.
Look forward to seeing you there,
Coco
AHA MEDIA attends part of the Sites of Empowerment Tour by CCAP in Vancouver Downtown Eastside on Saturday Oct 31, 2009
AHA MEDIA attends part of the “Sites of Empowerment Tour” by CCAP in Vancouver Downtown Eastside on Saturday Oct 31, 2009
Walking Tour
SITES OF EMPOWERMENT
with CCAP
Saturday October 31, 11:30am1pm
Meet at steps of Carnegie Community Centre, 401 Main
This tour with researcher Wendy Pedersen and volunteers of the Carnegie Community Action Project (CCAP) will start at the front steps of the Carnegie Centre and visit some of the best loved places in the area according to the stories of low-income DTES residents.
Contemplate how these key sites give us clues as to how to build a vision for a safe, healthy and affordable low-income neighbourhood and how this future is threatened by gentrification.
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Below is an aerial photo of the tour of about 50 people which included Vancouver City Councillor George Chow while they stopped at the corner of Hastings and Carrall Street in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside
CCAP is building consensus within the low-income community for a vision of the Downtown Eastside that hopefully the city will adopt. Visioning reports and information on gentrification can be found on their blog:http://www.ccapvancouver.wordpress.com. All proceeds to CCAP. $10 for non-residents, pay what you can for local residents
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Below is a close up of an aerial photo of the tour of about 50 people which included Vancouver City Councillor George Chow while they stopped at the corner of Hastings and Carrall Street in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside
Part of the Heart of the City Festival in the Vancouver Downtown Eastside
http://www.heartofthecityfestival.com/festival-09/october-31/
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In the next photos and video, Hendrik Beune, Director of AHA MEDIA and Wendy Pedersen of CCAP speak at Sites of Empowerment tour in Vancouver Downtown Eastside on Saturday, Oct 31, 2009
This was filmed by April Smith of AHA MEDIA on a Nokia N95 mobile cameraphone. April is passionate and skilled in making Nokia films by exploring mobile media production through the camera lens of a cellphone. For a better quality version of this video, please DM April Smith @AprilFilms on Twitter or Facebook.com/AprilFilms
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In this video, Wendy Pedersen of CCAP and Ann Livingston of VANDU speak at Sites of Empowerment tour in Vancouver Downtown Eastside on Saturday, Oct 31, 2009
This was filmed by April Smith of AHA MEDIA on a Nokia N95 mobile cameraphone. April is passionate and skilled in making Nokia films by exploring mobile media production through the camera lens of a cellphone. For a better quality version of this video, please DM April Smith @AprilFilms on Twitter or Facebook.com/AprilFilms
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In this video, Ann Livingston and Dave Diewert speak at Sites of Empowerment tour in Vancouver Downtown Eastside on Saturday, Oct 31, 2009
This was filmed by April Smith of AHA MEDIA on a Nokia N95 mobile cameraphone. April is passionate and skilled in making Nokia films by exploring mobile media production through the camera lens of a cellphone. For a better quality version of this video, please DM April Smith @AprilFilms on Twitter or Facebook.com/AprilFilms
Double Victory for Pivot in SRO Battle
Reposted from Pivot Legal http://www.pivotlegal.org
B.C. College of Pharmacists and Attorney General side with Pivot to create legal protections for methadone patients living in Downtown Eastside hotels
In 2008, pharmacist and SRO hotel owner George Wolsey was exposed for offering kickbacks and illegal inducements to attract methadone patients to his Gastown Pharmacy. The Gastown Pharmacy was shut down as a result of the controversy, but that did not stop Wolsey, who also owns the Palace and Wonder Rooms hotels, from requiring all his tenants to buy methadone from him at his hotel. This practice allowed Wolsey to make more than $6000 per year in dispensing fees for each methadone patient at his hotel.
In May 2009, Wolsey evicted two of his tenants on 24 hours notice because they opted to use another pharmacy to fill their prescriptions. When the tenants challenged those evictions at the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB), the RTB stated that the Residential Tenancy Act did not protect them because Wolsey was providing “therapeutic treatment or services” in the form of methadone. The RTB made this ruling despite evidence that no treatment, services or supports of any kind were made available to tenants.
In September, Pivot applied to the B.C. Supreme Court for judicial review of the RTB decisions. Last week the B.C. Attorney General, which represents the RTB, said in a filed response to Pivot’s application that it supports Pivot’s position and agrees that the Residential Tenancy Act should apply to the Wolsey hotels.
“These tenants, who were illegally evicted, spent many nights on the streets as a result of the RTB’s failure to protect them from Wolsey’s greed,” said Laura Track, lawyer for Pivot Legal Society. “With the Attorney General and Pivot presenting a common position to the court, we feel confident the cases will be sent back to the RTB for a full and proper hearing.”
In addition, the College of Pharmacists of B.C., in response to concerns raised by Pivot over Wolsey’s practices, announced that it has amended its bylaws to prevent pharmacists from limiting patients’ choice of pharmacy. The new bylaws make the types of contracts used by Mr. Wolsey illegal. The College also informed Pivot that it has sent letters to Mr. Wolsey advising him of the changes and noting numerous complaints against him for these practices.
“We are very happy that the College of Pharmacists and the Attorney General have responded in the way they did,” said Track. “This kind of exploitation is completely unacceptable, and we hope that Mr. Wolsey amends his practices before we are forced to bring further legal actions against him.”
AHA MEDIA is proud to present ” It takes a community to raise a garden” by the Green Inner-city Cluster of Building Opportunities with Business (BOB) in Vancouver Downtown Eastside
On October 31st at 10:00 AM, volunteers are gathering at 700 East Hastings and Hawks Avenue in Strathcona to create the raised bed garden boxes necessary to convert five empty asphalt covered lots into an urban garden that will provide food, employment, and training opportunities for inner-city residents.
If you are interested in contributing to the greening of Vancouver’s inner-city we need volunteers and tools and materials, contact Seann Dory of United We Can for the latest list of what we need. Part of this project involves a mural which will include permanent recognition of the groups that made SOLEfood a reality.
This garden raising represents the culmination of months of work by a dedicated subset of the Green Inner-city Cluster. The property belongs to the owner of the Astoria Hotel who is letting us convert it to a garden in exchange for paying the taxes for the next couple years. We need to begin the conversion this month in order to be eligible for lower taxes.
Artist RenderingSave Our Living Environment is a sister organization to United We Can which was selected to be the lead organization for our first grant application. From there we got the name SOLEfood for our first urban agriculture project. Today’s coverage in the Metro and on Projects In Place’s blog neglected to mention the financial and organizational support of a number of key partners:
- Building Opportunities with Business
- Kristina Welch and the Centre for Sustainability and Social Innovation
- Louise of the Recycling Alternative
- Toby of Eclipse Awards and SBIA
- Potluck Cafe
- VEEES
- Green Inner-city Cluster members
- Participants and organizers of last week’s Ideas Jam
Come out and help us make Vancouver the Greenest City in the World, starting with Hawks and Hastings.
With thanks to Andrew “Muskie” McKay
Industry Initiatives Coordinator
Building Opportunities with Business (BOB)
http://greeningtheinnercity.ca/2009/10/26/it-takes-a-community-to-raise-a-garden/
AHA MEDIA is proud to present Children Live Dream Here: Urban Landscapes on Thursday Oct 29th, 2009
Visual Arts
CHILDREN LIVE DREAM HERE
Thursday October 29, 5:30pm-10pm
5:30pm-7pm Art opening
Families welcome
7pm-10pm Join your neighbours to celebrate the Festival
Chapel Arts, 304 Dunlevy
The presence of children in our community is the focus of this show of photo works by students from grades 4 to 7. Photographer and lead artist Anne Marie Slater collaborated with the students on an interpretive walk of Princess Avenue and their photographs reveal the sky, the street, and the industrial side of Hastings Street re-linking the historic north/south connection to the waterfront.
The perspectives of inner city children are captured in photo stories and audio recordings, on view in the main gallery and in projections on the outside of Chapel Arts.
Children Live Dream Here: Urban Landscapes is a community arts initiative with the participation of local organizations, community members and the support of the Festival and the City of Vancouver Great Beginnings program.
Sponsored by Strathcona Elementary School, Strathcona Community Centre Association and Chapel Arts, with funding from Port Metro Vancouver and Telus-Vancouver Community Board. Free
With thanks to Anne Marie Slater and the Heart of the City Festival in Vancouver Downtown Eastside for text and image
http://www.heartofthecityfestival.com/festival-09/october-29/
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