Infrastructure 20090308

Sorry for being away from the sketchpad, my Dad died Valentine's Day in Regina, so the past while has been up and down.

At the Downtown Victoria 2020 conference a few years ago, Bill O'Grady, Ph.D spoke on the topic of "Downtown: The Last Public Place" and laid out a Progressive Vision for Homelessness. The vision included several points that are frequent stumbling blocks for youth at risk:

• Affordable Housing - which could be addressed by using city-owned property to create co-op housing;
  
• Educational Alternatives - particularly Grades 9 and 10;
  
• Health Services supports;
  
• Criminal Justice System - is homelessness really a criminal matter;
  
• Social Supports - through mentoring;
  
• Labour Market needs;
  
• Education of Residents - how to interact with homeless;
  
• Tolerance - of different lifestyles.
  

The current economic climate is pressing more individuals into difficult situations like couch surfing, marital disintegration, food banks and other related difficulties which in time could lead to desperation and homelessness. Carl A. Anderson is quoted as saying, "If greed - one of the worst aspects of human nature - helped push us into crisis, then one of the best aspects of our nature - generosity - will be necessary to help pull us out of it." We should all be looking to charity and generosity to assist those at risk.

Learn more about Bill O'Grady from the University of Guelph's website.