Years ago, when my criminology degree was fresh, I did a volunteer stint as a court worker for the Ottawa Elizabeth Fry Society. My job, one morning a week, was to show up at First Appearance Court, keep an eye out for women who looked like they needed some help, and try to match them [...]
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The keynote speaker at the Mental Health Symposium* was Dr. David Goldbloom, a psychiatrist with a succulent C.V. The subject of his address was mental illness and stigma. In terms of how we talk about and treat people with mental illnesses, we’ve come a long way since the days of lunatics and asylums,but we still have [...] The Shepherds of Good Hope just purchased a hotel about two blocks from my house. It will provide supportive housing for about 50 clients, including frail elderly people, people who are succeeding in the Managed Alcohol Program, and people living with mental illness. Carlington has reacted with the predictable community rallying cry of “Not in My [...] If you’ve ever driven past the Shepherds of Good Hope, on Murray Street near King Edward, you might have felt a little intimidated by the clusters of ragged street people who live on the fringes of society and who congregate outside the shelter. Some of them smoke and talk amongst themselves. Some talk to themselves. [...] I made the mistake of reading several hundred comments on the Yahoo Canada News site yesterday, as people responded to the gruesome decapitation on the Greyhound bus. The right-wing redneck racists were out in full force with their appalling opinions and atrocious spelling. They were clamoring for the guy’s head. Literally. They were blaming immigration [...] I’m sure you’ve heard by now of the horrific beheading of a sleeping passenger on a Greyhound bus in Manitoba. The stranger sitting next to him just suddenly started repeatedly stabbing him and then hacked off his head and carried it around. I can’t even imagine how traumatized those poor travelers must be. I felt [...] Earlier this week I wrote a post about a mentally ill homeless woman in Westboro. Several commenters and I mulled over how she could best be helped. (Followed, sadly, by another commenter who declared the woman to be a crazy bitch who should be overpowered and locked up forever.) Coincidentally, two days later, The Canadian [...] As I was walking through Westboro on Sunday, someone stopped me and said “Can you help me out? It’s awful being homeless.” It was a woman with a cart, holding out a box lined with a clean paper towel. As I reached into my pocket for some change, she said “Even $20 would help, [...] I used to be a drug addict on the streets of Ottawa. That whole period of my life is a bit hazy, but it started in my teens and lasted a few years. Amphetamines were relatively cheap and plentiful at the time, and they were my drug of choice. I wasn’t in good shape. I [...] |
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