Why we need tent cities

It’s a fact that many people in Victoria would rather not acknowledge.
Homeless people are about to house themselves in something other than the usual homeless shelter. Tent city is returning, and this time it’s going to stick around for awhile.
How long have we had a homeless problem in this country? Long enough in my opinion to have ended it.
That is if our society had decided to do the right thing and maintain a proper social safety net.
But we haven’t, and now poor people are largely left to their own devices.
Until recently, it’s been illegal in Victoria to sleep anywhere in public. It’s still illegal to shelter oneself from the elements, but that law is about to be struck down.
Even if the BC Supreme Court decides that city by-laws can circumvent the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, there will be a tent city.
Why? Well, because we need one. People are dying on the streets. People’s lives are spiralling into desperation, addiction and misery like the average person doesn’t even want to think of.
Our society has had decades to act, and we haven’t. It’s well beyond time for homeless people to stand up and take a small measure of safety and dignity such as a tent city can provide.
Maybe as activists and advocates we haven’t explained clearly that a tent city benefits everyone, not just the people being sheltered.
When people stand up against tent cities or any form of social assitance to people, it’s not because they want these people dead, it’s because the want to see them employed and housed like everyone else. The misunderstanding lies in people’s perception of what life on the street is like.
Someone who tells a homeless person to get a job doesn’t realize that many people would gladly be working, if only they had a safe and stable place to keep their belongings, rest, relax, have a shower and a hot meal and some privacy.
In case you’ve never had to stay at a homeless shelter, let me tell you right now that people in shelters who manage to get and keep jobs and save money and move into secure housing are heroes, plain and simple, and they’ve pulled off one of the most difficult feats in our society. That most other homeless people have a tough time of it is no reflection on them. It’s a reality of existance.
Tent city advocates have understood this for a long time. We’ve read the plethora of reports commisioned by governments across North America that have proven the Housing First approach is the most effective means of dealing with homelessness, and we aim to provide as much housing as we can for one another, even if it is just an 8ft by 8ft canvas tent.
What’s ironic is that these reports have not only shown that providing housing first increases the chance of people getting and keeping employment, but it’s cheaper than providing the usual services.
Shelters don’t work. I thought we had made this clear years ago. Yet it seems to be the best our society is willing to offer.
If we’ve been ineffective advocates for housing first, then we apologize. Society may still have a problem with tent cities, but we cannot wait for that to be resolved.
To deny basic human rights is to kill. This kind of genocide should not be tolerated in a so-called civil society.
The survival of our fellow people takes priority over by-laws, and even democracy. It is clear to us what is being inflicted on our communities and we cannot wait until it becomes clear to everyone else before we start defending ourselves.
The goal of a tent city is not to make a political statement about poverty and homelessness. That’s pointless as far as I’m concerned because the hundreds of people that succumb to the effects of homelessness every year have already made that point.
The goal is to survive. To sleep, to eat, and to prop ourselves up for the next challenge.
With this is mind, we do not intend to just have a tent city that will be busted by the police in a week or even a month. We intend to start a movement that will start providing the basic human rights that the state has failed to insure, and we intend for this movement to grow until no one has to suffer the way we suffer now. We intend that tent city will be a clean, safe place that will respect the dignity of it’s residents. Tent city will be a good neighbour, and will be a benefit to the city and to society in general. It might not be what you expect or want, but it will save lives, and if it matters to you, save society money on health care, policing, social services and other costs currently accrued by people who suffer from the isolation of trying to survive on the street without proper community support.
Let’s continue to talk about this issue. Let’s continue to share with each other our opinions and fears and ideas about how to deal with homelessness. Let’s not let this rip in our social fabric become a gapping chasm that we’ll never be able to cross.
Know however that if society cannot end homelessness, than the homeless will. Tent city is coming, and we’d love for you to help.