In this, the last column of 2015, I’d like to talk about two powerful influences in our community on folks who are living with mental, social or personal misfortune.
These are the service of volunteers, and the media.
The Arrowhead Club-house in Sechelt is key to the well-being of adults on the Coast living with mental illness.
Until last month, though, Arrowhead could afford to open only four days a week. The resulting three-day weekend was a hardship for many.
However, as a result of the efforts of the volunteer board of directors and the generosity of community donors, Arrowhead has just recently gone to a five-day week. This has contributed greatly toward members’ health and well-being.
Consider, too, the Hospice Society. Every day, Hospice is able to provide its invaluable services to the community precisely because volunteers work tirelessly to raise funds for its operation.
These are but two examples of how community volunteers give freely of their time and skills to make life better for folks living on the Coast. I urge readers to consider volunteering. There are lots of opportunities. Contact me at [email protected] if you want information.
I began my working life in newspapers, believing as many of us did that journalism can be a tool for social justice. Last week, we saw an example of that.
As you know, the homeless shelter at St. Hilda’s Church was faced with budget restrictions that would have seen the shelter open only on nights when the temperature was below zero, rather than every night. This was an unsound and insensitive model.
Two weeks ago, tragedy struck. Harry Paul died. Alone and cold, Harry had no place else to go.
When the story broke, when government and the community were made aware of the shelter issue, three remarkable things happened.
First, the province moved quickly to provide the $40,000 needed to keep the shelter doors open seven days a week. The happy task of hiring trained shelter staff is now underway.
Second, a local fundraising effort started by a member of our community raised more than $3,000 for the shelter. To put that figure into one perspective: a hot, nutritious dinner for the typical 12 to 15 shelter residents costs about $30 a night to prepare. The donations received so far translate to more than three months, seven days a week, of comfort.
Third, the group of churches and service clubs that have provided those meals in the past quickly mobilized to organize a nightly dinner offering for 2015-2016.
The power of the media to generate social change depends on a crucial synergy: the willingness of media to cover objectively stories of social import, and the inclination of folks to respond to those stories with action.
We have both, and what this tells me is that on the Coast, we have a true harmony going on.
Social media also has a place. So much information is today shared outside traditional media forms. I’d urge readers to take part in this new way of sharing.
I have created a Facebook page called Social Advocacy on the Sunshine Coast. It would be good to see what we can do as a community via this medium.
