A refreshing cup of tea

Most of our shelter guests are coffee drinkers.   This winter, however,  two of our guests prefer tea so we've started brewing up a pot of tea each evening -- how civilized.

Aside from their preference for tea, "Jack" and "Ben" don't seem to have a lot in common.  They were born in different countries, have different cultural and religious backgrounds.  One's a vegetarian; the other doesn't like vegetables.  Jack has a long history of addiction to drugs.  Ben has no signs of substance abuse.

Jack was most recently in a residential recovery program in Vancouver's Union Gospel Mission, had been clean and sober for several weeks, but relapsed, so had to leave.    He wants to get back on the wagon and was so impressed with the progress he made at the UGM that he's planning to find a room in the Downtown Eastside so he can have easy access to the UGM during the day.  He knows the perils of the DTES, but feels it's better for him to be away from his buddies and triggers in Richmond.

Ben is well read, well educated and speaks persuasively on many topics, ranging from philosophy to alternate energies and homelessness.  Ben spends his days in the library, researching alternative energies and is planning to start a company in this area.  After that, he plans to move back to his country of birth where his parents and siblings live.

Ben intended to just stay one night with us, saying he was hoping to return to a "5 star" shelter in Surrey he's stayed at before: Hyland House.   (I've visited Hyland House and it's a model facility, purpose built for short and long term residents, including emergency shelter and supported housing.  It has individual rooms, showers, laundry, employment programs etc etc. It's run by Peter Fedos, who delivered us shelter training Nov 2010).  He returned the next night and the next and he ended up staying with us all six nights that we were open last activation.  He enjoyed his time at the shelter and told us that he was very impressed with the kindness we showed and the service we offered, despite our limited facilities.

So two very different individuals who came to us by very different paths, but both arrived on our doorstep with not much more than the clothes on their backs.  The most important thing they have in common is they each have a plan for a path forward, a path that could change their lives.  Quite different plans, but both very ambitious and both will require a lot of inner strength.

We closed up 15 Dec after six nights activation and haven't been open since.   That final morning at breakfast, I told our guests we most likely would be closing for a while.   Most left better fed, better clothed,  refreshed and ready to face another day.  For some, it will be back to same old same old.  For Jack and Ben, I'm hoping it'll be steps forward on their new paths.

I said farewell to Jack wished him well and I offered to drop Ben off at the library. We took the scenic route, dropping off the blankets at the laudromat and an overnight staffer at his home, so had more time to chat.  Ben shared his story of his own tragic path to poverty.  Then he explained that in his home country, they have far more and far worse poverty than in Canada yet there are no homeless shelters.  They don't need them.  Poor people are looked after by their extended families and neighbours.

I gave Ben a 2 zone bus ticket so he could get to Surrey and see if they had room for him at Hyland House and dropped him off at the library just before they opened.

I'm hoping these two fine, respectful gentleman developed a little more inner strength during their stay with us.  Perhaps those refreshing cups of tea helped.

I haven't seen or heard from Jack or Ben since.