| I love the fact that Calgary seems to have a newspaper that leans a little left of centre. I was shocked, however, that you would run the insulting advertisement created by the Calgary Downtown Association entitled "Your generosity is killing me."
Shame on you. You know that these images only perpetuate the mythology around homelessness that all homeless folks are addicts. This is not the truth – some are, some aren’t.
I have spent 25 years working alongside the homeless community and here in fat-cat Calgary, over half of those staying at shelter warehouses have full-time jobs. We have no rooming houses with a door and a key so the working poor don’t have to suffer the indignity of being called homeless.
Many wonder, "Do I use my meagre paycheck to eat or pay the rent?"
Begging is a noble Judeo-Christian tradition. Maybe these posters should show the face of St. Francis of Assisi, who begged to live all his life.
|
Copyright ©2006 FFWD. All rights reserved.