Divorced
woman
faces
welfare
WOITies

PATRICIA WAS married
for 26 years.

By Kate Zimmerman
News Reporter

Not happily, but she loved
her husband.

Sitting in an office chair at
North Shore Harvest, she
recalled how she saw him
through the ups and downs of
construction businesses in
Calgary and Vancouver in the
1980s. She supplemented his
erratic income with her own
eamings as an accountant, and.
in traditional fashion, took care
of the house’she shared with
him and their two sons.

She also put up with his
beatings. They were painful,
horrifying and denied by her
whole family. In addition, she
suffered emotional abuse which
she now understands was
“mental cruelty.”

“E used to walk down the
street and feel like one of those
posh dolls,” Patricia says now,
“but with nothing inside me,
you know?”

Over those years, her self-
esteem in a downward spiral,
Patricia developed an addiction
to alcohol and painkillers. fn
1992, in the midst of assorted
family tragedies including the
death of a brother, she decided
to spend a month at the Victoria
Life Enhancement Society to
try to get her life back on track.
Her husband was supposed to
join her for the last week for
joint counselling; instead, in the
middle of her attempt at heal-
ing, he informed her that he
wanted a divorce.

Patricia, who is in her early
50s, came back to North
Vancouver to find the locks on
their house changed and the
bank accounts they had former-
ly shared cleared out.

“[’m what they used to call
the ‘heart of the family,’ ” she
said, her accent still betraying
her Yorkshire roots.: “I didn’t
lose husband and home — I
lost the works.”

After years of taking for
granted the comforts of a hand-
some house. attractive clothes
and plenty of spending money,
she ended up on welfare.

“YT guess I was one of those
people who used to think wel-
fare people were uneducated
bums,” she confessed.“ had so
much help from those people.”

Legal Aid helped her with
her divorce. Social Services
gave her welfare and steered

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ek f
NEWS photo Neil Lucente

DUWAINE [S one of the North Shore’s homeless. North Shore Harvest on West Esplanade is one place where the 28-year-old
always feels welcome. Their slogan is “A hand up, not a hand-out.” The organization works to put poor peopte back on their feet.

tries

But with a long criminal record and little education, it’s a big challenge

(This is the second instalment of the News’
series about poverty on the North Shore. in
next week's instalment, News Reporter Kate
Zimmerman will examine poverty among
seniors.)

DUWAINE BECAME a ward of the
state at the age of 11.

By Kate Zimmerman
News Reporter

His mother couldn’t afford to raise four
children on her own, so Duwaine was put up
for adoption. He spent his tcen years in a scries
of foster homes, quitting school at 13.

At 19, he said, “the trouble really started.”

Duwaine got involved in dealing and taking
drugs. He started expressing his anger about
his life through violence. often against people
whom he describes as “innocent bystanders.”

Now 28, he reckons he’s spent a third of his
life in jail.

Eight months ago. Duwaine “came to know
the Lord.” He stopped selling drugs and even-
tually got a job at a fast food restaurant.

But in the spring, Duwaine lost the position
when he fractured his wrist at work. He
couldn't get back wages from the Workers
Compensation Board and had to start living on
$525 a month.

The simplest solution to making those dol-
lars last on the North Shore was to give up
paying rent.

That’s why Duwaine is homeless.

The situation offers one or two advantages.
It keeps Duwaine away from the temptations
posed by drug-using roommates. and it means

he can occasionally contribute to the support of
his two young children, who live with his ex-
wife.

On the other hand, he said, “Without an
address, trying to get access to my kids is like
a prayer within a windstorm.”

At least Duwaine knows he isn't alone.
While David Foster of North Shore Harvest
estimates that there are 20 homeless people liv-
ing on the North Shore, Duwaine said he
knows of about 300 families here who are
either squatting ia abandoned buildings or liv-
ing in apartments without hydro or clectrical
power:

Duwaine occasionally cadges a couch, a
shower and a meal from friends. Other nights,
he camps out behind Grouse Mountain, getting
there partly by bus and partly by hiking.

He experienced a slight setback lately when
his duffel bag went missing from the campsite.
In it. Duwaine was storing books which he
hoped would help him get a Grade 12 educa-
tion.

He has checked out several of the services
offered to the poor on the North Shore and
lately seems to have settled on North Shore
Harvest, located behind True North clothing
store on West Espianade.

North Shore Harvest’s slogan is “A fand
up, not a hand-out.” The emphasis, according
to Foster. is on getting poor people back on
their feet.

Though it is not a regular food bank, North
Shore Hirvest has @ supply of food from which
recipients can choose. It links to other organi-
zations for emergency supplies of furniture or
clothing.

It also offers courses in subjects such as
how to cook cheap, nourishing foods.

Duwaine approves of the organization's
philosophy. “1 want to get off the system.”

At the Harvest, “I know I’m welcome,” he
said. “t know I can come and get a cup of cof-
fee in the morning....”

In return, and because his last probation
demanded that he perform community service,
he volunteers in the warehouse-like space in
which the Harvest is housed. He hangs around
the place three or four hours a day, helping
stock shelves, doing repairs and maintenance
and generally getting one meal out of the deal.

This is between lool:ing for jobs — no easy
task for a guy with little education and a crimi-
nal record. Duwaine was once a tree-faller with
an industrial first aid ticket. He made money
until he broke his back and his hip and severed
four fingers, which were reattached.

“In the last year, since my injuries, I’ve fall-
en into stillness,” he said.

“J had a lot of pain inside, anger at what
people had done to me,” he added, acknowl-
edging that he had himself to blame for much -
of his frustration. “I guess I’ve finally grown
up enough to understand human nature.”

in the meantime, Duwaine carries a pager so
prospective employers and others can find him.
He attempts to steer clear of temptation, keep-
ing out of the way of his fellow recovering
addicts. “sharks” and “the criminal element.”

That's one of the reasons he stays on the
North Shore, rather than heading to Vancouver
where there might be more job opportunities.

He's trying to get his life on track. “I work
out, try to eat healthy,” he said.

And he prays -—— wherever he happens to be.
“I feel that where you sit and talk to the Lord is
your temple.” said Duwaine.

THIS WEEK’S QUESTION:
Do you think the courts are too lenient in granting bail? -