Comrade Marcel
3rd November 2003, 16:31
The Spot
Targeting Homelessness in Kitchener-Waterloo
Kevan S Hunter
(K-W), Ontario, as I did on several occasions this summer, you get the impression of wealth and poverty in stark contrast. One side of downtown has “stately homes”—big, old, well-preserved mansions. On the other side there’s Cedar Hill, infamously known as “Crack Hill”—dilapidated housing, everything run-down, poverty and deprivation everywhere. There you’ll find many people, most of them relatively young and most of them without any place to live whatsoever, let alone a run-down “Crack Hill” apartment.
An estimated 15 000 Canadians live in homeless shelters at any time (Statistics Canada, 2002) but in Toronto alone, there are somewhere between 5000 and 6000 homeless people.
This situation has been worsened by social funding cutbacks. Many of those on the street are youths coming from homes devastated by the Ontario provincial government’s cutbacks to welfare programs. Adding to this problem, a lack of affordable housing has thrown many onto Ontario’s streets. The federal government stopped funding social housing in 1993. In 1996, it transferred the responsibility for existing social housing to the provinces and territories, and the Ontario government ceased funding in 1995. And as private developers won’t build cheap housing because there is just no profit to be made housing people with low incomes, homelessness threatens to become a greater problem in places like K-W.
More than ever, youth in K-W need a place to go to get off the streets, away from drugs and violence, and away from police harassment. They need a place to put their energies to productive use, to educate and be educated—a place to work as a collective to help those facing eviction, in need of emergency shelter; those with legal problems. What’s more, they need to educate the public of the impact the cutbacks to social programs has on them, and they need to put an end
to poverty.
In 1998, a group of young people took these ideals and formed the K-W Youth Collective (K-WYC). Theirs was a simple mandate: to assemble a group of youths from the region to build a better community in downtown Kitchener, to work together to create a space for young people to go, and to collectively deal with the problems facing them.
For three years they planned, advocated, and raised funds by throwing punk shows, and appealing to the community with their proposal for a drop-in centre run by and for low-income youth in K-W. The result was a 1500-square-foot space in Kitchener’s downtown core, The K-W Youth Resource Centre, or “the Spot.”
The Spot is a drop-in centre and area for political organization and action any young person (homeless or not) can make use of. The centre is run by its clientele, and the staff is elected by members of the organization. Given specific offices, such as Minister of Information, Minister of Discipline, and Minister of Actions, staff members are responsible for executing the decisions made in weekly meetings by the general membership. If they do not carry out the will of the collective, they are removed from office.
“If you want to stick up for what you believe in, there’s no problem with coming to the Spot. If you want to just chill with your friends, there’s no problem with that either,” Spot staff member Romeo Montague explains. “You don’t have to be a part of our anti-racist action, or our tent city [activist events organized by the Spot], just come to the Spot. If you’re interested that’s great, help out. If not, just sit down and chill, watch a movie if you wish, go on the computer.”
Pat, a Spot activist who is himself homeless, adds that “A lot of youth just use it for drop-in, but the homeless youth, they’ll go there and they’ll help out a lot with the political work. It’s their choice, and most times they choose to help, which is really good. It’s good that they learn what’s going on, get involved.”
Political involvement and political activism is a large part of life at the Spot. On 21 June, I visited K-W and took part in a demonstration for the right to housing organized by the collective. Youth assembled at the clock tower in K-W’s Victoria Park, where the city’s annual Heritage Days festival was taking place. We spoke to passersby about the demonstration, and informed them of an upcoming public meeting on the approaching provincial election.
From there, the group relocated down the street so as not to interfere with the Heritage Days performances. There, speakers talked about the Spot’s difficult relationship with local authorities and how they feel the province tries to criminalize youth by portraying all young people who take a stand for their rights as punks and troublemakers.
The space was completely surrounded by police cars, the peaceful demonstration completely under their surveillance. After the speeches, those gathered moved on to an unoccupied building to participate in a squatting demonstration, while shouting slogans such as “Housing Now” and “Stop the Reality of Police Brutality.”
As we marched, the situation was reminiscent of another K-W Youth Collective demonstration: the 24 May “People’s Squat.” On that day, K-W youth occupied a vacant building in protest of homelessness. One K-WYC press release explains the reasoning behind their squatting demonstrations: “given that housing is a right, given that people are sleeping on the street while many buildings are abandoned, we are taking it upon ourselves to solve the housing problem.” Though protestors claimed the police had promised no interference for 24 hours, a SWAT team was brought in, made arrests, and cleared the squat.
And on this occasion, as on 24 May, as marchers occupied a building as part of their demonstration, police arrived and threw everyone out.
Of the issues the Spot is involved in, housing is perhaps the biggest concern, as the city of Kitchener pursues a policy of gentrification: demolishing low-income housing to build expensive condominiums. In opposition to the city’s policy of “urban evolution,” the youth of the Spot pose an alternative program of “urban revolution,” which starts by recognizing the right to housing for all members of society.
But also of concern is what members of the Spot refer to as the criminalization of street kids. Youth who are forced onto the street often resort to panhandling in order to survive. But soliciting near a vehicle or in front of an automated teller machine is punishable with up to six months in jail on a second offence. Spot staff member Romeo explains, “they harass these kids for sleeping in the park and panhandling. But some of them are under 15: they can’t get a proper job, or housing. The cops scream down their throats because they’re panhandling, but they have no way to survive.”
In response to what the K-WYC sees as police oppression, they have formed a program called CopWatch. CopWatch informs youth and street people of their legal rights when approached by police, and documents any perceived mistreatment by the police. Spot member, Pat, explains, “until we moved in and started CopWatch, the police had free reign, they could do whatever they wanted. But since we started observing [police acting with impunity], taking names, badge numbers, photographs—they don’t really like us doing their job to them: policing the police.”
The K-WYC’s stand for the right to housing and an end to what they see as police oppression has set them at odds with the powers that be. Arrested street kids face bail conditions restricting freedom of association and freedom of movement. Members of the Spot claim the police have no interest in whether they can make charges stick, or even whether cases go to trial or not. They feel the main objective of these bail conditions is to make it difficult for members of the Spot to organize. One staff member, Davin, was charged with obstructing police when he tried to question police who were attempting to enter the Spot. After eight days in custody he was released on bail, but on the condition that he was not to go to the Spot, to City Hall, or anywhere else in downtown Kitchener. Eventually he appealed and was successful in having the conditions dropped.
The K-WYC feels there’s an attempt to isolate the Spot by suggesting they are misguided or have a bad attitude, that they are troublemakers, or flat-out criminals. Romeo complains of how hard it is to combat the public opinion. In his experience with local media outlets, interview time he’s had with reporters for news pieces on Spot demonstrations have rarely made it to air. Instead, he complains, media attention focuses on the police instead of the demonstration and how the K-WYC wants to help the homeless. Continuing their work, though always a struggle, is also becoming more financially difficult. Recently, the K-W fire marshal visited the Spot and changed the allowed number maximum occupants in the space from 60 to 22, meaning the Spot can no longer use the space for punk shows, their main source of fundraising.
Despite forces that threaten to undermine the work of the Spot, it remains an example of youth working as a collective and taking up what it sees as its social responsibility. The Spot continues to organize and to meet the needs of young people in K-W, working to meet their day-to-day necessities of shelter and community, and to build a new society where the most vulnerable sections of society are not left to fend for themselves. Every arrest only seems to strengthen the resolve of the youth to organize to change the situation facing them, to demand housing for all, an end to racism, and an end to the criminalization of poverty.
“The Spot is not a charity,” states Julian Ichim, the Spot’s Minister of Information. “We do not exist because we feel sorry for our clients but rather because we realize the system is corrupt, and we fight to replace it with a system where there is an equal distribution of wealth and equal opportunity for all.” The K-WYC’s slogan is “victory belongs to the people.” Despite difficulties, the Spot is dedicated to remaining politically active and representing disadvantaged citizens it sees as being ignored by the elected government. Through activism, and political involvement and responsibility, victory will belong to the people.
Targeting Homelessness in Kitchener-Waterloo
Kevan S Hunter
(K-W), Ontario, as I did on several occasions this summer, you get the impression of wealth and poverty in stark contrast. One side of downtown has “stately homes”—big, old, well-preserved mansions. On the other side there’s Cedar Hill, infamously known as “Crack Hill”—dilapidated housing, everything run-down, poverty and deprivation everywhere. There you’ll find many people, most of them relatively young and most of them without any place to live whatsoever, let alone a run-down “Crack Hill” apartment.
An estimated 15 000 Canadians live in homeless shelters at any time (Statistics Canada, 2002) but in Toronto alone, there are somewhere between 5000 and 6000 homeless people.
This situation has been worsened by social funding cutbacks. Many of those on the street are youths coming from homes devastated by the Ontario provincial government’s cutbacks to welfare programs. Adding to this problem, a lack of affordable housing has thrown many onto Ontario’s streets. The federal government stopped funding social housing in 1993. In 1996, it transferred the responsibility for existing social housing to the provinces and territories, and the Ontario government ceased funding in 1995. And as private developers won’t build cheap housing because there is just no profit to be made housing people with low incomes, homelessness threatens to become a greater problem in places like K-W.
More than ever, youth in K-W need a place to go to get off the streets, away from drugs and violence, and away from police harassment. They need a place to put their energies to productive use, to educate and be educated—a place to work as a collective to help those facing eviction, in need of emergency shelter; those with legal problems. What’s more, they need to educate the public of the impact the cutbacks to social programs has on them, and they need to put an end
to poverty.
In 1998, a group of young people took these ideals and formed the K-W Youth Collective (K-WYC). Theirs was a simple mandate: to assemble a group of youths from the region to build a better community in downtown Kitchener, to work together to create a space for young people to go, and to collectively deal with the problems facing them.
For three years they planned, advocated, and raised funds by throwing punk shows, and appealing to the community with their proposal for a drop-in centre run by and for low-income youth in K-W. The result was a 1500-square-foot space in Kitchener’s downtown core, The K-W Youth Resource Centre, or “the Spot.”
The Spot is a drop-in centre and area for political organization and action any young person (homeless or not) can make use of. The centre is run by its clientele, and the staff is elected by members of the organization. Given specific offices, such as Minister of Information, Minister of Discipline, and Minister of Actions, staff members are responsible for executing the decisions made in weekly meetings by the general membership. If they do not carry out the will of the collective, they are removed from office.
“If you want to stick up for what you believe in, there’s no problem with coming to the Spot. If you want to just chill with your friends, there’s no problem with that either,” Spot staff member Romeo Montague explains. “You don’t have to be a part of our anti-racist action, or our tent city [activist events organized by the Spot], just come to the Spot. If you’re interested that’s great, help out. If not, just sit down and chill, watch a movie if you wish, go on the computer.”
Pat, a Spot activist who is himself homeless, adds that “A lot of youth just use it for drop-in, but the homeless youth, they’ll go there and they’ll help out a lot with the political work. It’s their choice, and most times they choose to help, which is really good. It’s good that they learn what’s going on, get involved.”
Political involvement and political activism is a large part of life at the Spot. On 21 June, I visited K-W and took part in a demonstration for the right to housing organized by the collective. Youth assembled at the clock tower in K-W’s Victoria Park, where the city’s annual Heritage Days festival was taking place. We spoke to passersby about the demonstration, and informed them of an upcoming public meeting on the approaching provincial election.
From there, the group relocated down the street so as not to interfere with the Heritage Days performances. There, speakers talked about the Spot’s difficult relationship with local authorities and how they feel the province tries to criminalize youth by portraying all young people who take a stand for their rights as punks and troublemakers.
The space was completely surrounded by police cars, the peaceful demonstration completely under their surveillance. After the speeches, those gathered moved on to an unoccupied building to participate in a squatting demonstration, while shouting slogans such as “Housing Now” and “Stop the Reality of Police Brutality.”
As we marched, the situation was reminiscent of another K-W Youth Collective demonstration: the 24 May “People’s Squat.” On that day, K-W youth occupied a vacant building in protest of homelessness. One K-WYC press release explains the reasoning behind their squatting demonstrations: “given that housing is a right, given that people are sleeping on the street while many buildings are abandoned, we are taking it upon ourselves to solve the housing problem.” Though protestors claimed the police had promised no interference for 24 hours, a SWAT team was brought in, made arrests, and cleared the squat.
And on this occasion, as on 24 May, as marchers occupied a building as part of their demonstration, police arrived and threw everyone out.
Of the issues the Spot is involved in, housing is perhaps the biggest concern, as the city of Kitchener pursues a policy of gentrification: demolishing low-income housing to build expensive condominiums. In opposition to the city’s policy of “urban evolution,” the youth of the Spot pose an alternative program of “urban revolution,” which starts by recognizing the right to housing for all members of society.
But also of concern is what members of the Spot refer to as the criminalization of street kids. Youth who are forced onto the street often resort to panhandling in order to survive. But soliciting near a vehicle or in front of an automated teller machine is punishable with up to six months in jail on a second offence. Spot staff member Romeo explains, “they harass these kids for sleeping in the park and panhandling. But some of them are under 15: they can’t get a proper job, or housing. The cops scream down their throats because they’re panhandling, but they have no way to survive.”
In response to what the K-WYC sees as police oppression, they have formed a program called CopWatch. CopWatch informs youth and street people of their legal rights when approached by police, and documents any perceived mistreatment by the police. Spot member, Pat, explains, “until we moved in and started CopWatch, the police had free reign, they could do whatever they wanted. But since we started observing [police acting with impunity], taking names, badge numbers, photographs—they don’t really like us doing their job to them: policing the police.”
The K-WYC’s stand for the right to housing and an end to what they see as police oppression has set them at odds with the powers that be. Arrested street kids face bail conditions restricting freedom of association and freedom of movement. Members of the Spot claim the police have no interest in whether they can make charges stick, or even whether cases go to trial or not. They feel the main objective of these bail conditions is to make it difficult for members of the Spot to organize. One staff member, Davin, was charged with obstructing police when he tried to question police who were attempting to enter the Spot. After eight days in custody he was released on bail, but on the condition that he was not to go to the Spot, to City Hall, or anywhere else in downtown Kitchener. Eventually he appealed and was successful in having the conditions dropped.
The K-WYC feels there’s an attempt to isolate the Spot by suggesting they are misguided or have a bad attitude, that they are troublemakers, or flat-out criminals. Romeo complains of how hard it is to combat the public opinion. In his experience with local media outlets, interview time he’s had with reporters for news pieces on Spot demonstrations have rarely made it to air. Instead, he complains, media attention focuses on the police instead of the demonstration and how the K-WYC wants to help the homeless. Continuing their work, though always a struggle, is also becoming more financially difficult. Recently, the K-W fire marshal visited the Spot and changed the allowed number maximum occupants in the space from 60 to 22, meaning the Spot can no longer use the space for punk shows, their main source of fundraising.
Despite forces that threaten to undermine the work of the Spot, it remains an example of youth working as a collective and taking up what it sees as its social responsibility. The Spot continues to organize and to meet the needs of young people in K-W, working to meet their day-to-day necessities of shelter and community, and to build a new society where the most vulnerable sections of society are not left to fend for themselves. Every arrest only seems to strengthen the resolve of the youth to organize to change the situation facing them, to demand housing for all, an end to racism, and an end to the criminalization of poverty.
“The Spot is not a charity,” states Julian Ichim, the Spot’s Minister of Information. “We do not exist because we feel sorry for our clients but rather because we realize the system is corrupt, and we fight to replace it with a system where there is an equal distribution of wealth and equal opportunity for all.” The K-WYC’s slogan is “victory belongs to the people.” Despite difficulties, the Spot is dedicated to remaining politically active and representing disadvantaged citizens it sees as being ignored by the elected government. Through activism, and political involvement and responsibility, victory will belong to the people.