Community & Co-Housing

Today I ate lunch in the lunch room at work, for the first time in months. Lately I've been one of the desk-eaters... the ones who just keep working and put food into their mouths when they have a spare second between phone calls, charting, home visits, and the various crises that occur on a regular basis. But today was different. I decided to sit down, eat lunch without my computer, and read the newspaper.

The front page immediately caught my eye as it had a headline about a new Co-Housing development in the Kensington-Cedar Cottage area of Vancouver.

You can read the full article here, but the Cole's Notes version is that a development proposal for Co-Housing has been put forward which hopes to build a 31 residential condominium building that would contain individual/separate condos with their own amenities but large common areas for cooking, eating together, laundry, offices, etc. They talk to a few people interested in this type of lifestyle, who express a desire to know their neighbours, to share life together.

What I read in between the lines: People are longing for community. People are realizing they need each other. People want to be known and know others. And it's people in VANCOUVER wanting this. A place that is one of the "most liveable cities" in the world, yet many people feel isolated and alone and pursue an individualistic lifestyle. I'm not trying to generalize. This obviously doesn't apply to everyone and all of Vancouver. But it's been my prayer that isolation, loneliness, despair would lift and that people would realize their need for God and community. I am encouraged by this article because it's showing that people are longing for community in some way, even if they can't fully articulate it and may not even be fully conscious of this need or desire.

I feel strongly in my Spirit that one of the keys for the Gospel to spread in Vancouver, for people to encounter God and his love is in the context of community. I have felt this for a while, and have the joy of seeing it happen in our own small group that meets every few weeks, as well as in our own home where we are embracing community living. God is on really on the move within small groups/community groups. He is using communities, however they may look, in a powerful way. In ways, I can't even comprehend or fully imagine.

It reminds me of Acts 2:46-48 where they met daily together to break bread, to eat together, and to Praise God while enjoying one another's company and favour. And daily people were being saved! This is how they did church for hundreds of years.

"The fullness of Christ will not come without Christians standing with each other in love."

- Francis Frangipane, The Three Battlegrounds

Let's live this. 

That's my heart right now.

..... And hey, what if half of the owners of this new Co-Housing development were Christians?

My Rambling Thoughts on Gentrification, Part 2

Read Part 1 here

Perhaps my biggest struggle with all of this is still seeing the segregation and division. There is little to no integration or blurring of communities as middle/upper class have moved in over the last couple years. On one block you are in the midst of the perhaps organized chaos of what happens in front of the bottle depot on Hastings, and the next block you can go enjoy a coffee and croissant at a new coffee shop, with all that out of sight and mind!
It's the coffee shop that:
(a) isn't affordable to people living in the DTES
(b) I purchase coffee from regularly.

While on the coffee topic... I've definitely struggled with wondering whether or not my purchasing of this coffee or a $3 donut from the new donut shop has helped contribute or encourage gentrification. Maybe that's extreme, but it's made me uncomfortable to think about. With that said, I'm NOT implying (in any way) that we should feel guilty about going to these places and supporting businesses in the area. Let's not forget that this post is my ramblings.... this discomfort and struggle I'm having is not a bad thing. It's making me think. It's making me ask questions. It's challenging me.

What am I trying to say in these ramblings?
It seems I have more questions than answers, and it's all quite messy....

Maybe this process of gentrification could be improved...smoother.... better integrated... but where do we start? Is there a starting point?

I'm proposing that as a community we first start with being more aware of one another. While we can not control or change the fact that disparities may always exist, we can't turn a blind eye and pretend things don't exist just because we aren't comfortable seeing someone pan handling or injecting on the street corner. We can be more respectful, primarily through our attitudes and actions - both of which we can control. The reality is that this is going to be hard work. The reality is that community is hard work. Proximity doesn't automatically equal community - as witnessed by SROs and condos being next to one another.

I think that people need a platform and opportunity to discuss the changes that are happening in their community. These community meetings should include all sides and parties. Business owners and city planners should have a place at this table, as well as residents from the community. Perhaps communication, and having people's voices heard would change the impact that gentrification is having. Coming from the girl who has been willing to pay $3 for a donut once in a while, this might be a naive proposition but I really think communication and discussion is a key here. I also think there are creative ways for people to get involved and establish relationships with the people who already live in the DTES, the resources they access and the community that already exists!

Perhaps new businesses and restaurants can learn from Save On Meats, a diner that has been established in area since 1957 and "aims to be a reliable neighbour in the DTES". I've noticed that they are quite a well-respected establishment in the area, and are very much accessible to anyone, not just because it's affordable. They have generated a really welcoming atmosphere. You can read more about their partnership and involvement with the community here.

Unfortunately I don't have any straight forward, cut-and-dry answers to any of my questions, but I guess I am wanting to open up the discussion. I am not even sure I have any ideas for the "creative ways" for gentrified businesses to get involved as I (naively?) propose. Perhaps I should stop calling these businesses "gentrified" because that label may also be contributing to the separation and segregation from my end.

Perhaps the biggest issues in the DTES aren't prostitution, homelessness and addiction! Perhaps the biggest issue is an intense longing for community in a deeper, bigger, more united way. I don't think that this longing for community exists only in the DTES. I think it's a Vancouver wide groaning. Or at least it's groaning in me.

Maybe that is why gentrification makes me so uncomfortable because currently it's a collision of separate worlds and communities that really aren't so separate (we are all human after all), that could come together in a powerful way and create community together. It just hasn't happened yet. I'm dreaming big, but all it takes are small steps...

My Rambling thoughts on Gentrification, Part 1

Gentrification
: the process of renewal and rebuilding, accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poor residents.
(reference)

Gentrification gets a pretty bad rap in the DTES of Vancouver. You have probably seen or heard about the various protests that were happening in the last few months against new restaurants in the DTES which attracted ample media attention. There have been hunger strikes, windows smashed, picketing, and ultimately, a lot of anger from many people, with many different perspectives and opinions.

Something I have been pondering and struggling with is whether or not gentrification is a good thing in the DTES. I also wrestle with how to make it less negative as I've seen a lot more negative impacts than positive. I have the privilege to work alongside people who live in the DTES as a home care nurse, and I have seen some of the effects of gentrification on them. While I have yet to talk about it directly with people living there, I hope to do so in the future as part of a blog series. I have discussed this topic over and over again with friends who work and live in the DTES, and generally speaking, they seem to be struggling in the same way. What is our role in all of this? Is there anything we can do? While part of my purpose in taking on this topic is me wanting to understand it all better and to hear about gentrification from all sides/parties involved, I also would love to see more discussions about this between everyone involved.

One of the most common negative impacts of gentrification is that it causes an increase in the cost of living, which makes basic living expenses less affordable and accessible to people. This is hard for those living on lower incomes and welfare, and eventually forces people to move/be displaced. Many small businesses aren't able to stay open as the rent keeps rising. I've noticed personally that housing costs in the Strathcona area have increased dramatically in the last year. It's certainly not as affordable as it once was, and I can't help but think it has to do with gentrification and the area becoming more "trendy".

Perhaps a positive result of gentrification is that the area often becomes a bit more "cleaned up"? Whatever that means though? Often it seems that making an area "cleaner" requires displacement or turning a blind eye to the pre-existing real needs and issues faced by the community. I'm thinking of how the city of Vancouver handled homelessness in preparation to the Olympics coming here in 2010. There's only so much "sweeping under the rug" we can do, since rugs can only hide so much.

To be honest, I'm finding it challenging to think of other positives that are in fact, "positive". Is creating more housing for middle/upper class people and boosting the economy through new business and condo developments really a positive thing if it displaces others from their homes and businesses? I would love to discuss gentrification with the people who are apart of the city planning and changes happening, or even restaurant and business owners that have established themselves down there.

Am I understanding the purpose of gentrification and the motives correctly? I want to understand. I want to see things from both sides, and figure out how these sides can come together. Awareness is a good place to start.

I remember being in one of the (sketchier) hotels in Chinatown, visiting a man discharged from the hospital too early after a major surgery. Things were not looking great as his incision was hugely at risk for infection. I'm trying to problem solve and  figure out how to meet his complex needs amidst a chaotic, pretty unclean environment. To complicate matters, he had no food and no clean clothes. Below his window, was a line-up of 30+ people standing in line for a sale at a pop-up trendy looking clothing store. He told me that people had been lining up for hours. It just seemed ironic. It was one of those moments where I had this profound realization of the messy collision of cultures, financial disparities, attitudes, lifestyles that are happening in the DTES and surrounding area. A collision that I'm fully apart of, whether I'm working as a nurse or enjoying Gastown on a day off.

The hardest part of this? I'm not sure this gentrification process is going away anytime soon. So where does that leave those of us struggling with it? Is there a way for restaurants and businesses and the people they attract (I'll refrain from using the word 'hipster' here...) to be better integrated into the already existing community rather than trying to 'change' it and wanting/forcing people to move? Can this collision come together in a beautiful way and even strengthen community in the DTES?

I have more questions than answers it seems, as it's quite messy and unclear.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my rambling thoughts on Gentrification as I propose some ideas, more questions, and discuss a well-established business that is working hard at being a "good neighbour" in the DTES.

Guest Post: Community in the DTES

This guest post is written by my lovely friend Jenny who lives and works in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. I couldn't think of a better person to write about community in the DTES so I asked her to write whatever was on her heart and mind about it. PS: Jenny is also a very creative and talented artist. Creative and talented is an understatement. Take a look at her work here.

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When I first moved to the Downtown Eastside I had high expectations for how I was going to usher the Kingdom of God into the ‘hood. Maybe I expected to see fireworks, but it didn’t quite happen that way. I had a few lofty ideas about how the Kingdom would come in this place. But then I realized the God has been here all along, and I was to simply partner with Him in what was already happening.

I wouldn’t say that my saviour complex subsided as easily. 

My involvement in the neighbourhood started five years ago as a university student, eager to give to ‘the poor’. After graduating, I moved to an intentional Christian community. I learned that the most valuable thing I had to offer was my time, so I invested what I could with my neighbours. I mostly just wandered the streets, ate free food and engaged in conversation with every single person who talked to me. Note: this is a good way to become a fixture in any neighbourhood.  

After a month of community living, I got a job at a non-profit community centre in the area. I moved out of the house and into an apartment with a roommate. I lived with less people but my community expanded dramatically. At work I was seeing at least a hundred and fifty people a day. In the beginning I struggled with my various roles. At Servants I was a missionary. With my current job I am a Community Development Worker. Both positions have an implied power. I yearned to be just another person in the neighbourhood, joining in the everyday struggles and burdens that come with the territory, but also participating in the celebrations of small victories.

The other night a man approached me while I was chatting with a friend in front of the bottle depot, “You sure don’t look like you belong here.” He smirked. I think he was trying to scare me. “Oh, but I do. I’m from the ‘hood, just ask Bobby”, I nodded at the guy sitting in a wheelchair. “Yep, she’s from the ‘hood. But not in that way. She’s normal.” I cringed, another label I have to live with. Sometimes you have to accept things graciously and not put up a fight. 

I have since come to terms with my niche in the neighbourhood. It looks different in some situations but mostly I want to be consistent in how I act and who I am. I want to see God move in all areas of my life; especially the areas that overlap with my community.

This summer marks my third year of living in the DTES. My pursuit to invest in people has resulted in beautiful friendships, as well as raw experiences. The deeper we go into community, the messier it gets. I champion the need for vulnerability but when it comes down to it, I’m not always willing to participate. Once a friend told me that we had known each other long enough and she wanted to help me because I was always helping her. It threw me for a loop, I was so comfortable in my role as helper/provider that I didn’t know how to receive it from someone else. In Community and Growth, Jean Vanier writes that he is “struck by how sharing our weakness and difficulties is more nourishing to others than sharing our qualities and successes.” 

Two years ago a great man passed away. Ricky was the epitome of community in the Downtown Eastside. He was the friendly face that everyone, and I mean everyone, knew. I took part in his memorial march. Never have I felt so completely undone in public. The crazy thing was that I felt safe enough to weep. I stood with friends from church and the street and we grieved, together. It is a beautiful thing when we can breach barriers of social hierarchy and connect as brothers and sisters.

There is beauty in the midst of pain here. And sometimes, by God’s grace, the former outweighs the latter. 

Dear Licia Corbella

With the recent death of Glee actor, Cory Monteith due to a drug and alcohol overdose, there have been many articles and thoughts buzzing around the internet and social media world. When I stumbled across this article, which has received a lot of negative media attention, my blood boiled to a degree it had not yet reached, and I decided to send the writer an email. She may not even read my email, and I don't expect a response by any means. While my email to her may have blown off some steam, my primary reason for writing her was to address the injustice and judgment she expressed of Vancouver and the DTES. 

An article about Corbella defending her original piece can be read here.

Disclaimer: I am fully aware that harm reduction and pretty much this entire topic is quite controversial. I don't think harm reduction is a solution by any means. Truthfully, I would love and I strongly desire to see people set free of their addictions and not need a place to use drugs in a safer manner. God is setting people free and will continue doing that! He isn't bound by harm reduction or abstinence based programs. Perhaps I will write more on that another time. 

For interest's sake, here's an article written by a Christian nurse who worked at InSite, titled "Why I help addicts shoot up".

Dear Licia,

I am a home care nurse who works in the "cancerous lesion" that "needs to be surgically removed", known as the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver (DTES). I am writing in response to your article, "Vancouver's easy drug access may have helped kill Monteith". I am sure I'm one of many, many people who have emailed you about this and expressed anger. I am angry for a couple of reasons. Firstly because I feel you expressed opinions based on your own assumptions, biases, and complete lack of understanding or evidence.

I could go on and on, directing you to evidence-based, thorough research studies about InSite and the (extremely low) percentage of people who use drugs for the first time there, as well as articles about harm reduction and how it is successful. I could also mention that above InSite, is OnSite which is a detox program. I could also remind you that InSite does not provide drugs, but rather it's a supervised place where people can inject and health care providers can help to bridge a health care gap to people in the DTES. It's not only a place where people come to inject drugs. For many, InSite is a first point of access or contact with health care services. They can be connected to OnSite, a physician or clinic nearby, and have their wounds dressed or other health care concerns addressed. But, by now you might already have been told all of this or read it for yourself.

The second, and biggest reason I was angered by your article (and defence article) is because I work very closely with the population you are discussing who access InSite and live in the DTES. The population of drug users that you have described as a "cancerous lesion" are in fact real people, more like you and I than you might care to believe. It has been a complete honour and privilege to work in the DTES as a nurse, to get a glimpse of what these people face on a daily basis and to come alongside them, help them advocate for themselves, and ultimately, see them as people and treat them in a humane, merciful, and loving way. They are not just drug users, they are over comers in every sense of the word because they have faced trauma and judgments that no one should ever have to face. I would encourage you to walk in their shoes or at least learn about harm reduction and what InSite's purpose really is before broadcasting your opinion and judgments. The DTES doesn't have room for anymore judgment. 

Next time you are in Vancouver, I encourage you to take a tour of InSite to find out what really happens there and talk to people firsthand who work there. Not that it's "safe to assume" anything but I do think you would find it is more than just "well meaning". 

Sincerely, 

Megan Wiebe

Informed Vancouverite & Nurse

Community: Peace Doesn't (Always) Equal Understanding

About a month and a half after Sarah, Robert and myself had started "living in community" together, they found out they were pregnant. When I heard this news, several emotions went through my head. Some of these emotions I'm not particularly proud of. While I felt excited and joyful, I also felt scared, upset and disappointed because I thought our time of living together was going to end even though it had just begun.

As I said, I'm not proud of the initial emotions I felt and although I'm not in any way justifying it, I do want to provide some context and background. We had just moved to Vancouver. Sarah and I had both graduated from nursing school and written our Canadian RN exam in June. I had only been working at my new job in Vancouver for a few weeks, and it was overwhelming to say the least. This was also the first time I had moved out, and I was missing my family and the familiarity I had known. I felt like everything in my life was in huge transition, and not very much was familiar or comfortable.

I reacted to this news out of a place of fear (and selfishness) and couldn't see past it for a while. Upon receiving their news I immediately decided that the obvious, logical thing to do was find a place to live and new roommates. And I tried to do that. Ohh, how I tried! It was honestly God's grace that nothing worked out, and he was certainly trying to tell me something. I just wasn't listening, or wasn't ready to listen. I didn't understand and decided to focus on that which ultimately made it more distressing.

I remember telling a friend about all of this, and how I was sad to have to move and experience more change. His response to me was "Well, what is your definition of community?" I didn't really know how to answer that at the time. He pointed out that community also includes families, and that perhaps when someone's having a baby it's the time when they need people in community the most.

He had a good point.

What he said felt like a sucker punch in the stomach to be honest, mostly because I felt offended. I felt offended because I knew he was right, but I didn't know what to think of that, nor was I ready to accept what he was saying. So I kept on doing what I was doing...looked at a few places, tried to figure out who to live with... In the mean time I was feeling more and more confused about what to do, while Robert was hearing from God that we may all continue living together. He didn't tell me this until later. Sarah was also going through her own process with all of this.

Finally I took time to listen to God and I felt him saying to lay it down and just trust him. So I did, and should have from the beginning! The shift for me was night and day. I went from being anxious and stressed over my living situation to total peace. I felt like I different person. People noticed the change. The crazy part was, I still didn't know what I was doing. I had ZERO understanding.

"If you want the peace that surpasses understanding, then you must forfeit your right to understand." 

- Bill Johnson

Bill Johnson's quote sums it up perfectly. I had to completely forfeit my right to understand in order to get peace. Once I did that, I was in a better position to hear from God. Eventually I sensed very strongly that I was supposed to stay, which was not an easy thing for me to receive and accept. It took some time to get there. I was in a bit of denial over it all, to be honest. Not to mention it seemed crazy to stay in our two bedroom place with a baby on the way!

I surrendered all that and other thoughts, concerns, and fears to God, as did Sarah and Robert. Only when all three of us came to that place, each in our own time and process with God, do I think we really began to walk out what it means to live in community together. To this day we are still living together! It's awesome. Sure, there are challenges but it's honestly been one of the best things I've done!  There has been so much grace to "live in community" together and walk this out. God is so good and loads grace upon us when we walk in obedience according to HIS will.

Ultimately I learned that understanding doesn't always equal peace, and more often than not, we gain peace amidst our lack of understanding. After all, the Bible does say peace "which transcends all understanding..."

How many times have I read that verse? Too many times to count! It just took me some time to get it, or rather start to understand that a bit more. May we all continually go deeper in our understanding and experience HIS peace that surpasses all understanding in whatever our circumstances! It's so much better to forfeit our right to understand than it is to try and fight for understanding using our worldly understanding, "logic" and perspective.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

Guest Post: Reflections on Marriage in the Context of Community

Sarah is my lovely, amazing, beautiful friend whom I live with in community alongside her awesome husband Robert and their adorable son Joshua! I asked her to write a guest post about living as a married person in community, and these are her thoughts. Enjoy! 


Disclaimer: I would just like to say that this is not a holistic or definitive discussion about what it is like to live in community as a married person. It is simply a reflection on one aspect of how living in community has impacted my marriage. There are challenges and many other aspects involved that are not discussed in this post. 

When we first moved into community a year ago, my husband and I were not really sure what we were getting into. We were excited, yet nervous at the same time and at times even a little scared. How would this impact our marriage? How would our relationship function in this new context? Would we struggle? Would living in community expose the ugly parts of us in a way that would be damaging?   

We had lots of questions but we were ultimately happy and eager to be walking in obedience to what we felt God was calling us to. Little did we know that we would get pregnant within the first month of living in community. This created its own set of stressors and raised many more questions which Megan might address in a later post. With that said, to our wonderful surprise and the graciousness of God, living in community has become a great blessing and gift to my husband and I. Living in community helped prepare my husband and I to become parents.

No, Megan is not like a child to us. She is a fully functioning adult who is incredibly responsible and mature for her age. However, living with another person has caused a very positive refining in our marriage which equipped us to be better parents. Living with Megan has made us conscious about more intentionally stewarding an atmosphere of peace in our home that is free of strife and discord. We do not always do this perfectly, but we have been much more aware of this then when we were first married and living on our own. We are more careful about how and what we speak to each other. We try our best not to argue in front of Megan (although I am sure we have done this on some occasions). As a result, what, in the past, would have been a heated argument in the moment often turns into a much calmer discussion later behind closed doors. My husband and I fight far less since we started living in community a year ago. 

No, we are not just suppressing things or being fake. We do still argue sometimes and continue to have very deep, challenging, and sometimes intense discussions both individually and as a community. With this said, we have learned how to pick our battles and often chose to not engage in a certain conversation because we know it will not go anywhere and is simply a waste of our energy and time. We have learned to say sorry, and forgive more quickly.

 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 

Ephesians 4:2-3

We are aware that the love, unity, and connection in our marriage not only affects our lives but Megan’s also. The responsibility of this has caused us to nurture and protect our marriage more and this made our transition to becoming parents much easier. I think most parents desire to raise their child in a peaceful and nurturing environment.  This is not always an easy thing to achieve and often requires a steep learning curve and ultimately no family can do this perfectly. Yet, we have had a lot of good practice by living in community, which has made our learning curve easier.  Living in community has given us the grace we need to walk out one of the main things God has called us to do in this season: be parents. For this we are so grateful.  

When we put our trust in God and walk in obedience to what He is leading us to do, even if we don’t understand we are given the opportunity for massive growth in our character, relationship with the LORD and with others. Have you ever had to put your trust in God and walk in obedience even when you did not understand or felt scared? What did this look like for you?