See more Love Everyday videos in the media section.
These are the people, lives, and stories that inspire and drive us.
August 30, 2010
Interesting article regarding mentally unstable people on the streets who are unable to receive the help they need or even realize that they need it. This is when it really gets difficult to help certain people.
"Current laws place such a high value on consent that people cannot be involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric facility until they are so physically dangerous to themselves or others that they can be arrested for it. Even then, they can still refuse treatment."
August 30 | Thestar.ca | The right to refuse wellness
August 29, 2010
Nominated as a 'Champion of Change', and featured on the CBC News site. Thank you to my friends who made that happen. You're the best! What an honour.
August 24 | CBCNews | Champions of Change - Mike Mendes
August 18, 2010
In the passed recent months, I was fortunate enough to be a part of the Skate 4 Cancer tour across Australia. I've posted many times about the cause here, but if you haven't checked it out before then head on over to the Skate 4 Cancer site. I can't possibly begin to go over the entire trip in enough detail to describe how incredible the experience was. Luckily The New Beat did an amazing job of covering it over the course of the few months that they were along with the tour. Here are just a couple of the pictures taken by The New Beat - Click to see the larger version. And check out their blog posts along with the rest of the pictures/videos on the S4C Australian/New Zealand skate blog.
Being in australia with no home and little access to the internet left me unable to keep up to date with Love Everyday for the three months that I was there. Then upon returning and realizing how little I actually really needed - I got rid of everything. Everything from my apartment, my phone and computer, to almost all my clothes and shoes. It's an incredibly liberating experience, but at the same time it all makes it even more difficult to keep up with regular updates.
While it can be hard to give to others when you dont really have anything of your own, it's not impossible. Love Everyday will still remain the same, focusing on poverty awareness and just enforcing the idea that you do in fact have the power in you to influence positive change in peoples lives around you. It's never been about money. Pass on a positive mental attitude.
I've shipped out the last orders of Love Everyday T-shirts and, for now at least, won't be able to keep up with selling more. If you'd like a shirt, send me a message and I'd be just as happy to give it to you rather than sell it. This is in no way the end. Love Everyday is just growing and maturing into something more humble, and more about the idea rather than selling shirts at concerts and music festivals. Shirts were a big part of how it all started and they were a huge help in getting the word out, but for now I've decided to just keep it simple.
Hopefully that means I'm growing and maturing? But I doubt it. I'm still just the same old Mendes - little tattooed kid running around trying to see the world and maybe help a bit here and there. On to the next chapter I suppose!
February 14, 2010
Valentines day gift to everyone!
Love Everyday on Vimeo.
Video by Graham Beasley,
Art by Mike Mendes
SO much thanks to
Daniel Johnson, from Stereos
Isis Salam, from Thunderheist
Billy Hamilton, from Silverstein
Richard Howard, from Staylefish
Rob Dyer, from Skate 4 Cancer
Rick Cordeiro, Greg Elliott, Stu Jakeman
January 22 , 2010
Some great news amidst all the tragedy in Haiti - The World Bank issued a statement saying that they will forgive all of Haiti's debt.
From the World Bank's press release -
The World Bank fully supports debt relief for Haiti. In June 2009, the World Bank, along with the IMF and other donors, granted Haiti $1.2 billion in debt relief through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative. Since 2005, the World Bank’s financial support for Haiti ($363 million) has been carried out through grants. This does not include the $100 million in grants announced on January 13, 2010, in response to the earthquake.
Currently, Haiti's debt to the World Bank, which is interest-free, is about $38 million—about 4% of Haiti’s total external debt. Due to the crisis caused by the earthquake, we are waiving any payments on this debt for the next five years and at the same time we are working to find a way forward to cancel the remaining debt.
Since the Bank represents only 4 percent of all of Haiti's external debt, many more lenders and countries will need to follow suit. But it's nice seeing a bit of good news regarding this situation. Hopefully there's more to come soon.
My friend Jake, from the band The Artist Life, has come up with a rad fundraising idea. Want your name tattooed on Jake, and make a donation to the Red Cross? Check it out - Fuck Earthquakes Webathon for Haiti
(Found on MuchMusic's web site) A great list of sites you can check out to see how else you can get involved
Free The Children - click here to donate!
The Canadian Red Cross - provide emergency assistance for evacuation, rescue efforts, shelter and first aid.
International Rescue Committee - THEIRC.ORG
Unicef Canada - unicef.ca
Plan Canada - plancanada.ca
Save The Children - savethechildren.ca
Care Canada - care.ca
The Humanitarian Coalition - humanitariancoalition.ca
Oxfam - rushing in teams from around the region to respond to the situation where our assistance is most needed.
UNICEF - providing basic family water kits, ”School-in-a-Box” kit containing basic education supplies for 80 children during times of crisis and emergency health kits with medical supplies and drugs.
Yele Haiti - established by musician Wyclef Jean to inspire change through programs in education, sports, the arts and environment.
Save The Children - provide medical attention and clean water to children and families.
International Medical Corps - a private, voluntary, nonpolitical, nonprofit organization, is deploying an emergency response team to Haiti.
Stillerstrong - Ben Stiller’s charity, which is temporarily diverting all donations to support the Haiti relief effort.
World Vision - distributing emergency supplies to those affected by the earthquake.
Partners In Health - setting up a temporary field hospital and needs supplies, pain meds and bandages
Doctors Without Borders - lost all three hospitals in Haiti; donate to support their work helping people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe.
Salvation Army Canada - sending $100,000 in aid, plus started a fundraising campaign.
Direct Relief - committing up to $1 million in aid for the response.
Artists For Peace and Justice - founded by Oscar winning director Paul Haggis, gives assistance to the slums of Haiti.
The Humanitarian Coalition - made up of Care/Oxfam Canada/Oxfam Quebec/Save the Children, it provides relief for those devastated by the earthquake.
Mennonite Central Committee - has been working in Haiti since 1928 in agriculture, reforestation, justice, health and AIDS work. MCC is responding with emergency relief supplies and will be there for the long term in reconstruction and trauma support and other work to be determined.
Baptist Haiti Mission - operating an 82-bed hospital that is “overflowing with injured.”
CARE - CARE is deploying emergency team members to Port-au-Prince today to assist in recovery efforts. They’re focusing their efforts on rescuing children who may still be trapped in schools that collapsed.
International Rescue Committee - deploying an emergency response team to Haiti to deliver urgent assistance to earthquake survivors and to help overwhelmed local aid groups struggling to meet the immense emergency needs. They will focus on critical medical, water and sanitation assistance.
NetHope - coordinating its response with its NGO member agencies and with the UN’s Emergency Telecom Cluster to establish connectivity in Haiti. Seventeen of NetHope’s members are already providing aid and deploying resources on the ground.
December 13 , 2009
Boy's dream to build windmill transforms lives in Malawi -
"A FAMINE caused William Kamkwamba to drop out of secondary school because his parents couldn't afford the tuition, let alone feed the family of nine.
Now, he is being courted by the best engineering schools in the United States. He has been a guest on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and Good Morning America."
"His ingenuity has changed the lives of his family and his village. The windmill has elevated William from starvation and obscurity to plenty and fame, and it is the reason why a global village is poised to assist and follow him."
Young people doing incredible things. Read the story here.
December 13 | TheStar.com | William and the Windmill
November 19 , 2009
Diarrhea, a daily killer of 5,000 young children in the developing world and the cause of one-third of child deaths in Bangladesh.
"To save the life of a person with diarrhea is probably the cheapest health intervention you can think of," says David Sack, an American doctor who is the executive director of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research. Yet the World Health Organization says each year 1.8-million children, or four children every minute, die from this easily preventable and curable disease.
October 26 , 2009
Help out my friend Rob Dyer get a space for his amazing cancer awareness organization, Skate 4 Cancer. If you haven't heard of them yet, please check out their site! Rob has done such amazing things for people and has always shown the heart that Love Everyday is all about for as long as I've known him. He has also been a big inspiration for what I do here. Now it's our turn to help him out by simply voting for a home for Skate 4 Cancer in Toronto!
You can vote once a day - so show your love everyday, and vote everyday!
October 26 | skate4cancer.com | Skate 4 Cancer
September 29 | avivacommunityfund.org | Dream Love Cure
October 22 , 2009
I managed to find a few episodes of the incredibly eye-opening show, Unreported World. After seeing some episodes for yourself, I could guarantee you'd be a lot more thankful for living where you do. Even if you're simply at a computer able to read this, you'll be left with a greater appreciation for your situation after having seen some of these. The whole concept of Unreported World involves these reporters traveling to some extremely dangerous places all over the world to shed some light on stories that are often ignored by the media. If you ever have a chance to watch the Unreported World, go for it.
A particular episode that I found really shocking was about the wars going on around Northern Uganda, one of the saddest places on earth - where the children are armed with rifles, some made out of blocks of wood and even the priests are armed with machetes because they have no other choice. Take a look at the short clip below.
"In the jungles of North East Congo, the Unreported World team uncovers evidence that the Lord's Resistance Army - one of the world's most brutal rebel groups - has begun a new campaign of terror, and talks to survivors with stories of unimaginable horror."
Shortly after this clip, the group finds numerous bodies of some of the villagers that had been lined up and clubbed to death.
"The war in northern Uganda has been called the most neglected humanitarian emergency in the world today. For the past 23 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda (GoU) have been waging a war that has left nearly two million innocent civilians caught in the middle. The GoU's attempt to protect its citizens from this rebel militia has largely failed, resulting in an entire generation of youth that has never known peace."
March 13 | Unreported World | Congo: Forest of the Dead
September 29 | Invisiblechildren.com | Invisible Children
September 29 , 2009
MUSICIANS TAKE TO THE STREETS OF TORONTO TO BUSK
"War Child Canada's second annual Busking For Change, a day of great music on the streets of Toronto, will take place on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009. Celebrated musicians will be busking throughout the city at pre-determined locations in downtown Toronto. Money collected at each site, and through online donations, will support War Child.
Last year’s Busking For Change, held in October 2008, included over 50 musicians, such as Our Lady Peace, Chantal Kreviazuk, James Black and Rick Jackett of Finger Eleven, Neverending White Lights, Great Lake Swimmers, Die Mannequin, The Skydiggers, Shiloh, Tomi Swick and Dave Bidini.
The event was inspired by Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace, who spent twelve hours busking for War Child Canada on Toronto streets, while publicizing his solo album, The Hunter’s Lullaby and filming the music video for the album’s first single. Raine raised $22,000 for War Child Canada’s School Rehabilitation and Revitalization project in the Democratic Republic of Congo that year."
Busking For Change will take place between 7:00 am and 7:00 pm at major street corners and in busy downtown buildings. Check out the schedule !
September 29 | Warchild.ca | Busking for Change
August 4 , 2009
Interviewed and featured on 'I am the Trend' ! Check it out.
August 4 | iamthetrend.com | Love Everyday interview
July 15 , 2009
Two good articles on Canadian health care with two very different sides. From one of the articles below -
" Tim Long also described a walk home in a blizzard when he was 8 years old, his hair covered in powder, his eyelashes frozen together and screaming, "Why do we live here?" His mother took his face in her warm hands and answered: "Because it's where people love you." Our health-care system, with all its flaws, is a manifestation of love and responsibility for all who need it. And sooner or later, virtually everybody comes to need it."
Be thankful if you live here.
July 13 | TheStar.com | We stand on guard for health care
July 13 | TheStar.com | Opening doors on mental health
July 11 , 2009
Warped Tour! So much fun. I can't believe how fast we sold out of Love Everyday shirts in Toronto. We didn't even have enough shirts left over to do the Montreal show. Thanks to everyone that came out and picked up a shirt or even just came by to hang out. Seeing more and more people with Love Everyday tattoos too! You guys & gals are amazing!
July 3 | Toronto Styles| Love Everyday T-Shirts
June 30 , 2009
Excited to help make another Love Everyday promo video coming soon!
A few more little articles on Love Everyday have popped up. Thanks so much for the kind words! Read it all below.
June 30 | Coco and Lowe | Clothing for a Cause: Love Everyday
June 30 | 1LoveT.O | Love Everyday
June 28 , 2009
Some quotes from UN Food and Agriculture Director-General Jacques Diouf, in an article in the New Jersey Newsroom -
"Estimate for world hunger tops one billion people for first time"
"The number of those suffering from chronic hunger in the world has topped one billion in 2009. One billion and 20 million to be more precise," he says.
Diouf says a "dangerous mix" of the global economic slowdown and very high food prices pushed another 100 million people into the hungry category over the past year.
"Neither drought, nor floods or disastrous harvests can be held to blame this time. Worsening hunger in the last three years largely stems from economic shocks," he says.
This includes the global credit crunch, falling trade and investment flows, declining remittances and budgetary pressures on development aid.
"The financial and economic crisis is having a particularly profound impact on poor and rural households, specifically, the rural landless, the urban poor and the female-headed households," he says.
Follow the link below to read the rest of the article.
June 25 | New Jersey News Room| Estimate for world hunger tops one billion people for first time
June 20 , 2009
June 19 | TheStar.com | Agents of Change Rise from the Streets
June 8 | TheStar.com | Wanted: A Plan for Mental Health
May 26 , 2009
It's that time of the year again! We'll see you at Warped Tour in Toronto and Montreal!
Friday, Arrow Hall, Toronto, 07/10/09
Saturday, Parc Jean Drapeau, Montreal, 07/11/09
July 10th and 11th | Warped Tour
May 16 , 2009
This,
and then this,
Because of this
and this
More on Mumbai , 'Mumbai's Slums'
"Most survive on less than 2 dollars a day, yet the land they live on is worth millions in Mumbai's booming real-estate market".
Feb 22 | 'No Hollywood Ending' | Al Jazeera
May 15 | "Slumdog Millionaire star kicked out of slums" | TheStar.com
'Mumbai's Hidden Heart' | LA Times
2008 | 'Mumbai's Slums' | Stanley Foundation Video
April 25 , 2009
Hurray for new!
April 25 | 'Love Everyday' Cityscape T-Shirt
March 15 , 2009
I had a chance to visit Venezuela. Despite being an incredibly beautiful place, it definitely has its very large rundown slummy side. Most of my time there was spent adventuring around those areas. Venezuelan slums are the type of places that make you appreciate the simpler everyday things we have back home.
There were a few days where I gave away all my own clothes plus a few bags of shirts to kids and families in some of the more rundown areas. On one occasion after I ran out of clothes, there was still a little girl left tugging on my arm asking where her shirt was. It was all a very eye-opening experience that I could go on about forever. Hopefully these few pictures can show it a bit better than I could ever write about it (Thanks Graham Beasley).
(Click the picture for a larger version)
February 9 , 2009
Thanks to the people at Echelons Above Entertainment for letting us be a part of their upcoming show, Raising the Roof & Crankin' the Volume, at the Kathedral. There's a great lineup and It's all happening this Thursday, Feb 12th. We'll be selling shirts & doing giveaways and all that fun stuff. All the proceeds are going towards the Raising the Roof foundation, so come out and show your support for this cause!
Thursday, February 12, 2009. Doors are at 6:00pm
Location: The Kathedral Street: 651 Queen St. West
Tickets are $11 in advance, and $13 at the door. Tickets are available at Rotate This. There's door prizes and free giveaways. Plus, it's all for charity!
February 12 | Echelons Above Entertainment | Raising the Roof, Crankin' the Volume
February 12 | Raising the Roof, Crankin' the Volume | Facebook event
December 5 , 2008
'Moog Audio - Slinky Music' will now be carrying Love Everyday & New Threat shirts! 442 Queen Street West, Toronto. It's just west of Spadina & Queen. Check it out!
November 25 , 2008
Thank you so much, McMaster University, for inviting me as a guest speaker for the Degroote Entrepreneur Association. It was so nice to hear so many comments and questions. Supposedly we had the most audience participation that the association had seen during all the talks this year. I had no idea what to expect, walking into a lecture room to basically talk about why having a lot of money isn't everything to a crowd of business & commerce students. It went so well though, and the crowd was great.
We also talked about a charity campaign that McMaster University is taking part in this year. It's called 5 days for the Homeless. It's an incredible idea so take a look and see what it's all about.
Thank you for the McMaster shirt and thermos too!
November 25 | McMaster University | Speaker: Mike Mendes
November 25 | Toronto Styles | Mike Mendes of Love Everyday
March 15 - 20 | 5days | 5 Days for the Homeless
November 19 , 2008
New Love Everyday mens shirts! Check them out in the apparel section.
November 19 | 'Love Everyday' Flora T-Shirt
November 16 , 2008
I woke up one morning after getting the idea to go to Halifax. Within a half hour I was on the train. I had no idea where I was staying exactly. I just knew of a few friends staying around the city that might be able to help out with that. Now here I am in Halifax. I'll be meeting up with friends in a week to finish up the Skate 4 Cancer tour they've been working on for the past 5 months (Check it out!).
It's been incredibly different for me, having barely been outside of Toronto & the surrounding area. It's been interesting to see how different the people are here. I've met a lot of great people, many of which I've never met before but welcomed me to stay at their place anyway. I ended up having a few places that I could sleep at for most of the nights but I definitely got more of an understanding of what it's like to worry when the sun goes down and the nights start to freeze. Warm apartment lobbies and stairwells actually seemed pretty comforting. Today I've been going from coffee shop to coffee shop, sipping coffee as slow as I can so as to avoid having to leave and go back out into the cold. Right now I'm at my 5th coffee shop of the day. I switched to decaf so I don't go crazy.
There's a really nice man outside who has been panhandling for a while. I hung out with him for a bit on my way in and had some coffee with him. It's been a hour and I think I've been the only one that bought anything for him or gave any change. It seems that regardless of how nice the people are around here, there are still the same stereotypes, and attitudes towards poverty and homelessness. This man was so helpful, and actually gave me some directions and suggested a shelter I could stay in if I didn't end up finding a place to sleep.
My coffee is cold now. I bet his is colder. On to the next coffee shop.
November 4 , 2008
Here are some pictures from working with a youth group at Lakeshore Arts. After a talk about Love Everyday, I held a little arts workshop for them. Great people and a great time!
October 29 , 2008
New Love Everyday video! (Above, and on Youtube) Thanks to Graham Beasley for following me around and filming me do what I do. And thanks to Mikey T, for creating such a great audio track. Mikey T has also been responsible for engineering and producing acclaimed releases including Shad's Juno and Polaris nominated hip hop album "The Old Prince" (BlackBox/Fontana), and Elephant's ambitious debut "The Violet Hour" (Nevado/Fontana).
It was great getting help from such talented guys. So check out all the work they put into it. You can also see the larger, higher quality version here.
And new women's Love Everyday shirts are here! New mens shirts are on the way too. You can order them online in the NT product section and they're also available in Adrenaline Tattoos, .
Coming up in November, I'll be doing another Love Everyday discussion and arts workshop for Lakeshore Arts' youth group, and then another Love Everyday discussion at McMaster University.
September 10 , 2008
Thanks to Graham Beasley for the photos.
August 23 , 2008
August 14 , 2008
Everyone loves ice cream! And friends. And sandwiches.
Thanks to Graham Beasley for the photos.
July 15 , 2008
I spent yesterday with some of the kids from the Lakeshore Arts organization. After a talk about 'Love Everyday', we got to sculpt and paint for the rest of the day. Supposedly I was the instructor but these kids were great! I was so impressed. I basically just got to have fun and play for the day.
The kids came up with some incredible work and ideas. It was as much fun seeing what everyone else came up with as it was just painting and working on my own stuff. Some of their creations are in the above right picture, and the above left picture is me with some of the group. It's too bad I missed out on getting more pictures of their work.
Thank you so much, Megan, Nadine and the rest of Lakeshore Arts for giving me the opportunity to come help out! And thanks to all the kids from Lakeshore Arts for being awesome! I had a blast.
July 13 , 2008
I've helped these two people out a few times before but never had the chance to sit down and hang out with them until today. They were so greatful for some food and drinks. We talked for a while about Love Everyday and they were really into the whole idea. They both showed a lot of interest in providing advice and information for me to pass on at a little poverty awareness discussion/talk that I'll be doing for the kids at Lakeshore Arts tomorrow. It's always nice getting such positive feedback from people on the streets.
July 14 | Lake Shore Arts | 'Love Everyday' poverty Awareness talk and arts workshop
June 27 , 2008
(Photo by Stephen McGill, WGTS Magazine)
WGTS Magazine's birthday! It was a great opportunity being involved in the WGTS Magazine anniversary concert. Great show, and good vibes from everyone. Thanks so much to all of Love Everyday's friends for helping out, and thanks so much to everyone that picked up Love Everyday shirts. It was rad seeing a lot of people showing so much interest. We'll also be at the Warped Tour Mississauga show, and Wakestock on Toronto Island and we can't wait to see all of you there!
Love Everyday made it into a bunch of shots at the WGTS concert, being worn by Todd Wells from the band Means. Great music, so check them out!
June 27 | WGTSMagazine.com | WGTS Anniversary Party
July 19 | Warped Tour 2008 | Arrow Hall, Mississauga
July 24-27 | Wakestock | Toronto Island
June 3 , 2008
I had the privilege of meeting Slim today. His shirt caught my attention while I was going by on the bus - "Buy a great self-help book here". I remembered reading about him somewhere before, and thinking that I'd love to meet him. I hopped right off the bus and headed over to the little area that he had set up shop in. Surrounding him were signs and a shopping cart, all advertising this one book, "Soulshaping". He has been selling this book on the street for some time now. The actual story behind how Slim began selling these books is quite interesting.
The author of the book, Jeff Brown, befriended Slim after seeing him on the street every now and then. Occasionally, Jeff would spare some change for Slim and spend time with him. This was all during the writing of Jeff's book, which happens to be about 'spiritual' homelessness. Eventually, they came up with a unique idea. After his book was printed, Jeff would supply Slim with these books for him to distribute out on the street. That was the general idea at least, but for Jeff the concept behind it was to empower Slim with a new sense of conviction and purpose. Not knowing what to expect, Jeff gave Slim a few of the books at first and then would re-supply him with more as they were sold. After just the first few weeks, Slim had sold over 60 books. Now he regularly keeps a shopping cart stocked with the books, and sells them daily while sporting his "Buy a great self-help book here" shirt. Word has reached all over the internet to Facebook, Youtube, and also the SNAP Newspaper.
The pride and self-confidence that this has helped him regain is amazing. All it took was someone to show him that he really was needed and appreciated in the community. No longer feeling like an outcast, Slim can often be seen proudly carting his books along St Clair. It was a pleasure meeting him in person and hanging out for a while. And of course I bought the book.
June | SNAP Newspapers| 'Slim'
June 2 | TheStar.com | Child poverty crusade
June 2 | TheStar.com | World food crisis hinders war on poverty
May to June 7 | WGTS Magazine | Contest featuring 'Love Everyday' and 'New Threat'
May 26 | TheStar.com | Use outreach, not coercion
May 10 , 2008
You might recognize some of Ryan's art work from downtown. He sells his illustrations on the street for around $5, and has been all over Ontario doing this. I ran into him this particular time on Queen Street as he was drawing. We talked about art for a while and he showed me a folder of a lot of his work. Great stuff. It was pretty inspiring seeing this guy without a home so passionate about his art, and so happy to just be drawing and enjoying the day. I bought some of his art, and also got him some drawing supplies. Check his stuff out if you get the chance.
May to June 7 | WGTS Magazine | Contest featuring 'Love Everyday' and 'New Threat'
May 9 | TheStar.com | Poverty `steals from your soul'
May 8 | TheStar.com | Housing is only partial answer to panhandling
May 6 | TheStar.com | Toronto's panhandling plan: $5 million for social workers
April 25 , 2008
Chris always has a number of interesting signs up. This time though, a $65 ticket for panhandling accompanies his signs. I know panhandling is no solution to the problems of poverty, but I personally don't think ticketing panhandlers is a solution to the problems of panhandling. If anything, a bit of mandatory community service might make more sense, and help everyone out.
A lot of people I've been talking to lately have been getting tickets as well. Normally, aggressive panhandling is what gets people these tickets, especially outside of stores, banks and restaurants. Or people approaching cars stopped at lights. Chris here is neither causing a disturbance nor outside of any stores. He is actually just in his usual spot by a park, expressing some of his desire to start working. He just needs a bike and he can start working as a courier in the city. It would be a great start for him.
People begging in the streets is a sign to all of us that something is wrong. Ticketing these people is not much of an answer or solution. How can you have faith in a city that won't even let people in need ask for help?
April 19 | TheStar.com | Defining Poverty
March 31, 2008
After years of being out on the street, my pal Frank now has an apartment! I've hung out and had lunch with him a few times a week for the past few months, and I also wrote a bit here about our first little meeting on February 28th. After a few months of seeing him so down on his luck, it's great to see him getting back on his feet. He is helping to fix up the building for some money as well. Frank has also managed to start getting his blood tests done. Things are looking pretty bright for him, and I'd like to think that your support has played a little part in that. Because the work he's doing right now pretty much only pays for his rent, he is still panhandling but it's still a great start. And at least he has a warm place of his own to sleep now.
Mike is another friend of mine who has some good things coming his way. He is in training to be a peer helper for other street youth. Hopefully soon he'll be all set up in a shelter helping other people in the same situations that he's had experience dealing with in the past few years. Securing that job will definitely open up a lot of new doors for him. Last time we had lunch together he talked about how excited he was to get into so many new things like skateboarding, and practicing guitar more. "I'm just getting started", he says.
March 11, 2008
In Ontario, government welfare benefits are applied for through the Ontario Works program (OW). OW benefits are for people who need money because they are unable to find work. The Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) offers long-term disability benefits to people with serious disabilities who basically have no way to support themselves.
The basic rate for a single person on OW is approximately $548 per month. For ODSP, the rate is $979. Social assistance benefits include two fixed portions, one for shelter and one for all other basic needs. Even back in 2003, according to the City of Toronto's estimates, 70% of the people who qualified for the shelter portion of the benefits from OW had a rent greater than the benefits they recieved. Most homeless people only receive the basic needs portion of social assistance (No shelter portion), and as a result receive much less than the basic social assistance rate. Living alone in the city on a couple hundred dollars a month when you are just barely physically or mentally able to work would be a tough task no matter who you are. And without the support of friends or family, you are on your own, and maybe even out on the street. It seems that the Social Assistance benefit rates do not really reflect an accurate cost of living, especially in Toronto.
Marshall busted up his back, working for the city as a construction worker over a year ago. Construction is all he's ever done and now his back isn't even able to support a tool belt around his waist. He hasn't been able to receive more than the bare minimum through the Ontario Works program. I met him earlier in the past weekend during another giant snowstorm. I got us some food and got the chance to hear a bit of his story. He talked about how much he still loved this city, and how generous some of the people here were. No more than a minute later, a group of young girls came by as we were talking and gave him a paper bag with a sandwich in it. Marshall tucked the bag away in his shopping cart for later and thanked them, then continued with his story. He went on about how many times he's been jumped and how his injuries just continuously get worse out here. Getting jumped is a constant risk for people like him who spend most of their nights outside rather than in shelters.
According to the 2007 Street Health Report - 1/3 of their homeless respondents had been physically assaulted in the past year. 1/4 of the homeless females had been raped or sexually assaulted in the past year. 3/4 have at least one ongoing serious physical health condition (Some of these conditions include: Hepatitis, cancer, HIV/AIDS), however only 22% of them are getting some form of disability benefits. I know statistics can be dry and boring, but try to keep them in mind next time they're staring up at you from the street and asking for a bit of help. Sometimes just acknowledging them or saying "Hey there. Sorry, I don't really have anything to spare right now. But how's it going?" can help just as much.
February 29, 2008
And another snowstorm. I saw a lot of new faces tonight, but unfortunately a lot of the same faces still out there as well. I ran into Rick, a guy that I've been getting food for for the past while. I know I say this a lot, but this guy is one of the happiest people I've met on the streets. It just seems to be a common thing with a lot of the people out there. It really puts things into perspective once you realize just how insignificant some of the problems you've been stressing about are. Here is this man who is literally sitting in a carboard box, with a bag next to him that contains all his belongings. He's greeting me and passerbys more happily than I could ever manage, and I'm on my way to home from what I thought was a tough day at work - in a big, warm studio with free coffee and hot chocolate. Rick also reminds me of the doorman from the emerald city in the Wizard of Oz, and that's awesome. When I first met him, that almost caught my attention more than the fact that he was sitting in a box on the corner. He at least has a warm place to stay tonight, with the great people at the 'Out of the Cold' program, thanks to the Homelessness Action Group.
While talking with Rick, someone nudged me and said "What's up, small fry". It was Chris, another friend on the street that I've been helping out for some time now. Chris was heading back to his usual spot so we walked and talked for a bit. We got some coffee and then he dropped a little random gift in my hands, a mini keychain flashlight. It was really humbling, and great seeing him proud to have a little something to offer me. We ran into Frank, an older guy I wrote about in an earlier entry here. Sad seeing him in the same situation, evidently deciding against getting out of the city to stay at his sister's place.
Later on down the street, I met up with Mike and another Chris, a few guys I've helped out with food before as well. All really nice guys, about the same age as I am but in very different situations. So it's always bizarre hearing a lot of their stories. We met up with Kevin, who they all work together with, panhandling in different areas and splitting up the money at the end of the night. All of us went for some food and warmed up for a while and talked.
One issue that came up in our big discussion was about jobs. It's interesting hearing how many different jobs some of the guys I meet have had in the past. A lot of them have skills that I doubt I'll ever have, and know more about things that I probably will never know. But in many cases for a lot of homeless people, the problem isn't getting the job - it's keeping the job. Keeping the job while you're showing up to work everyday wearing the same dirty clothes, filthy from spending the night sleeping outside. Or trying to work while half-asleep because there were fights breaking out all night in the shelter you tried to sleep in, or an endless amount of drugs being smoked or injected all around you. Or maybe you didn't sleep at all because your sleeping bag got stolen out in the park earlier that day.
I don't like writing much about all the personal details people I meet share with me, but it truthfully seems like the most common cause for a lot of their misfortune is bad timing and bad luck. Things like the deaths of friends or family, divorce, being laid off, lack of parenting, and other similar issues spiraling down to depression, drugs or just a total lack of care for themselves. We had a long talk about all these things. A typical stereotype of a homeless person; heavy drug user or alcoholic, without any ambition, drive or desire to contribute to society. While this may be true for many (I've come across plenty of examples myself), it is certainly not true for all homeless people. Those are the people I try to reach out to and give a voice to here.
I realize I often just ramble on a lot here, and these "little" updates are starting to become "big" cluttered updates as I get to know some of the people more. I'm no writer. I'm not a professional. And I'm definitely not a saint- but that's part of my point. You don't need to be to try to help someone. I'm just a guy who couldn't help but pass by the guy stuck out on the street without wondering "Maybe this is one of those guys that are really trying". So I decided to try and do something about it, and now here we are. Tomorrow, a disastrous event could land you in a similar situation as some of these people. If that incident doesn't occur, be grateful. "Love every day" and "Love everyday".
February 7 , 2008
Chris always has always got a really happy vibe going on. Makes me wonder why I stress so much about work and money. It's a weird coincidence that I mostly see him right after I get off work. Because there I am, face to face with another reminder of how all the luxuries and wealth of this day & age at our fingertips really can't buy happiness. After a good hour or so, my friend had learned more than enough to get started on the article. We went with Chris and made sure he found his friend who was letting him stay at their place for the night because of the bad snowstorm. Definitely wouldn't want this guy spending the night out in that.
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