HOMELESS OFFERED A HELPING HAND BY PARISHIONERS AND POLICE

Homelessness is a fact of our modern society. Sadly, it affects most
communities in the Fraser Valley. Cloverdale is not exempt. Homeless
individuals, frequently, come to our attention as a result of nuisance
complaints from the public or due to suspected criminal activity.

How many individuals in the Cloverdale area are truly homeless? That's a
hard number to nail down. But a reasonable estimate would be eight to
twelve. I say that because although, these individuals stay in the general
geographical area of Cloverdale, they are very transient and frequently
"couch surf". In other words, for a short periods, they will sleep in an
associate's home until they are asked to leave. The rest of the time, they
either sleep in doorways, brush, between buildings, under bridges, in
ditches, abandoned buildings or any other venue which affords them shelter.
Their possessions consist of whatever they can carry or haul in shopping carts.

Many citizens ask "what is the cause of homelessness?" I'm no expert on the
topic. But it appears there are a number of factors, such as mental
illness, low self esteem, lack of job skills, feelings of inadequacy and
inability to cope within society. The most consistent common factor amongst
this segment of society is addiction/substance abuse.

Cloverdale's neighbourhood Constable, Sandi Farkas, knows all of the
homeless people in our area. From her experience, the drug of choice,
presently, is methamphetamine, commonly referred to as "meth", "crystal" or
"crystal meth.". This drug is highly addictive, readily available in our
community and relatively cheap. At low doses, it boosts alertness, blocks
hunger and fatigue. At higher doses, it causes exhilaration and euphoria.
In short, it blocks the discomfort of being homeless and increases one's
abilities to be "street smart". With chronic use, "meth." also has some
ugly side effects. It can cause anxiety, emotional swings and paranoia.
Heavy, long term use can cause paranoid delusions and hallucinations.

Funding their next "fix" of "meth.", obtaining the drug and coping with
rudimentary requirements of survival, such as, the need to occasionally
eat, are the daily priorities for the homeless. Most are bottle/can
collectors, panhandlers or petty criminals, involved in property crimes.
With the present commodity crisis in the world, scrap metal and old wire,
which usually contains copper, are materials these individuals collect and
readily turn into cash to fuel their drug habit.

Attempting to reason with these individuals is very difficult. For example,
during the weeks of bitterly, cold weather we experienced in December and
January, Constables were frequently stopping during the night to check on
the well being of those individuals sleeping without shelter or heat.
Members encountered people who were shaking due to exposure to the cold.
Each person was offered a ride to the homeless shelters in Whalley but none
accepted. One street person had inadequate clothing and was obviously in
need of assistance, He did accept some clothing and a sleeping bag which
some members from our District purchased with their own funds.

The citizens of Cloverdale are truly a sympathetic community. During the
cold weather, one local homeless person regularly moved indoors during the
night to a bank machine lobby. He awoke each morning to a fresh coffee and
muffin which a citizen left for him. Some local restaurants do supply free
food to select homeless individuals at their back doors. But it's kept
pretty quiet and no one will admit to such generosity.

Cloverdale Christian Fellowship Church operates a soup kitchen in
Cloverdale Mall twice a week. Pastor Randy Emerson and his group have
offered temporary shelter to the less fortunate during the day. They have
also had some success getting homeless people in Cloverdale off the street
and into rehabilitation.

There are some good news stories which restore one's faith in humanity, but
homelessness is a problem which continues to grow.

To contact Cloverdale Community Policing please call 604-502-6275