Many moons ago, I moved to Nanaimo to pursue a daily newspaperin’ job.
Along with a co-worker and an ever-shifting cast of third roommates, we rented a house.
For the most part, it was fine. Except for a winter that I think about every year since.
One particularly cold day, the furnace pooched out.
It was going to take the landlord a few days to get it fixed, we were told.
No big deal, we thought.
Strapping young pioneer men that we were, we would simply tough it out.
That arrangement lasted all of one day.
With nary a space heater in sight, we were undaunted.
I mean, how bad could it be?
Back then, I worked the afternoon shift, coming home around midnight or so.
Before I even finished my shift, I got the call from the roommate, who was off that day.
“It’s too cold. I’m bailing,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I’m going to my parents’ house.”
“(Inappropriate word signifying I thought he was weak).”
“Let me know when the heat’s back on.”
Bravado aside, he was right. It was cold. Like -10 C cold.
So I layered up. Longjohns, extra socks, gloves, balaclava. Many blankets. Crawled into bed, and all I could think about was how cold I was all night.
The next day, I made other arrangements myself, sleeping on another buddy’s floor until the heat was mercifully restored.
One night. Sure, we were some pampered marshmallows.
But, inside a house, completely dry, with all kinds of clothes and blankets, it was still too cold to stay for more than one night.
I think about that every time it gets cold, and I drive by the poor souls pushing all their belongings in a shopping cart, or shivering in a doorway, looking for a fleeting bit of warmth that just isn’t coming.
And I have no idea how they do it.
I don’t think about how the various systems seem to be currently letting almost everyone down.
From the people on the street to the people repeatedly victimized by crime.
I’m not thinking about arguments over what type of facilities there should be for people battling severe mental illness, or thinking about the growing talk of a ‘catch-and-release’ justice system.
I’m not thinking about the debate over giving people free drugs, or watching them consume them in plain view of anyone in public.
All I think about is “no one should have to be out there in this cold.”
That’s not wrong, is it?
I wish there were more, better answers.
More help for the disenfranchised; more protection for other residents as well.
It just seems, to me, like the problems continue to get worse. More and more unhoused people. More crime. Lots of fed up folks wanting adequate solutions, and seeing none.
Where does it end?
READ MORE: Qualicum Beach breaks 2 cold temperature records
In Parksville Qualicum Beach, for years getting something as seemingly simple as a temporary warming centre together has been all kinds of difficult.
Other communities have similar issues.
Who’s stepping up with some solutions?
PQB News reporter Kevin Forsyth talked to some folks in ‘precarious’ housing here in PQB after our recent cold snap.
It paints a bleak picture.
“Like when it was really, really cold in here, I could not stay awake. I was going down, and it felt like I was having hypothermia,” said one woman. “It was really cold in here. You could see your own breath.”
And this is a person with a regular roof over their head.
She’s noticed more and more homeless people arriving in the area lately.
“There’s more and more people that need more help out there than what I do,” she said.
Comox Valley Record reporter Olivier Laurin recently wrote a terrific piece ‘Out cold: Spending the coldest night of the year with Courtenay’s homeless’, look for it on the PQB News website.
It offers a raw tale of people merely looking to survive.
“Housing is the big thing. I can’t establish anything. I’ve been wearing the same clothes now for over a week and everything is wet from the weather. All my stuff started to mould. I’m losing my clothes all the time,” said one man.
“I have nothing else than what I have. Being kicked out by bylaws does not give you time for your clothes to dry. I don’t follow politics, but if they can make a difference, I’d say we need more low-income housing.”
Are things going to get better, or worse?
Despite the fine efforts of organizations like the Manna Homeless Society here locally, it seems difficult to stem the tide.
“I was also just talking with a guy who’s about to have knee surgery and he lives in the woods, so you can imagine trying to convalesce from that,” said Raquel Molina, a foot care nurse who volunteers with Manna.
There are countless tales like that all over the Island.
And while I understand it’s a complex series of issues, I still can’t help but remember the single day where I struggled in the cold – and realize we shouldn’t let anyone have to go through that.
I’d love to hear from you, the readers, on this issue.
What can be done? What should be done? Who’s at fault?
Let me know your thoughts.
PQB News/VI Free Daily editor Philip Wolf can be reached via email at philip.wolf@blackpress.ca or by phone at 250-905-0019