I wrote Stella Who? – alone and powerless – homeless but not helpless after being exposed to homelessness on a new level. Born and raised in northern Alberta I had no idea of the social problem that existed in big cities. I spent one winter in Victoria BC and saw homelessness for what it truly was/is, a problem that affects every city – whereby undermining the very fabric of our society. Homelessness impacts everyone in the community, in the present as well as the future. Homelessness is everyone’s problem and difficult to witness.
STELLA WHO?
Alone and powerless – homeless but not helpless
Stella was of the nameless, faceless, placeless tribe and lived a life of misery – cold, wet and hungry. On most days she would rather have been dead. She struggled along hoping to remain anonymous and did what it took in order to survive. Faced with humiliation and constant hunger, Stella hung her head in shame and begged, rattling a tin can and hoping that a kind person would offer her some change. She never spoke of her past and was determined to keep her life-story a secret. Stella lived among many invisible in the wide open.
Homeless people were once called hobos and that name was applied mostly to transient men, with no family ties, who hopped the rails, often looking for work. It would be impossible to count the numbers of homeless Canadians of today, but it is projected that there could be as many as tens of thousands of sick, wet, cold and hungry homeless people, hiding somewhere on any given night. Homelessness is a social issue that stems from a multitude of concerns: drug addiction, illness, poverty, plus so much more.
#LMWasylciw #StellaWho #aloneand powerless #homelessbutnot helpless #homelessness #streetpeople #hobos