The societal problem of poverty, and the work Streets Alive Mission is doing to deal with it

“Right now, we’re seeing about 150 people every day through all of our various programs and those numbers are steady. It’s a lot, and it’s been pretty consistent since August a year ago. We usually see a dip down through the summer where the numbers drop significantly, but they haven’t this year. That’s really a point of concern for us, where numbers are sustained and starting to grow,” McLennan said.

When you walk inside the Streets Alive Mission, you’ll be greeted by regulars either outside or in the lobby. In the main room is a handful of Christmas trees covered in lights, thanks to the recent Heralding Hope Festival on Dec. 2.

“Lethbridge has always been hugely supportive of the mission, and it’s through the community’s generosity that we’re able to exist because we don’t receive any government funding. Everything we do is funded by the people of Lethbridge, and private donations. Heralding Hope was great, it was an opportunity for people to come in, drop off some things and have a tour of our facility. They don’t really understand the magnitude of what we do here, so it was great for them to be able to come in and get a better understanding of our programming,” McLennan added.

When you head in behind the main area, there’s a small section in the back with a few couches where around 75 people will cram in shoulder-to-shoulder every night for a bite to eat.

Just off to the left, is the kitchen. Inside is a fridge full of bread, and the counter where sandwiches consisting of butter and salami are handed out. It may not appear to be much, but it helps keep these people going.

On top of that, volunteers will come in and help wash the feet of the people at the mission. Some will have walked around for most of the day, and are exhausted and sore.

This is the kind of small thing that’s incredibly important to help keep them healthy that is rarely talked about.

McLennan says the reason they see so many people is poverty, and that it’s a major issues in Lethbridge.

“We’re seeing numbers from other reporting agencies as well that are just staggering. The Salvation Army this year has 1,800 food hampers and stuff to give out,” she continued. “It’s significant that in an affluent community like this, there’s 1,800 families who are so impoverished they’re requiring that kind of support.”

In response to a further question about whether the proper steps are being taken by different levels of government, McLennan replied it’s not her place to weigh in on choices being made by the different levels of government, but did say the problem is getting worse.

“People always think of poverty as being in other places, but it exists here,” McLennan stated.

“Part of that misunderstanding is the work of Streets Alive, because of the work of our P.I.N. (People In Need) Bank, a lot of the people are well dressed. You don’t see bag ladies, you don’t see people pushing grocery carts with all of their belongings in it. They don’t need to keep it all because they can come here and get a full set of clothes a couple of times a week, and they’re clean and looked after. It’s a little bit of a double-edged sword because you don’t really see poverty in Lethbridge, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” McLennan said.

Next, it’s a trip downstairs to see the P.I.N. Bank.

Jeans, shoes, shirts, jackets, long underwear, you name it, are sorted onto hangers. People can come in, change into fresh clothes, and whatever they’re wearing is laundered, cleaned up and put back into circulation for the next person.

Outside of the clothing area in the back is the sorting areas, where volunteers from AMA this week are helping go through walls of bags full of different kinds of clothes.

People from different organizations, when they can, offer their time to help sort through the bags full of clothes at the mission.

Just around the corner is hygiene products, which are handed out in different amounts depending on the person and their situation.

The people in Lethbridge really pull their weight in when it comes to helping the less fortunate, according to McLennan, but she added there’s always more to be done.

“The need always outweighs the volunteer opportunities. Their generosity makes a huge difference, because without it these people would be in abject poverty.”

Streets Alive Mission offers a number of different programs that help their clients in different ways. Whether it’s offering literacy training, so they can take a GED test, or on the job work training under a foreman.

They also have two different residential programs, a life recovery program for both women and men. Those are for individuals who are looking to step away from their old life, and through faith, move into a healthy society.

On top of that, they hold a church service every Sunday, which is followed up by a hot meal that can feed 150 people.

Anyone interested in volunteering has a number of ways to get involved.

“My first suggestion is for people to head to our website at www.streetsalive.ca, and take a look at some of the stuff that’s on there. They can contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Laurie Weppler, and see what opportunities are available to help out. One of our biggest programs that’s growing right now is our hot meals programs. Where a group of people, we need six to eight volunteers, provide, prepare and serve a hot meal to our clients once a month,” McLennan said.

She added the program is growing by leaps and bounds, and their goal is to have a hot meal provided every night of the week.

“We’re getting pretty close to that, and it’s been awesome,” McLennan added. “We always suggest to people to come in and try it once, and it you like the experience of giving back to sign up for a monthly commitment.”

Another issue that factors into poverty in Lethbridge and around the country, is drug addiction.

But McLennan says it’s a bit of a misnomer that needs to be addressed because addiction is prevalent throughout our society, not just in the impoverished population.

“The drug issues that we face are just rampant everywhere. The impoverished community is at a much higher risk of drug addiction because they may be looking to cover up a trauma or something that has taken them out of society to begin with. Nobody when they’re five-years-old chooses this life, nobody when they’re 25-years-old chooses this life. Often times the choices are made for them, and that’s where we come in to say things can be different because we’re willing to work with you,” McLennan stated.

Despite seeing a growing number of people through the doors, the mission is also seeing a large number of people getting better.

“We have a core group of individuals right now that we’re working with and developing programs for, that have made a concerted effort to step away from the old life. They want to change, there’s a huge gap between other accessible programming in the community and where these people are when it comes to literacy and things like that.”

McLennan says that most people that they deal with have a Grade 7 literacy level and a Grade 4 comprehension level, which creates a huge barrier between them being able to access other services.

“We’re addressing that. Stigma is involved, it’s hard for them to get help. There’s a lot of agencies out there willing to help them, but due to the stigma attached and the fact they don’t have the social skills you or I have, it’s hard for them to reach out.”

The message from the mission’s website puts things into perspective.

People are choosing between paying rent and buying lunch for their kids because they can’t do both, they’re couch surfing, or sleeping out in the rough elements because they can’t afford a room of their own for even one night, and they walk kilometre after kilometre, everywhere they go, through wind and rain and snow, because they cannot afford bus fare.

These aren’t just any people, these are the people of Lethbridge.

While touring the facility, McLennan touched on a common misconception she hears from the public: that people dealing with the problem of poverty fell into it through some event in their life, when the reality is it’s a generational thing that people need help and support to get out of.

“But we’ve seen the good the work at the mission, and other organizations around town, can do. We have people who were part of our family get the help they needed, get work training, get into university or college and graduate. Those people have since given back in a big way, and that’s the kind of success story that doesn’t get out there enough,” McLennan said with smile.

Too often, the connotation around people in poverty is a negative one.

McLennan wants to change the perception to a positive one, and highlight the hard work being done by people in Lethbridge to deal with this problem.

Over time, if people become aware that it’s not just strangers dealing with this, but their neighbours, then maybe positive change in the future is possible.

by Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

The societal problem of poverty, and the work Streets Alive Mission is doing to deal with it

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