Tina Winterlik: My Housing Rant- Homeless in Vancouver

Well I am really glad people went out to protest about the insanity of housing in Vancouver.

It's funny, well not really funny, but odd how people outside Vancouver sort of blow it off and go well that's why I'd never live in the city, it's too expensive...

But things are really getting cRaZy and it's been that way about 15 years now.

My grandparents had a home here, my aunt and uncle moved here from the prairies, I remember having sleep overs at my grandmas and going to the 5 & dime to get things. 5 & dime was like a $dollar store today only it had washer machines..I think. I have a vague memory of my grandma looking for a washer for my mom...and then she bought me pink socks...and then me crying on the bus all the way home because I wanted my mom. That was about 50 years ago...

My how things have changed.
My dad built a house here but sold it and moved to Surrey and then up to Dogwood Valley.

It took me along time to get back to Vancouver and it was never my intention to stay. Cities do that to you. They suck you in and won't let you go.

There's a lot of things I love and a lot that I hate.
I hate the poverty, the lack of housing, the ridiculous rents, that people treat housing as a commodity, that every thing is so warped and we forget that this land was not supposed to be owned.

It's UNCEDED COAST SALISH TERRITORY. It's not yours or mine, it was stolen through disease and greed and then just people coming here to escape their own persecutions in Europe.

It pisses me off that the news covered the housing protest but didn't cover the #CleansingOurWaters which is basically GENOCIDE, with fish farms destroying WILD SALMON. https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2016/09/no-more-fish-farms-stop-genocide.html

You have to wonder if it's all a very evil plan to wipe out First Nations, so that all the land can be stolen and sold to foreigners.

WAKE UP!! WAKE UP!! I SHOUT!!

But no one hears...well maybe a few but the rest are asleep, just living day to day, working, surviving, caught up in trying to find an F_____G place to live.

We are homeless. We are what you call relative homeless. We must live with someone else because we can NOT afford our own home. My stuff has been in storage 4 years. It makes me really sad.

On the bright side, we are blessed. We live in a nice area and while we are cramped in the space we live, we are for the most part happy and SO GRATEFUL because SO MANY others DO NOT have homes.

Back to the rally. I couldn't go. I was at my new course,
http://mylangaratrccarvingjourney.blogspot.ca/

Here's a bunch of photos and links.
http://bc.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-rally-calls-for-crackdown-on-housing-crisis-money-laundering-1.3077118#_gus&_gucid=&_gup=Facebook&_gsc=suiAjDW

http://www.straight.com/news/784511/premier-christy-clarks-trade-delegation-china-included-vancouver-real-estate-firms-eye

https://www.facebook.com/HALTVancouver/?fref=nf

LOTS OF PHOTOS HERE
https://www.facebook.com/HALTVancouver/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1176906769043180

HALT- https://haltvancouver.org/
Who We Are:
Housing Action for Local Taxpayers (HALT) is a non-partisan community action group demanding that all levels of Canadian government address our current foreign money-fuelled housing crisis.

Our Mission:
We believe that if you work hard, contribute to your community and pay your fair share of local income taxes, that you deserve to have an affordable home. It’s that simple. We are looking to level the playing field for local citizens. We want to be your voice to ensure that all levels of government take our concerns seriously.

Homes First:
We support Generation Squeeze's Homes First policy principle. Go to http://www.gensqueeze.ca/homes_first to find out more.