A website wants to give hope to marginalized people in Vancouver
This website (http://www.2010homelesschampions.ca/) is dedicated to vulnerable people, who are either homeless or addicted to drugs or both, who live in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver. It tells the stories of marginalized individuals living in conditions of misery and deprivation and aims to alleviate the suffering of these people.
The website wants to use the forthcoming Olympic Winter Games to show to the public and the government that there exists a dark side of Vancouver and many of the cities citizens live in misery. The message that the website conveys is that recovery from addiction is not impossible and everyone has the right to live with dignity and in a safe environment. The mandate of the website is to record the transition and radical changes that are occurring and will continue to unfold in the Downtown Eastside area of Vancouver.
See more videos at http://www.2010homelesschampions.ca/youtubevideos.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIlHevMLnA4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MIOMlNxTs8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-tps1VCpyA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7PPsSENl7I
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Comments
A website wants to give hope
First of all thanks a lot for the great and informative article. I think that it is a great news that the website wants to give hope to marginalized people. We all know that there are so many people which do not have where to live or live in misery.We all should to try to find the way how to help them. Well I will definitely support these people because I know that such life is very difficult when you do not know where to go and how to live. I hope that other people will support the same. Thanks a lot one more time for the kind decission and I willl be waiting for more news about this subject in the nearest future. Sincerely, Ben Thompson
VANCOUVER CITY OF ADDICTION
FIRST OF ALL
THANK YOU TO Luca Stefenelli for adding us to this site we just found out today. As a recovering addict and someone who lives in Vancouver I see firsthand and on a daily basis the destuction that a very free and liberal society like ours has created for those who suffer from addiction. My personal expereince was some twenty five hard years but today i'm happy to say i've been clean for seven. 2010homelesschampions want's to make a difference we have a grassroot's network of both men and women who do what ever we can to reach out and help our brothers and sisters who still suffer most of us are former veterans of Vancouver's famous Downtown Eastside. Here is what we are doing on December 21st 2009 between 6-8 in the evening we have been involved in this special event for the last three years 2010homelesschampions and the servant's of hope are operated by the same group of people
The Servant's of Hope Society has for the last three years gathered together donations from various donors in order to go into the downtown eastside and do outreach with the homeless and addicted.
Last year in minus five below zero on December 20th 2008 forty recovered addicts showed up, and gave back and fed over four hundred people who were in need at this sad and lonely time
This year we are planning the same event
The Servants of Hope Society is a faith based men’s recovery house located on the east side of Vancouver. Founded in 2003 with a vision of men helping men through servitude and the overcoming of addiction. As unconventional as it sounds there has been a very good success rate for the house.
After spending 30 years struggling with addiction, never finding the answers to recovery, living in depravation, hitting bottom after bottom, hopeless and never thinking my life would change, I found faith through the help that I received from strangers and the kind acts that they showed. After 2 years of sobriety I felt that the only way to continue in my sobriety was to give back to others in need. The house has now been open and active for the last 6 years.
Here is a link to the province newspaper that ran a story earlier this year about Servant House
http://www.theprovince.com/House+rising+sons/1774536/story.html
40 recovering addicts formerly from the Downtown Eastside are organized by 2010 Homeless Champions and the Servants of Hope Society and feed more than 400 homeless and drug addicted people an incredible Christmas Dinner. 2010 Homeless Champions regularly provides this type of outreach to individuals and are making a difference and in some cases through our example we are motivating some addicts to embrace the same principles that we have used to change our lives.
Here is link to a video we produced about last year's outreach and to our website
http://www.2010homelesschampions.ca/indexold.htm
http://servantsofhope.2010homelesschampions.ca/
It is our pleasure to be able to give back at this time of year we thank you for your support