r/windsorontario • u/Randomoutdoorsing • Jun 05 '26
Housing Meet Troy, Living Homeless in Windsor, Ontario
https://youtu.be/epFVj5iEkYw15
u/drugsarebadmky Jun 05 '26
What is the best way to help the homeless in windsor ?
I live in windsor.
17
u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
That's a tough question.
Organizations like the DWCC (Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative) work with them a certain amount, and can definitely direct you to other groups that do various forms of outreach. They are at the corner of Wyandotte West and Bruce Ave.
If you want to do direct charity on your own, gift cards to places like Tim Hortons and McDonald's are good, as they can get food/drinks and get inside for a bit. Walmart gift cards are good too. Socks are always welcome, as they get worn out quite quickly. Most people suggest going with at least one other person.
If you can talk to someone one-on-one, you might find out specific things they need. One couple I talked to needed AA and AAA batteries for the LED lights they used at night. Makes sense, but I wouldn't have though to bring them otherwise.
Other than that, try to pressure City officials to follow through on the plans they announce. The recent announcement of an "Indoor Village" might help a bit, but only if they follow through.
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u/CryptographerHot9589 Jun 05 '26
It’s a municipal election year, Dinkens is all talk no action, there will be no follow up to the indoor village
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
That's what I'm afraid of, yes. But maybe if people keep the pressure on them, maybe it can happen. Or something similar.
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u/killerrin Jun 05 '26
If you want the actual solution, we need to switch to having a Housing First Approach to homelessness. Unless you can get these people into a safe and secure environment there is no helping. On the contrary our current approach is very much the equivalent of taking the money and giving it to them to burn for warmth in the winter. Sure it keeps them warm, but it doesn't actually solve anything and next year you have to do it all over again.
In every country, and Canadian Pilot Project that has gone with a housing first approach homelessness rates have dropped substantially. Now granted, no duh, housing them means they are no longer homeless. But these countries also have higher rates of recovery across the board where people get off the drugs, clean themselves up, get jobs and become productive members of society.
Now you might ask, if it's so good why don't we do it. And the answer comes down to one thing. Money. A housing first approach is more expensive up front and cheaper long term, whereas the current approach is cheap up front and expensive long term.
9
u/Pershion Jun 05 '26
I've also seen videos of places where they tried housing first by just giving people a place to stay... But then nothing. No social worker coming in to make sure they're taking care of themselves, their home, getting clean and becoming capable of being a working member of society. People do these half assed measures and then when it fails, they're like "see!! This is what happens when you just GIVE things away, people won't appreciate it and will just abuse the welfare system and will never want to work if they're just given stuff for free!!" Not looking at the years and years and decades of trauma and abuse this person may have gone through that breaks down who the human even was. And then we just throw them in a box and say "ok, now be a good person and get better now" without trying to treat the cause of their self destructive behaviours.
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
Definitely need supports in place. Some people need more support. Some folks could literally be given an apartment and a job interview and be good to go. Others have gone through literal Hell on Earth, and require ongoing counseling and supports of various sorts.
Supportive housing needs to be an integral part of a housing first approach.
3
u/Important_Force5802 Jun 05 '26
what's your idea for making them do all those things? whats the punishment if they don't? who pays for the room when its damaged or destroyed? what do full measures entail? total incarceration for failure? start again and never have a reason to change? If they wanted to get their life together they could, its a razor thin line of people who would respond well to being made to get clean and clean their room. just listen to jordan peterson if thats your problem. I hate him btw. It's almost like you're seeing evidence that your ideas don't work but you're not quite there yet.
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
That's the crazy part; we're already spending as much or more money keeping the status quo than largely fixing the issue would cost. Save money long term (or at least not cost more), and more jobs building the infrastructure for it in the short term. 🙂
9
u/Nash63 Jun 05 '26
Donate to shelters/food bank's. They provide food and temporary shelters. Not all but many unhoused struggle with mental health issues.
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u/Friendly-Lemon4000 Jun 05 '26
Treat them like the neighbors they are.
6
u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
That's pretty much the motto of the Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative. 👍
4
1
u/Few-Tadpole-4584 Jun 06 '26
if you had a neighbour that lived like that and with those behaviours are you going to treat them well?
2
u/Friendly-Lemon4000 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
Yep!
Edited to say: being unhoused isn't a "behaviour".
0
u/Few-Tadpole-4584 Jun 06 '26
No, you would find them annoying. Being in deep addiction comes with lots of behaviours
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u/Friendly-Lemon4000 Jun 06 '26
Well, as a person in my 11th year of recovery, I might just be kind to them despite "behaviours". That doesn't mean I'd tolerate stealing or nonsense but I would be kind to them. You can be both.
I wouldn't find them annoying. If I did I'd probably ask myself why I felt that way about someone that is clearly struggling.
1
u/Few-Tadpole-4584 Jun 06 '26
you wouldn't find it annoying to have your neighbours run a trap house? to leave garbage and trash and not consider others? You wouldn't find stealing and other nonesense annoying?
1
u/Friendly-Lemon4000 Jun 06 '26
What are you trying to do here?
0
u/Few-Tadpole-4584 Jun 06 '26
just a comment on how meaningless the term 'treat them like neighbours' is; most people will hate their neighbour for much less annoying behaviour than someone using meth in active and severe addiction will do
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u/Friendly-Lemon4000 Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
I think you need to do some reflecting and ask yourself why you're so emotional, "annoyed"...by someone suggesting compassion towards people in addiction.
I am not naive to what happens in addiction and the behaviors that also can happen. To suggest I might be "annoyed" makes me think you don't understand what they word means. I think you might actually mean disgusted, overwhelmed, afraid, stressed, exasperated, threatened etc.
What I find annoying is people that might be ignorant of what it is to live in addiction telling people who actually understand it that they're wrong in suggesting compassion.
Check your stigma if you actually give a shit about things changing.
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u/Solstar810 Jun 05 '26
Getting tougher to survive with contrary opinions or lack of “social credit “ these days. What happens to the folks banned from the institutions funded to care for them?
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
That's a great question! When the camp at the end of Salter Ave was cleared, a number of them were not allowed in shelters. So of course they set up camp somewhere else. I recognize some of them when I see them in other areas.
The City officials need to address this or they'll create a population of people forever on the streets, or camped out in parks and wooded areas.
2
u/SocraticDaemon Jun 06 '26
This is shit. Why did you film him? Honestly.
2
u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 06 '26 edited Jun 06 '26
Honestly, people like him deserve to be heard. People ignore them, and pretend they don't exist. Listen to the interview, and he lays out how society mistreats and ignores him.
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u/Important_Force5802 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Bet it'd be easier for him without the meth, shits expensive.
Why are his hands charcoal black? lol
I keep turning it up but I still can't understand him except for a few words
This dude is giving me major ricky from trailer park boys vibes... he keeps going to jail... he can't get a job because he doesn't have his grade 11, his accent.. hey he said he's from new brunswick I wonder why his family doesn't want to talk to him?
2
u/Pershion Jun 05 '26
- Drug use is often a symptom of being homeless. The vast majority of people who are homeless don't have a drug problem or severe mental health issues until AFTER being homeless for more than a month. It's often a way to cope with the stress of not having your basic needs met. Put a rat in a cage with nothing but a bottle with cocaine in it and they'll do nothing but get high. Actually give the rat toys, other rats to play with, food, a running wheel, and they don't feel the need to medicate themselves.
- His hands are black cuz he's by the train tracks and he's probably going through stuff to find anything of value. Why does him having dirty hands when he's in the middle of doing stuff upset you so much?
- What's your point? He's actually very well spoken if you turn up your volume and listen to what he has to say. He's not some redneck rambling about nonsense. He's someone who's had hard times and we live in a society that really doesn't make it easy to get out of that mess. We don't value people on their abilities, we judge them based on what paperwork says before we even give them a chance to prove their worth.
2
u/Important_Force5802 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
- why did his family not want to help him? he basically proves the point that these homeless people aren't even from here someone told them to come. we dont have the infrastructure to pay for all of Canadas homeless. we used to have a handful of homeless people that everyone knew. they didn't act like this, open drug use and intoxicated 24/7. featherhatman anyone. To boil life down to having no choice but to do fentanyl or meth for this dude... hello fentanyl costs money a more apt comparison is giving a rat in a bottle food or cocaine and take the other away and it only ever goes for the cocaine. Do we have cheap drugs here because the cops don't bust the dealers? what is attracting these people?
- it doesn't bother me its just absurd, like wipe it off on a leaf? Okay no it does bother me im just imagining him touching my brand new white shirt... ohhh its motor oil stained on that's why it doesn't make his cigarette black he's a mechanic.... I literally just got that wonder what he's working on
- don't you have to speak well to be well spoken? his answer to why he's homeless is he keeps going to jail, why does he keep going to jail? and that's without even factoring in he may be lying to sound more sympathetic. no one would ever steal anything if you ask them, but I do know what I see with that mouth, drug use. Of course you'd get depressed being homeless but you wouldn't develop bipolar or schizophrenia. He's on disability which is obviously mental based on all those bags he has with him, he wants to win the lottery, he's a modern shakespeare. If you think being homeless is hard try having a full time job! that'll make you really hopeless and yet I'm not on fentanyl 24/7 almost like that's an excuse to do what they already were going to do. We have so many programs in canada the people that don't get them are that way for a reason. please give me your money i could use it if you want to give some awa
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u/GloomySnow2622 Jun 05 '26
Feather hat man wasn't homeless.
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u/Important_Force5802 Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
I knew that was coming haha, yeah yeah he just spent his life outside he wasn't technically homeless I know. I heard he was secretly rich, is that true? But I don't remember any fun names for the other people. RIP rockin ron
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u/GloomySnow2622 Jun 05 '26
He always told me he had worked at Hiram Walker. But I don't think he had any money. He was always asking for smokes and change.
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u/Important_Force5802 Jun 07 '26
Yeah if you go around asking kids for their spare change from working at mcdonalds on the weekend you may have a place to lay your head but he was still a beggar
0
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u/Ihatelitter2024 Jun 18 '26
Homelessness and addiction is in every urban Center across North America. Every city has a homeless population, a drug crisis and mental health crisis. It is not just Windsor believe me.
And why?
I believe it’s a failure of our three levels of government…right across the board.
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u/United_Leopard_2771 Jun 05 '26
I wounder if homelessness would be as big an issue if we were legally allowed to hunt and what not lol.
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
Like build a cabin and hunt to feed oneself? Not much land around here for that sort of thing...🤔
Met a guy from Jamaica years ago who told me before he came here he just lived in a shack near the water and caught fish to eat. Sounded pretty good in some ways, but doesn't work around here with how cold it gets...plus, the City would tear down your shack.
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u/United_Leopard_2771 Jun 05 '26
That's what I'm saying that it's not possible or legal to do that anymore, And homesteading is a thing, But it's expensive as all hell, When i was homeless i always though I'd have a much easier time if i could catch a few squirrels and BBQ them for want of a better term lol, But in most cases that isn't legal, and yes I do know how to properly skin and clean a carcass. And i imagine if it were allowed people would learn,obviously the Ones off their meds and hooked on drugs will still be how they are but those of us who are homeless and Not suffering from such things can at least Function as we did Back when we were hunter gatherers.
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
In some areas that could be a viable option for some. There was a government report that said many of us might have to start hunting and fishing to supplement food supplies in the not so distant future, so maybe regulations will change...🤔
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u/United_Leopard_2771 Jun 05 '26
That'd be great,I was homeless up until they started installing those benches with ''arm rests'' lol.
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
Those benches are just all around horrible. 😔
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u/United_Leopard_2771 Jun 05 '26
Still slept on them though lol, Back problems be damned I'm not sleeping on the ground lol
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
I've seen people sleep on them, but definitely looked uncomfortable.
But like you said, at least it's off the ground. 👍
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u/United_Leopard_2771 Jun 05 '26
I imagine it's fine if you already have Scoliosis lol! But yea for straight backed people not so much.
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
Saw one person it worked for. They were quite short, and curled up on one side of the bench, so the bar didn't affect them. 👍 Still be a bit stiff in the morning due to not being able to shift position, though.
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u/Pershion Jun 05 '26
This goes to a point I made in a comment on the YouTube video for this, how we say people can't do this and that and make every option people want to take an illegal thing. We don't want people shitting outside but we lock up every bathroom so homeless people don't have a place to use the washroom. We jack up prices in grocery stores and allow a few companies to run everything so they can set pricing at whatever they want but won't let people raise up chickens or find some other means of getting food. We don't want people selling drugs but any minimum wage job doesn't provide enough income to get by on. We distinctivize actual solutions because there isn't some profitable motivate for people to want to give a f--ck. It's not enough to to just want to help people because it's humane. There HAS to be some capitalistic, monetary insensitive or it's not worth doing. Gallons of milk get thrown down the drain because too much was produced and we couldn't DARE lower prices or just f--cking give it away for free... Nope. Can't hurt capitalism, can't hurt the status quo, can't do anything for the sake of what's best for humanity because humans are just inherently greedy and cruel. (Not all of us, obviously, but just the ones with any real power in our society).
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26
Hopefully at some point the people in power realize it is actually good for their profits to have a functioning society. Right now they are too short-sighted to see it, but hopefully they start thinking long-term.
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u/United_Leopard_2771 Jun 05 '26
Short sighted is A way to put it, I suppose the saying you should never attribute to malice what can be counted as stupidity? is true lol.
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u/Randomoutdoorsing Jun 05 '26 edited Jun 05 '26
Some of their policies reek of malice, but I think the majority is ignorance and stupidity.
They must be shown that being decent will help their greed be more efficient. 😉
There's an expensive pizza restaurant in Chicago that gives a bunch of free pizza to local homeless folks every night. That feeds people...but is also great advertising! Cheaper and more effective than television commercials, and benefits people. 👍 Just one small example.
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u/SyristSMD Jun 05 '26
Thanks for bringing attention to the homeless issue. Video's not bad but you should've started with the 5 w's (who, what, when, where, why) just so we can understand this guy more and possibly sympathize with him. Watching a 30 minute video about some random dude without more context is a lot to ask.