Homelessness is a complex problem, and one without a simple solution — but for those on the front lines at Winnipeg’s Siloam Mission, it’s all about reaching one person at a time.
Monica Ballantyne, lived experience advisory co-ordinator at the long-running charity and emergency shelter, told Global Winnipeg she has a perspective many of Siloam’s clients can understand, as she was in their shoes not long ago.
“I myself have used all the services at Siloam Mission before getting employed here,” Ballantyne said.
“It helps me to better inform community members…. I let them know I used to live here too, and I had some major trauma and addictions that I had to deal with, but Siloam was able to help me with that.
“I think it just helps give encouragement — knowing that I’m not someone just telling them, ‘You can do this.’ I’m saying, ‘I’ve done this, and I know it’s hard, and my journey’s different, but with the right supports, anyone could probably do it.'”
Ballantyne said she had to fend for herself from a young age, and turned to drugs to help deal with the stress and to numb her pain.
“When you have addiction, you end up harmed in ways where either you’re exploited or you exploit yourself to get what you want.
“You deal drugs, so people try to harm you and steal your drugs … try to rob you. I’ve had guns to my head, I’ve been in numerous fights, I’ve sadly had to hold guns … and that all puts trauma on you — the trauma of when you don’t have enough drugs, because it kind of starts off as fun and numbing, but then it’s never enough.”
Ballantyne said every time she was able to secure housing, her addictions inevitably got in the way, making her homeless over and over in an ongoing cycle.
And while she’s now sober, housed and employed, she said she’s still concerned for each of the people she meets who have come in off the street to Siloam for access to resources, a warm bed or a much-needed meal — or just to get away from the unpredictability of the streets.
John Dubois, Siloam’s receptionist, has spent six years working with homeless people, and said that sense of safety is key for many of the facility’s visitors.
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“This is a safe place for them,” he said.
“A lot of people come, and they like to crash here because they say, ‘I know someone’s watching me.'”
Dubois told Global Winnipeg that Siloam’s staff and volunteers are on hand to do what they can to meet people’s individual needs and are always happy to hear about success stories from former clients.
“It’s so joyous when you see somebody who’s left Siloam and then they come back. Everybody who leaves for some reason always wants to come back — they like to show that they’ve progressed, to show that perhaps they got sober, that they got housing. It makes us all feel good.
“Our tone here at Siloam is very friendly…. We’re not here to scold people, we’re not here to judge them at all, we’re here to help them at the moment they’re asking for it. We’re all here to help, it just depends on what that person needs at that moment.”
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