VIDEO: Inaugural ‘Roughing It’ event casts light on youth homelessness in Nanaimo

There are more than 100 unhoused youth in Nanaimo between 13 and 24-years-old, according to Worth who organized the event.

About $40,000 was raised toward the NYSA vision of increasing its current housing supply and assembling additional housing for clients between 16 and 19.

It’s Worth’s hope a new housing facility can be built within five years to complement two other residential buildings the organization operates.

“We’ve been working with the City to talk about locations and whether we should build or buy, it’s all in the works it’s just a matter of having the financial capabilities because we’re non-profit.”

Roughing It involved about 100 participants, including Nanaimo youth who persevered years of homelessness and all forms of abuse during their journey to recovery.

Destiny Walker of Nanaimo told her harrowing story growing up in a volatile home and slipping down a dark path.

Walker said she endured seven years of hell after smoking crystal meth for the first time at 16-years-old.

She lived in a Nanaimo drug shack which got shut down, sending several people, including herself, onto the street.

Walker told the wide-eyed audience listening in silence she built makeshift beds and shacks out of cardboard from recycling bins.

“I barely slept, I barely ate and some days would never end, they would just blur right into the next…I lost count how many times I was hospitalized, spent the night in city cells, or woke up with no recollection of how I got there,” Walker said.

The former resident of the large Tent City encampment in 2018 said during her years on the streets mired in addiction, she never dreamt of having a future.

The Nanaimo woman is now a mother, nearing three years clean and landed a job in the mental health field after going back to school.

Renowned youth homeless advocate Joe Roberts unloaded a powerful speech at the event.

Following a trauma-filled childhood in Ontario, Roberts spent years homeless on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside as he was firmly gripped by drugs.

He recovered, blossomed into a successful entrepreneur and then launched numerous causes to back vulnerable youth across Canada.

Roberts stressed a multitude of services are required to help youth who are often fighting several battles simultaneously.

“It’s not a one size fits all and it’s not just about affordable housing — if we don’t have the services to support young people we’re going to see young people became adult homeless people,” Roberts told NanaimoNewsNOW following his address.

Roberts emphasized the importance of investing in social programs to help prevent, minimize and hopefully one day eliminate youth homelessness across the country.

“The challenge is the way we fund stuff like this is political, so it takes a lot of political courage to make some of these big and dramatic changes, it’s tough,” he said.

Roberts’ captivating speech was met with a standing ovation.

Several hours earlier he spoke to audiences at John Barsby Secondary School and VIU.

In 2016 Roberts launched The Push for Change, which launched with Roberts pushing a shopping cart across Canada from east to west to raise money for youth homelessness prevention initiatives.

The more than 9,000 kilometre voyage over 17 months included a stop in Nanaimo.

As the Roughing It event inched toward 11 p.m. participants placed flattened cardboard on the hardened surface and climbed into their sleeping bags.

Many people were tossing and turning as they tried to get to sleep.

Jaren Belobrajdic was invited by co-worker Ella Page to the first annual Roughing It event from Friday Sept. 23 into Saturday Sept. 24. at Harewood Centennial Park (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Jaren Belobrajdic, a 17-year-old NDSS student was invited by a friend to get a better idea what less fortunate people their own age go through nightly.

Belobrajdic said stigmatization is another barrier starting down unhoused youth.

“I think that’s the biggest issue, just not being understanding or empathetic for these people in their unfortunate situation.”

More information on Nanaimo Youth Services Association, including ways to donate, can be found here.

A night to remember: NanaimoNewsNOW reporter Ian Holmes’ experience

While attending Roughing It was impossible not to think about homeless youth in Nanaimo and their constant struggle to survive.

Here I was in a covered environment where a light breeze was largely shielded and any potential rain would not be a factor.

Security was in place and the public washrooms were open. Despite being in a safe environment it was far from a comfortable sleep on a hardened surface.

I woke up a couple times as I challenged to find a decent position. Sleeping on my back with my weight more evenly distributed on a flimsy piece of cardboard seemed to work best for me.

Once the lights slowly faded on at 6 a.m. Roughing It participants came to life in a sloth-like form and packed their belongings.

As I woke up and started to pack my things I thought about how exhausting it would be to do this every day.

Demand for hot coffee was high as people recounted their unconventional sleep.

It’s hard for me to truly understand what it’s like to be an unhoused youth in Nanaimo, but talking about the problem is an important step.

Join the conversation. Submit your letter to NanaimoNewsNOW and be included on The Water Cooler, our letters to the editor feature.

ian@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @reporterholmes

by Ian Holmes

VIDEO: Inaugural ‘Roughing It’ event casts light on youth homelessness in Nanaimo

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