The other side of the Downtown East Side

Twelve years ago I began volunteering at the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver's infamous Downtown Eastside. Drugs and mental illness ravage the area leaving the general population afraid of it's inhabitants. To me however, this community is my second home. Most will avoid the streets of Hastings and Main in order to avoid the gaze of the impoverished, the ill and the well...cracked out, however, by doing so, many will miss the most amazing instances of humanity at it's kindest.

In my 12 years volunteering, I like to think that I've seen it all, last night, however, opened my eyes more so than ever before. Upon speaking with a few of the clients during one of the many meals provided by the UGM, I had begun explaining my upcoming trip to Tanzania to a few of the regulars.

A few days later I was told that one of the regulars came up to me during a meal and asked me to meet her out back after we had finished serving. I came outside to see her standing with a bag full of toys and a stack of papers with the names and biographies of children in Tanzania from the World Vision website.

Here, in the "roughest" neighbourhood in Canada, was someone who wanted nothing more than for these children in Tanzania to have access to toys and some childhood fun. While I looked at the bag in disbelief, particularly wondering how on earth I was going to get this massive bag of individually chosen toys to Africa with me, I couldn't help but be amazed at the kindness and humanity this woman had shown.

The first question people ask while I'm volunteering, is what church do I belong to. When I respond that I don't volunteer on behalf of a church, the second question people ask is "why do you volunteer"? This, is why I volunteer, and this, is why the DTES will always be my other home. The Downtown Eastside has it's problems, there is no doubt about that, but the Downtown Eastside is not a community to be feared. There is more love, more hope, and more humanity is those few blocks than I've ever seen in any of the communities that I have visited around the world.

I can't help but feel humbled as I drive through the streets back to my privileged life and be gracious to be surrounded, even in the worst of areas, by some of the most amazing people.

For more information on the UGM see their website.
For information on the children in Tanzania see the World Vision Canada website here.