Only a dollar, that's all

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

"You and I slept in a warm bed in a safe environment last night; 2,600 people in our city did not," Ronald Josephson told the Independent about why he started Gratitude Week. "For every one of those people, it's a very tough existence, it's almost inhuman, but the fact is: it's only 2,600 people. The problem can, must and will be beaten."

The inaugural Gratitude Week will take place Oct. 12-16, with most events being held in the Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza. With the call to "Give a dollar, give a damn," the key objective of Gratitude Week is to raise awareness, as well as enough money to fund a project that will make an immediate, tangible contribution to ending homelessness. Two projects have been chosen for this year's drive: Pender Hotel at 31 West Pender St. and Hotel Gastown at 110 Water St.

"The reason I'm involved in this is I live in the city and I love the city," said Josephson. "I've been here 30 years, from South Africa. This city's been very good to me.... I raised my children here and I've built my life here and Gratitude Week arises from the fact that I wanted to find some way to express my gratitude by helping those people in the city who are not as advantaged as we are.

"And the notion about gratitude is at the heart of it, but it's also a recognition on my part that everyone I speak to wants to do something to help bring an end to homelessness.... There are many people who are working the Downtown Eastside every day who are doing wonderful things, but the majority of the people in Vancouver don't know what to do. Gratitude Week is an entry point, a pathway to engage the average citizen in Vancouver directly in the fight against homelessness. I believe that, by doing that, we will change in a quantum way the progress we can make in the Downtown Eastside.

"That's not to aggrandize Gratitude Week, it's the opposite. There are big organizations, powerful resources at play in the Downtown Eastside already. I believe they are going to have an impact, but I believe that what's missing, the missing piece, is the average citizen of Vancouver who wants to find a way."

Josephson noted that he – who is a commercial litigator with Josephson Angus Barristers – and everyone else working on Gratitude Week are volunteers, with the exception of a paid executive director, "so this is a private citizens' initiative. It is the first year. There will be a second because, obviously, all the work we've done to create this first year will be fully manifested in the second year, and maybe we'll have a third, but I want you to know I believe in my heart that homelessness can, must and will be beaten."

About the chosen projects, Josephson explained that the Pender Hotel is currently empty and ready to be constructed. "All that they're waiting on now is a permit from the city to go ahead," he said, adding that he's been told work will begin in the next couple of months.

"The money that people are devoting to Gratitude Week is going to find its way into a building that will house people in the spring of next year," he said.

Originally a B.C. Housing project, Josephson said the former 40-room single-room occupancy Pender Hotel – now called Gratitude House – will be converted into 23 self-contained suites, each with their own private washroom facilities. Everyone who gives $150 or more will receive a Gratitude Tile, which will become part of a wall at the house, "because I want people to know that they can actually see their money at work," said Josephson, adding that the construction process will be videotaped as it progresses and this footage will be on the gratitudeweek.org website – again, so that people can see where their money is going.

Gratitude House is the "now" part of the event, explained Josephson, while the second project, Hotel Gastown, will be extensively renovated beginning in spring 2010, with planned completion in fall 2011.

"The Gastown hotel is currently a place that human beings should not be living in," said Josephson. "It's uninhabitable. The fact that people actually live there is beyond imagination. It is deplorable."

Josephson explained that any monies raised above that which is needed for the renovation of Gratitude House, as well as the money that is saved from B.C. Housing not having to put money into Gratitude House – "that money is now going to go directly to the Gastown hotel."

The construction on the Gastown building will not begin until after the winter and it will take place in stages because there are 97 residents in the hotel, explained Josephson.

B.C. Housing has been "absolutely amazing" in the collaboration, he added, noting that many individuals and organizations are involved in Gratitude Week. For instance, he said, Gratitude Week executive director Lara Holte "has helped enormously to make the dream into a reality. She's just one example. There are others who have come in from all sorts of walks of life." He singled out Rik Klingle-Watt, who "is the man who brought all of the creative skills to bear in the concept that gives voice to my original dream of gratitude. The idea that you see on the website: the placard where we've got people saying, 'I have a home,' 'I felt safe last night' – that is Rik's concept. It was the physical demonstration of what is behind this movement, which is how grateful we all are."

When asked why he is involved in Gratitude Week, Jeffrey Goldberg, another active member in the community, said, "I guess the short answer is, because it's the right thing to do.

"We have a wonderful, fabulous city here. We have people who are living on the streets, unable to find accommodations for themselves because of a set of circumstances, different, probably, in every case, and I think that it's the moral, ethical and fiscally sound thing for the citizens of Vancouver to do, to house these people, to find a way to get them into homes."

Goldberg stressed the need to change attitudes.

"I think that, if the citizens of Vancouver say with a single voice that a majority of us are opposed to there being homeless people, people who don't have homes, in our city, and make it politically untenable for those that seek to govern us, or to represent us, to be elected if they do not have a position on the homelessness issue, then we'll finally start to see a change to what's happening vis-à-vis homelessness. The fact of the matter is that nothing special needs to be invented to solve the homelessness issue. It only requires the will to do so."

Goldberg cited a study conducted in San Diego, which found, he said, "that the average homeless person cost the city about $125,000 a year in social services. The cost of housing that individual would be between $30,000 and $35,000 a year, depending on their particular issues."

Goldberg recommended that Independent readers check out youtube.com/user/gratitudeweek2009, where there are videos with local celebrities promoting the project, including Babz Chula and Ben Ratner. All of the technicians and actors donated their time, said Goldberg.

"Our message is uplifting," said Josephson. "Our message is not, 'Woe is us that we have this terrible, intractable problem.' The message is, 'Let's all do something.'"

Among the week's many events will be educational material offered at booths set up in the gallery plaza, keynote speakers and mental health awareness forums, as well as online discussions about how to end homelessness in Vancouver and, of course, opportunities to "Give a dollar, give a damn." For more information, visit gratitudeweek.org.

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