Posted on Dec. 9: Seasons of the street children
“NOVEMBER, it helps me remember when everything was better. About 11 years ago I died, cried and tried, but I still lost everything — by which I mean my mom. I love you. I never meant to do anything wrong or anything that would lead to this. R.I.P. Roseanne Ward. I LOVE YOU.”
These tender thoughts were written by Mike Blais, 22, who has been without a place to call home since he was 11 and his mother died.
The words are carried in a new 2004 calendar called Becoming Visible, in which homeless kids like Blais bare their souls through thoughtful stories matched to photographs of Hamilton landmarks which each finds personally meaningful.
There are more than 600 homeless youths in Hamilton. The 12 highlighted in the calendar tell personal stories about special moments, lost dreams or future hopes.
The calendar project, funded by a $6,000 grant from the Hamilton Community Foundation, is one of several under way at MAC Door, a joint venture of McMaster University's school of nursing and Wesley Urban Ministries which moves young people away from the street, one step at a time.
Blais was living on the street for five years when he arrived at MAC Door after a friend told him about the assistance it provides.
After his mother died, he went to live with an uncle but that didn't work out. “So, I ran away and went to Brantford for a couple of years,” he said.
At 14, he got a job in a garment factory running a large washing machine.He started going back to school. “I was doing some illegal stuff for a while to make money but I got out of that.”
For the next five years, he wandered, never having a permanent place to stay. One night it was a friend's house, the next at a cousin's for a couple of days.
He'd stay until he was told to leave. Often, he lived on the street, sleeping on a park bench or simply staying up all night.
MAC Door is gradually helping him turn his life around. He now has a job driving a fork lift and dreams of a better one that will give him the money he needs to rent a place of his own – and have his own dog.
Particularly meaningful for him has been the calendar project which he worked on with project co-ordinators Samah Sabra, who is studying social justice at Brock University, and Julie Gregory, who just graduated from McMaster University in sociology.
The project has let street kids use computers and cameras and do layout. “These are things that cost money and that you can only have if you have access to the privilege of a certain socio-economic status,” Sabra said.
Proceeds from sales of the calendar, which will cost about $15, will be used to start a scholarship fund for street kids in the MAC Door program so they can learn photography, writing and other artistic skills.
Youth co-ordinator Lesley Greig said many of the kids included pictures of themselves as young children. “They want people to see what they really are as opposed to the community's perception of street punks, which is the attitude they get. And then they take on that identity.”
To purchase a calendar, contact Mac Door at 905-525-1173 or Dyanne Semogas at 525-9140 ext. 22286.
This article appeared in the Nov. 15, 2003 issue of The Hamilton Spectator. For access to The Hamilton Spectator online, McMaster users can click here from a main campus computer.
