It’s about time I shared some of my recent encounters within the homeless population. Basically, I am going to share with you, my reader, what’s going on in my life. When last I gave you an update, I was looking forward to hearing about my children. This is still an ongoing battle and I still don’t know much more. The weirdest thing is that I’m actually calm about everything. Even though I know that will all change as soon as I find out my visit is confirmed with my boy and girl. God I can’t wait!
As for how I have been doing for the last little while. I will be honest and tell you I had a slip and I continue to battle addictions of various sorts. Although for the better part of the last little while, I’ve been damn well good! What I mean to say is I have been staying away from my using ways.
I’ve actually moved into my own place now. Well actually I have moved into a room with a small fridge and stove and I have cable for the same price I was paying in a shelter.
Really it’s only a step up from the shelters. I do feel much better about where my life is going.
The past couple of weeks I have actually had a nasty flu or cold, some sort of nasty bug. I was fortunate enough to participate in a recent symposium for the Calgary Homeless Foundation where I spoke about this particular blog. I am surprised that I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I would be. The fortunate thing was that not only was my reception very reassuring, but I was fortunate enough to get a laptop computer in which I can write more blogs and continue with my book. I would like to say thank you to Herb Emery for your generosity.
In other news, I had a weekend stay at the Mustard Seed’s Foothills shelter. I can tell you that, I am so glad to be out of the shelter system. I used to think the Mustard Seed was a good shelter but after my short weekend visit there, I am second-guessing myself. I could not believe how unhappy most of the staff members appeared to be. One staff member in particular took out his frustration by taking the TV privileges away from all clients. Apparently he wanted to watch Law and Order. The clients wanted to watch a movie. The Mustard Seed also try to preach the word of God but it seems as though things they do don’t seem Godly at all. I don’t want to get into too much detail, as I will be writing a blog soon about this shelter.
As for other things in my life, things are normal. Then again, what is normal? I just confused myself. I still want to find out what’s going on with my children and I would still like to find a comfortable job and eventually a better place. I don’t try to overwhelm myself too much because I get stressed out to easily. Maybe someone can explain to me what normal is in a person’s life. What is normal to you?
Please continue to check for blogs and remember to tell a friend to become a follower. I really want to reach 100 before the end of the year. Help me achieve this.
Coming Soon; More Blogs
Hope you’ll continue to enjoy!
Tim Barber
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
CLOSURE OF SOME KIND?
I want to tell you about something interesting that happened lately. It’s about a girl that I loved and adored almost 15 years ago. What happened was….I think I’ll just let you read this first. Actual article from April 7th, 1995 in the Province newspaper in Vancouver,BC. The headline reads;
I think she’s dead now: Mom;
A Winnipeg woman fears her daughter is dead in Vancouver, after a chilling, wordless telephone call.
Cheryl Pelkey, 24, hasn’t been seen since last Friday afternoon, when she walked out of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre at 44 E. Cordova.
And just after noon on Saturday in Winnipeg, the phone rang at her mother Nancy Picard’s home.
“There were sounds like somebody choking on the other end of the phone,” Picard said yesterday. “Nobody talked, it was just a gurgle and a choking noise. There was a deep breath and then silence.”
“I think that was her final call. I’m worried. I think she’s dead now.”
Picard said her daughter, who usually phones two or three times a week, has divided her time between Winnipeg and Vancouver for the past year and a half.
Pelkey’s boyfriend Tim Barber reported her missing on Sunday to Vancouver police.
“I don’t want to think the worst, but at the same time, she doesn’t do this,” said Barber.
He said Pelkey returned from Winnipeg a month ago, and they were living at the New Backpackers Hostel at 347 W.Pender.
When Pelkey vanished last Friday, she had cashed her welfare cheque and had about $500 cash.
“She was going off to the women’s center to play bingo,” Barber said, adding that people at the center saw her leave.
Her clothes and possessions, including the teddy-bear collection she’s had since she was a child, are still in the two-room apartment they shared.
Pelkey was prone to occasional fits of anger, the after-effect of sexual abuse she suffered as a child, said Picard and Barber. Pelkey has been on her own since she was 13.
“She’s pretty quiet,” Barber said. “She doesn’t do drugs, she doesn’t smoke.”
She was last seen wearing a jean jacket and jeans, low-heeled black shoes, and a T-shirt and carrying a jean bag. She is five feet, four inches tall, 135 pounds, with short brown hair and brown eyes.
Police are investigating.
The reason I thought I would share this with you is because I finally saw her yesterday after 15 years of not knowing what happened.
It’s interesting that all she had to say was “ I guess things just didn’t work out” and walked away.
I feel as though OK maybe that’s the only closure I will get from this unusual part of my life. The truth of the matter is, I truly loved this woman and when this happened I became very addicted to the needle shortly after this incident. I was hooked on the needle for the next two years before I finally came to Calgary and stopped all needle use.
Its not like I am blaming her for my addiction, it was just something I thought I would share with you, my reader. I’m just relieved that I can now close the book on that chapter in my life and trust me I have many chapters. As you will find out when my book is finally ready.
That’s all for now and I look forward to writing more blogs soon, and I look forward to your comments.
Thanks for letting me share this,
Tim Barber
I think she’s dead now: Mom;
A Winnipeg woman fears her daughter is dead in Vancouver, after a chilling, wordless telephone call.
Cheryl Pelkey, 24, hasn’t been seen since last Friday afternoon, when she walked out of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre at 44 E. Cordova.
And just after noon on Saturday in Winnipeg, the phone rang at her mother Nancy Picard’s home.
“There were sounds like somebody choking on the other end of the phone,” Picard said yesterday. “Nobody talked, it was just a gurgle and a choking noise. There was a deep breath and then silence.”
“I think that was her final call. I’m worried. I think she’s dead now.”
Picard said her daughter, who usually phones two or three times a week, has divided her time between Winnipeg and Vancouver for the past year and a half.
Pelkey’s boyfriend Tim Barber reported her missing on Sunday to Vancouver police.
“I don’t want to think the worst, but at the same time, she doesn’t do this,” said Barber.
He said Pelkey returned from Winnipeg a month ago, and they were living at the New Backpackers Hostel at 347 W.Pender.
When Pelkey vanished last Friday, she had cashed her welfare cheque and had about $500 cash.
“She was going off to the women’s center to play bingo,” Barber said, adding that people at the center saw her leave.
Her clothes and possessions, including the teddy-bear collection she’s had since she was a child, are still in the two-room apartment they shared.
Pelkey was prone to occasional fits of anger, the after-effect of sexual abuse she suffered as a child, said Picard and Barber. Pelkey has been on her own since she was 13.
“She’s pretty quiet,” Barber said. “She doesn’t do drugs, she doesn’t smoke.”
She was last seen wearing a jean jacket and jeans, low-heeled black shoes, and a T-shirt and carrying a jean bag. She is five feet, four inches tall, 135 pounds, with short brown hair and brown eyes.
Police are investigating.
The reason I thought I would share this with you is because I finally saw her yesterday after 15 years of not knowing what happened.
It’s interesting that all she had to say was “ I guess things just didn’t work out” and walked away.
I feel as though OK maybe that’s the only closure I will get from this unusual part of my life. The truth of the matter is, I truly loved this woman and when this happened I became very addicted to the needle shortly after this incident. I was hooked on the needle for the next two years before I finally came to Calgary and stopped all needle use.
Its not like I am blaming her for my addiction, it was just something I thought I would share with you, my reader. I’m just relieved that I can now close the book on that chapter in my life and trust me I have many chapters. As you will find out when my book is finally ready.
That’s all for now and I look forward to writing more blogs soon, and I look forward to your comments.
Thanks for letting me share this,
Tim Barber
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
The Beginning
Over the next couple of months I will be writing a lot more about the different shelters. I will be sharing my experiences of living at the various shelters. These shelters are Alpha House, The Mustard Seed, The Salvation Army and of course The Drop Inn Center.
To begin, would like to take you back to the late 1980's and early 1990's.
Back in the late 80's I used to be a frequent visitor at the Drop Inn Center. At the time the Drop Inn was just that. It was a place to come and socialize, play cards, use their laundry facilities and occasionally I would try to find day labor work through the labor office. Not to mention , I would also check out some of the clothing they had to offer. At that time the Drop Inn was just a warehouse, which to this day is is still used by the Drop Inn, mostly as their clothing store and as well as storage.
At the time I actually had my own 1 bedroom apartment that was all inclusive for only $450 per month.
The Drop Inn at that time was set up with about 30 tables for visitors to play cards and to have lunch and socialize. I would generally go to the Drop Inn at the time to meet friends, also for support and I found the staff very friendly back then compared to the new Drop Inn where I find the staff are not as personable as they could be. I think it is because of the enormous amount of people that actually frequent the Drop Inn nowadays.
In the late 80's early 90's, the only real addiction or substance abuse was alcohol and the occasional weed smoker.Back then there was not a very big demand for crack cocaine, that would come later on in time and in my opinion was one of the biggest contributors to people becoming homeless as well as the cost of housing rising dramatically.
Back then the Drop Inn usually housed between 20-50 people per night compared to the 1000 people that use the Drop Inn as a place to stay today.It was actually the Salvation Army Booth Center that housed the homeless for the most part in that day and age.
The Booth Center at that time was set up differently then it is today and I will talk about that in a later blog. Back then they actually had the TV room down in the basement where people could socialize and also read or play cards.
Back then The Mustard Seed was not well heard of and it would eventually become a very popular shelter to stay at and I will also discuss more about this shelter in a later blog.
Quick Note;
I will also be continuing with my updates of what is going on in my life and I encourage you to continue to check for blogs on a regular basis. That is all I have to say for now and I do look forward to my pursuit in life.
Thanks for reading,
Filled with HOPE
Tim Barber
To begin, would like to take you back to the late 1980's and early 1990's.
Back in the late 80's I used to be a frequent visitor at the Drop Inn Center. At the time the Drop Inn was just that. It was a place to come and socialize, play cards, use their laundry facilities and occasionally I would try to find day labor work through the labor office. Not to mention , I would also check out some of the clothing they had to offer. At that time the Drop Inn was just a warehouse, which to this day is is still used by the Drop Inn, mostly as their clothing store and as well as storage.
At the time I actually had my own 1 bedroom apartment that was all inclusive for only $450 per month.
The Drop Inn at that time was set up with about 30 tables for visitors to play cards and to have lunch and socialize. I would generally go to the Drop Inn at the time to meet friends, also for support and I found the staff very friendly back then compared to the new Drop Inn where I find the staff are not as personable as they could be. I think it is because of the enormous amount of people that actually frequent the Drop Inn nowadays.
In the late 80's early 90's, the only real addiction or substance abuse was alcohol and the occasional weed smoker.Back then there was not a very big demand for crack cocaine, that would come later on in time and in my opinion was one of the biggest contributors to people becoming homeless as well as the cost of housing rising dramatically.
Back then the Drop Inn usually housed between 20-50 people per night compared to the 1000 people that use the Drop Inn as a place to stay today.It was actually the Salvation Army Booth Center that housed the homeless for the most part in that day and age.
The Booth Center at that time was set up differently then it is today and I will talk about that in a later blog. Back then they actually had the TV room down in the basement where people could socialize and also read or play cards.
Back then The Mustard Seed was not well heard of and it would eventually become a very popular shelter to stay at and I will also discuss more about this shelter in a later blog.
Quick Note;
I will also be continuing with my updates of what is going on in my life and I encourage you to continue to check for blogs on a regular basis. That is all I have to say for now and I do look forward to my pursuit in life.
Thanks for reading,
Filled with HOPE
Tim Barber
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