A Closer Look...

Today, myself and all of the people going to South Africa with me went down to The Gateway homeless shelter (which is affiliated with The Salvation Army) at Richmond and Jarvis (Downtown/inner city Toronto). We begun the day with a quick briefing on people experiencing homelessness. Afterwards we met Anthony. Anthony was born and raised on the streets of Toronto. Living on the streets most of his life he explained to us that he was "criminally cultured", meaning that he knew how to deal with all the thugs and drug dealers roaming around at 4:00am and survive on the streets.

Anthony walked us around the downtown core. He really opened my eyes. He pointed out things and places that I always drive by, but never really look at. He told us things about the places we went to (places I usually drive by and pay no attention to) that shocked and horrified me. It amazed me how all of this illicit activity can happen all around me and I have no idea about it. I was shocked when I went to these places because they were within a couple of blocks of areas I usually hang around and areas I go to. In fact, he pointed out a lot of things in areas I do go to. This experience really opened my eyes to the reality of poverty in Toronto.

Unfortunately, I was told I was not allowed to take pictures on our "street walk" because they have had trouble in the past. But I hung around The Gateway after everybody left and snapped a few quick photos. Normally, I would not be comfortable hanging around such an area on my own, especially with an expensive camera, but today I learned that you need to be more trusting of people and give them a chance, You cannot just assume they are dangerous.

This photo is of a man who was washing car windshields at the corner of Richmond and Jarvis. He was standing there in the -20 degree, freezing cold all day trying to make some money. I asked him if he would allow me to take his photograph. Afterwards he asked if he could see it. I showed it to him and he looked shocked, it was almost like he forgot what he looked like. I will never forget that moment.