University students give voice to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside
VANCOUVER, BC–Anthropology students at Trinity Western University are looking to change the world's perception of one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada.
Students in Claudia Launhardt's Anthropology 101 class at Trinity Western University (TWU) recently completed the final survey in what has been a four-year series designed to both implement change and correct the view of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTE).
“I work in the DTE with the homeless and addicted, and I see that the response of the media and those that live there don't match up," says Launhardt, co-operator of Ivanhoe Hotel, a private business founded in 2001 to provide single room occupancy to those needing shelter. “Ultimately, as a Christian, this is our job–to be a voice for the voiceless; to be an advocate for the poor and the needy."
The series was catalyzed in 2006 when mayor Sam Sullivan asked citizens for solutions regarding public disorder. Launhardt's students brainstormed, compiling several focal points including homelessness and shelter, churches, missions, mental and physical health, nutrition, gender issues, illness and the sex trade. Launhardt, in turn, used these focal points to create a unique anthropological program.
“What are your suggestions for changing or improving this troubled neighbourhood? That was the first survey," she recalls. The second followed Vancouver's bid on the Olympics in 2007, querying DTE residents on potential effects of the Olympics. Two years later, students asked locals for their perception of the Games, and then in December 2010, they asked residents if the promises made following the Olympics had become a reality.
TWU student Deana Brandt, a recovering drug addict who once lived on the streets of Main and Hastings, helped conduct the final survey. She says the project was a challenge. “Not only on a psychological level, but walking those streets I might as well have had drugs sitting right in front of me," she says.
Yet Brandt, recently accepted into ACTS seminary for an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy, felt encouraged after surveying organizations with hearts for the poor. “We need to strengthen our influence over the people that have control over the properties and over the people that have the power to make the decisions that impact the area."
Each of Launhardt's 34 students was assigned a number of interviews with local businessmen, street people, shop owners and tenants. In total, 257 individuals were represented.
One of five, fourth-year students to interpret and compile the surveys' findings, Brandt helped to present the results to the City of Vancouver. “There is a diverse group of people in the DTE that values taking ownership of their community," she says. “Not only are people concerned for themselves about the negative changes due to gentrification, but they are concerned for their neighbours. The DTE is as unique to Vancouver as any other part, and I believe the residents want to keep their uniqueness instead of moulding it into something else."
The presentation's underlying message: Now that we've seen improvement in housing and building structure, what about the people? How are you going to help them integrate back into society?
After four years of revealing the needs of the DTE to the city, “Many of our suggestions are being accepted and implemented," says Launhardt, including the development of a practical life-skills program to be offered through Ivanhoe Hotel.
Meanwhile, the urban anthropology professor continues to invest in youth, both on the streets, as well as in the classroom. “I see my students, who come [generally] from happy, secure Christian homes, and I see the same age group living on the streets because they come from broken families. I want to connect these two worlds with each other."
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