What do you think of when you hear the word community?

On occasion I’m invited to speak at gatherings or events. Earlier this month I made the drive out Whitemouth to speak at the annual Whitemouth Museum Heritage Day.

During the opening remarks, there was much talk about the community heritage and the memories captured in the museum.

Talking to some of the families that have lived in the area for generations, I gained a sense of the significant strength of the community. They have weathered storms, recessions, depressions and everything else life has thrown at them.

Driving home, I drew parallels to those experiencing poverty and homelessness in Winnipeg’s inner city.

Many of us take for granted our family, friends and community. Perhaps we assume we could have gotten to where we are without them.

Yes, we hear remarkable stories of people who lived on the streets and by own merit are now self-made millionaires. But those stories are rare in a supportive community, and even rarer among those who have experienced life on the streets.

Against all odds

Yes, some of us can — against all odds — pull ourselves up and make something of ourselves without any outside help.

But the truth for many of us is that without a good start in life marked by family and community support, life can overwhelm us.

Last Friday morning I was hanging out at Siloam Mission’s drop-in centre. All of a sudden, a woman started screaming and slapping a man. The ordeal lasted five seconds before she grabbed her bag and left, crying. She was very shaken.

At first I thought of all the things the man must have done to deserve the assault. Turns out he didn’t even know her.

He had eaten his breakfast next to her and when he left, he forgot his jacket hanging on the chair. A few minutes later he came back for it and asked the lady if he could get past her.

That’s when she responded in an out-of-control manner and took out her aggressions on him. She had already been crying before the incident and was obviously distressed.

Upon some investigation, I found out she had only been at Siloam for a few days. No one really knew her.

At any given time, one out of five people experiencing homelessness are women.

There are many reasons for this. Men feel safer on the streets than women and are more comfortable to travel across the country to look for work. When a woman ends up homeless, it usually means all supports are gone. Often times there are related mental health struggles.

When I talked to the manager of our shelter, Wayne Smith, the next day, he told me she had come back for a bed that night.

There is so much about her story we don’t know, so many questions. The only thing we do know is that it will take a lot of time, relationship building and trust to start helping her move towards a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Compared with the Whitemouth community and the generational support residents and families experience there, this woman lacked friends and family.

She lacked community.

— Floyd Perras is the executive director of Siloam Mission.

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