Covenant House Vancouver

During work one morning, I was going about my day as usual, saying hey to all the youth that were in and then I saw one that always manages to put a smile on my face. When one thinks about a person who makes them smile they usually think cheerful, chipper, and smiley; however Ron is the complete opposite. Ron is one of the grouchiest youth I've ever met yet I still manage to laugh every time I see him. In fact, it puts such a smile on my face that I go the extra mile with an unusually chipper morning greeting only to hear something grumbled in return.

Here's a little background on Ron from what I know. Over the past two years Ron has lived on the streets. When I say lived, I'm talking about living and sleeping in back alleys while getting soaked in the rain, dumpster diving, smelling like the space he slept in the night before, while suffering from an addiction to crystal meth. The street has formed Ron and his lack of social skills can at times rub people the wrong way. Over the last year of knowing Ron, there has only been an occasional moment when I have seen beneath the tough skin he wears to a softer side and when it does emerge, it lasts only a second and then it's gone.

That morning I was speaking about earlier was the morning Ron walks up to me and very matter of fact, without any emotion, grumbles out the words of wanting to get on welfare and get a house. At first I'm taken aback because it was Ron asking. He's lived on the streets as long as I've known him. I wonder what the reason is behind his sudden change of character; however, I don't question his statement. I just tell him okay. Let's go down to the welfare office. (click on title to read entire posting)

The welfare office was another experience in itself. First off as we enter through the doors of the office we are greeted by long line up that will take a significant amount of time to get through. I could almost sense Ron was beginning to sweat bullets as everything in his body wanted to run. He began shifting his weight and aggravated, patience wasn't his strong suit. I think there was even a moment when he was ready to head out in a fury but I encouraged him to stay. As we finally met the clerk in the front, Ron muttered out the only words of needing a place to live. That's it.

The clerk acknowledged his request and she handed us some paperwork to start the process. As you read this you might think how simplistic this process is; however, Ron has been living on the streets for some time and is almost completely illiterate. He complained during the whole time he had to fill out the form about how stupid the process was but I just kept thinking what a big step this was for Ron in his life. If the process went through, for the first time in a long time, he would actually have a home.

The next few days consisted of paperwork, doctor's appointments, and more meetings with the welfare office. There were a few things Ron had to do on his own before going back to the welfare office like getting his taxes done by himself and making it on time for meetings. At one point I was concerned he might not get the information he needed from other parties because of his lacking patience and lacking social skills; however, with every step along the way, Ron succeeded and accomplished everything which led up to the day we had to go back down to the welfare office for the final stages.

On that Thursday morning, the day of the appointment, I told Ron to meet me at Covenant House for 10 am. I emphasized how important it was to be on time for this meeting as it would mean the difference between getting on welfare or not, even 5 minutes would be a determinant. He seemed to understand. However that morning, at 10:15 am Ron strolls into Covenant House with his skateboard, which isn't that surprising in street kid time. Without saying too much we ran out and made our way to the Welfare office, the bus system was our only hope of getting there on time. As we were waiting for the bus to come all of a sudden Ron disappears on his skateboard. At this point there wasn't much we could do but to still go down to the Welfare office and hope Ron would be there.

The bus system seemed incredibly slow that day so as soon as the bus let us off my partner and I ran to try to make it to the Welfare office within 5 minutes. It would be close but if we were late, even if it was a matter of minutes, our appointment could be cancelled. As I was running I was praying Ron would show up and he would be there waiting. I reached the doors of the office at 10:30; however Ron wasn't there but I ran in and explained to the clerk the situation and she agreed to wait. 5 minutes later he showed up on his skateboard nonchalantly and signed the papers he needed for completion. He was accepted to the welfare program and within a week for the first time in a long time, Ron had a place where he could call home.