eleventh.transmission
Arts, Culture, Media, Activism
INTERVIEW
Experiencing Homelessness in Calgary
Interview with Frank Anderson and Alex Clark, two homeless Calgarians.
by Karina Ramdath
I’ve read the statistics. There are approximately 3400 people living on the street or in shelters, and 60% of
Calgarians are relatively homeless, which means they’re one paycheque away from being unable to pay their
bills. I hear the stereotypes; that is, the homeless are lazy, drug addicts, or alcoholics, and what I know about
homelessness comes from books, the media, and politicians. I wanted to know more about homelessness, but I
wanted to hear from the homeless themselves. With the help of Homeless Awareness Calgary and the Calgary
Drop-in Centre I was able to connect with Frank Anderson and Alex Clark, who answered my questions about
their experience of homelessness. The following is the interview:
Karina: How long have you lived in Calgary?
Frank: I’ve lived here for 5 years.
Alex: 11 years.
Karina: Where are you from?
Alex: I’m from Islay, Alberta. Population 500.
Frank: From Ontario.
Karina: How long have you been homeless?
Alex: I’ve been on the street for 40 years.
Karina: And do you guys work?
Alex: I work when I want to. Name a job and I’ve done it.
Karina: Restaurant.
Alex: Yes.
Karina: Doctor’s office.
Alex: No (laughs).
Karina: Labour.
Alex: Oh yes! I work with the union. I got first aid. I got certificates, 100% approved.
Karina: So what do you mean you work when you want to?
Alex: Well, because of the services the way they are, just to find a place is a 24/7 job. Second of all, because of
the condition that I am in, from 6 o’clock in the morning to 7 o’clock at night I have to try to stay safe, dry, and warm
and that’s a journey by itself because anywhere you go in Calgary at the present time it’s trespassing. And the
thing is, it’s not really trespassing. It’s just their way of making money or moving a problem off their street.
Karina: And Frank, do you work?
Frank: Yes, I do.
Karina: Where do you work?
Frank: I’m a roofer by trade, and a truck driver, and a carpenter. I’ve been a commercial fisherman, and in the
Northwest Territories I did some surveying.
Karina: You work right now?
Alex: No.
Frank: I work part-time and I took the day off to meet with you.
Karina: And Frank, I really appreciate it. What did you do before you came to Calgary?
Alex: For 25 years, I was a Carnival Manager. I designed, built, and invented games for the Carnival. Calgary
Stampede 2005 I just worked on the Centennial Project.
Frank: I worked as a roofer.
Karina: What made you decide to come to Calgary?
Alex: It’s the best place to be homeless.
Karina: It is? What do you mean by that?
Alex: Well, you can eat up to 9 times a day.
Karina: You eat 9 times a day?
Alex: No, but you can. And the weather, you get cold snaps, but not winters.
Karina: And Frank?
Frank: I was paid to come here.
Karina: What do you mean you were paid to come here?
Frank: An outfit saw me on the news in British Colombia, and they paid for me to come.
Karina: And you needed a job so you came?
Frank: Yes, and I got married here then divorced.
Karina: And what were your dreams when you came here?
Frank: A new start for me, I thought I’d get back in the groove, back in civil… came here to be civilised again.
Karina: And how long have you lived on the street, Frank? Alex has lived on the street for 40 years.
Frank: I’ve been on the street for 6 years.
Karina: And what are your dreams for the future?
Frank: Living down here, I can’t have any dreams about the future. I’m so used to people setting me back (shakes
head) so back. I just live day-by-day trying to survive.
Karina: So you think that people are working against you?
Frank: Well, in some cases yes. And no. There are a lot of good people who don’t want us here, and there are
some… I believe the city of Calgary is making money off of our misfortunes.
Karina: What are your misfortunes?
Frank: Well, I’m an alcoholic and a drug addict.
Karina: You’ve sought treatment?
Frank: No. I’ve gone through counselling, and I almost died here last year. I have Hepatitis C. I’ve been going
downhill fast.
Karina: Do you have support? Family?
Alex: No, I don’t have any relatives here.
Frank: No, I have family in Ontario.
Karina: How do you get support?
Frank: I get support from CUPS.
Karina: So do you think only certain people will look out for you?
Frank: Yes, I think so. I think the rest of the people are too ignorant to look at us. Right. It’s easier to throw a stone
at a wounded person than it is to throw a stone at a healthy person.
Karina: You think you’re not a healthy person?
Frank: Not in the sense of being stable in a community.
Karina: You would like stability?
Frank: Very much so, but I don’t see it happening in Calgary.
Karina: Alex said the best place to be homeless is Calgary, do you agree?
Frank: No I don’t. I don’t think being homeless is good at all. Period!
Karina: So what’s the reason you’re homeless?
Frank: Well, alcoholism and drug addictions. I’ve deteriorated if nothing else. Before I realised where I was, it was
too late. And to crawl back up, it’s hard. It’s a long struggle.
Karina: So if you don’t have any dreams, how do you work on getting out of here?
Frank: It’s a daily struggle. It’s a daily fight.
Karina: And what do you do everyday?
Frank: I work. I try.
Karina: Can you work full-time, or is it a choice?
Frank: I can work full-time, but the problem with working full-time is the situation down here. In Calgary, in any
shelter here the regulations are very strict. You have to be here at a certain time, chances are you don’t get to bed
until 10 pm. You sleep with 40 other guys snoring and talking beside you. You do not get the rest you need, for
one thing. Now the shelters are doing all they can. I think there should be a lot of changes to the system, make it
a lot more efficient, but as a homeless person you don’t have a word to say about it.
Karina: And Alex what are your dreams?
Alex: To be an advocate for the homeless.
Karina: So what would you like to see happen?
Alex: I’d like to see the community [Lynnview] that has 3312 empty houses sitting empty be turned over to the
federal and provincial governments, and turned over to non-profit organisations, and the people who are
homeless apply for housing in a long-term facility. The houses would be managed by the people that are doing
their schooling for criminology, health, like nurses. So not only do they get to develop their education, they also
get front-line experience, and they save their parents and the government system a whole lot of money for their
tuition.
Karina: Wow, you have a plan.
Alex: Yes, I have. The only reason it’s not being used right now is because of politics. If it was so contaminated
how come no health assessment has been done.
[Alex and Frank disagree about the housing in Lynnview. Alex thinks that homeless people would choose
housing in Lynnview over an alley. Frank believes homeless people would sue over possible contamination if
they moved to Lynnview.]
Karina: I’m glad to see that you have some ideas, but I really want to know about your experience. So Alex,
you say you’ve been on the street for 40 years.
Alex: I should probably say I’ve been running all my life… to stay safe.
Karina: So what’s the reason you’re on the street for 40 years?
Alex: Six-letter word. People aren’t listening.
Karina: What’s your responsibility in that?
Alex: To keep fighting otherwise I would’ve given up – alcohol syndrome or…
Karina: Are you an alcoholic?
Alex: I stopped drinking in 1988. July 1st 1988. I’ve never touched coke, crack cocaine, crystal meth. Working in
the Carnival, it came through us first because we worked with cash. I never touched it. Sixty percent of those in the
Carnival are runaways and they all used drugs, but I didn’t. My family is alcoholic and that’s the most shocking
thing about the whole thing is that I broke the chain. That’s what I’m proud of. I broke the chain.
Karina: So what’s the reason you’re still homeless? Do you ever see yourself as not homeless?
Alex: Well, no. I work and I take care of myself. What do I need money for? Money is the most evil thing that I can
get in my hands, in my case.
Karina: Frank, do you see yourself as not being homeless?
Frank: Yes, I do.
Karina: I know you struggle day-to-day, but what do you want if you could have it?
Frank: To be off the streets. To work and not drink, but I’m a functioning addict. But to have that opportunity to
depend on myself…right now I depend on the system. It’s a cycle.
Karina: One of the accusations against the homeless is that they’re lazy. They don’t want to get off the street.
Frank: It’s not that they’re lazy. Let me put it to you this way. I would say about one-third of all homeless people are
unable to substain a proper place of their own in this society, due to mental reasons or physical reasons. If you’re
paying $300 to rent a room, and the same amount for food, now that’s $600, I’m in the hole already, plus
transportation costs.
Karina: So do you think it takes just one thing before a person can be homeless?
Frank: Yes, I do.
Alex: We’re living in the richest city in Canada, and we have the highest rate of homelessness.
Frank: We have two-thirds who have no ambition. They know that someone’s going to feed them.
Alex: I don’t think they’re lazy. They’re in that position for a reason, and they’re caught.
Frank: They don’t have to go to work because the system supports them. And these people are young. They’re
healthy, young, active. It’s a choice they’re making.
Karina: So it’s your choice to be homeless?
Alex: No, it’s not my choice. But I want to be free.
Frank: Fear. People are afraid of failure. What would happen if they got out of here and then they had to come
back.
Karina: And what do you think people see when they look at you? When they see the homeless?
Frank: You know I saw a man outside a bank asking for money, and the other man spit on him.
Karina: And that hurt?
Frank: It did hurt. And the officers walking the beat did nothing to that man who spit on us. That is how I see it.
They don’t see us. Every homeless person is a human being, has a soul. You know up until last year, I had a
home. I had my own apartment, but I got sick and I could not sustain my own apartment.
Karina: What did you guys think about the controversy over The Brick?
Alex: Oh, I agree. For the money, they could have bought a warehouse. They bus the homeless to warehouses. I
don’t agree that it was dangerous for the people in the community. They’re not allowed to leave the warehouses
at all during the night.
Karina: What would happen if they left?
Alex: They don’t get the service.
Karina: What about if someone comes up to me and asks me for money for food or for the bus, should I give
it to them?
Frank: No. I would prefer the money. You never know. Everybody’s situation is different, but you don’t know. Give
him the bus ticket. If that’s what he wanted the money for he’ll use it. If not, he’ll go around the corner and sell it.
Alex: No, don’t give him the money.
Karina: What do you want people to know about the homeless?
Frank: That they’re people. We all bleed the same colour. We all feel the same things. We feel hurt and affection.
Alex: Look at the inside. Don’t look at the outside.
Karina: Thank you both very much.
When I walked into the Calgary Drop-in Centre to meet Frank and Alex, I saw many people lying on the floors.
Some were sleeping, some holding themselves against the cold. I felt loneliness hovering over them. One guy
was reading, and even though they were lying down, many people seemed to be waiting, just waiting. The
interview with Frank and Alex was an opportunity for me to meet people who live very differently from me, but they
told me that they don’t represent homeless people. Everyone’s situation is different. Still, hearing their story was
eye opening, reminding me how important it is to recognise the humanity of all people, no matter what situation
they’re in. As much as homelessness has been in the media lately, Frank and Alex said that with the exception of
a few people, no one asks them anything about themselves. No one sees them. As we left the Drop-in Centre,
Frank said to me “it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope next time we meet I won’t be homeless anymore.” I hope
so too Frank.
Related Links:
Calgary Drop-in Centre http://www.cdics.com/
Homeless Awareness Calgary http://www.homelessawareness.ca/
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