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Stepping into homeless shoes
Shelter director hits the streets to experience plight of the
downtrodden
By JEFFREY SIMPSON
Staff Reporter
 
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Michael Poworoznyk, executive director of Metro Turning
Point, shows two sides — the clothes he wore when he took to the
streets for a first-hand look at what it is like to be a homeless
person and his normal, daily attire. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)
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IT WAS ALL about putting himself in their shoes.
Michael Poworoznyk decided after accepting the job as executive
director of the Metro Turning Point homeless shelter last February that
he would spend a couple nights there.
He let his goatee grow a bit longer than normal and didn’t shave
for a few days. He donned a hooded sweatshirt and some baggy jeans.
And he borrowed old running shoes that were a size too small.
“By the end of the first day my feet were killing me and my knees
were sore," Mr. Poworoznyk, 36, said in an interview Wednesday.
Homeless guys typically spend a lot of time walking around. Police and
shopkeepers get on their case if they linger too long in one spot; they
often have nowhere specific to go because the shelter closes its doors
during the day.
So they’ll wander from the Turning Point in the city’s north end
to Spring Garden Road
in the morning for a bit of panhandling, ducking into the mall to warm up
if it’s cold outside. Then it’s back up to the north end for lunch at
Hope Cottage, before another walk downtown until the shelter opens in the
evening.
Mr. Poworoznyk realized after his first day of this he wasn’t
going to last in his current footwear. But he had no money. So he started
to ask around the shelter where a fellow could get a pair of shoes.
After a few suggestions didn’t pan out, a former lobster fisherman
from Newfoundland
approached him later in the evening.
“Hey, listen, brother," the man, who was in his 40s, said to
Mr. Poworoznyk. “I’ll give you a pair of shoes. I’ve got an extra
pair."
The man, who had fallen on hard times after getting divorced, had
obtained a pair of work boots a few weeks earlier to replace the sneakers
he was giving away. “I was never so glad to see another pair of size 11
dirty shoes in my life," Mr. Poworoznyk said. “They were in better
shape than the ones I had on and they were the right size."
The significance of the gift wasn’t lost on him.
“He did not have to do that," Mr. Poworoznyk said. “To me,
that’s an incredible story of generosity because I think of how often
these guys ask for a quarter on the street."
Finding out what services were available to people on the streets
was Mr. Poworoznyk’s intention in staying at
the shelter. He thought it would be a good
See ‘WE HAVE /B6
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The Halifax Herald Limited
05/11/2007, Page B01
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The Halifax Herald Limited
05/11/2007, Page B06
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‘
We
have a major housing crisis in Halifax’
continued from / B1
way to spot any problems and better understand what people are up
against.
The board of directors at the Turning Point knew his plan, but
staff didn’t and treated him like anybody else when he checked in, using
his real name. He was homeless himself at the time, in the process of
moving with his wife and two children from Hamilton, where he worked for the
city’s mission services. But he was in the middle of buying a house,
which made him feel a little guilty.
Most of the men at the shelter had no such prospects.
“It’s supposed to be an emergency situation to have people housed
there for very short periods," he said. “But we’re seeing guys now
who are staying much longer."
If they’re receiving social assistance of about $500 a month, they
simply can’t afford to stay anywhere else because it’s almost impossible
to rent an apartment for that much, he said.
“We have a major housing crisis in Halifax," Mr. Poworoznyk said.
“It’s a little easier in Toronto and Hamilton to find
affordable housing, but not much."
When he first stepped in to the Turning Point, he remembers
feeling a bit self-conscious.
“I felt like, man, I don’t know all the secret handshakes,"
he said.
The men watched him warily, eying him with suspicion because he
wasn’t from around town.
“It’s often the way those guys must feel when they’re sitting on
Spring Garden Road and everybody walks by and looks at them," he
said. “If a guy’s new on the street, man, they’re not letting you in on
what’s going on like that right away until they really know you’re not a
cop."
Men at the shelter have often had bad experiences with the legal
system. Some turn to crime because they’re desperate. Others do so
because they’re bored. And several of the men at the shelter obviously
had drug problems.
Mr. Poworoznyk said crack cocaine and crystal meth are common
among the men.
That might be shocking to someone not accustomed to that side of
life, but Mr. Poworoznyk has been working with the inner- city homeless
for 16 years. He once spent a week on the streets of Toronto to gain the respect of a young
person he had been helping out in his hometown of Kitchener-Waterloo. And
he grew up in a neighbourhood similar to Gottingen Street.
“This stuff doesn’t shock or disturb me in the same way it might
for someone from a much more affluent family."
He was most surprised by how hospitable the other people at the
shelter were, helping him find free meals and other services.
“You always find gems among the men out there, really kind,
caring; they have great manners," he said. “They’re great guys;
they’ve just had some struggles. They’ve been dealt some hard blows in
some cases. “Many people will assume that they make choices to get to the
street but there are many choices that are made for you that are out of
your control."
Mr. Poworoznyk borrowed some money and took the former fisherman
for a coffee at Tim Hortons the next day as
repayment for the shoes.
“He was initially going to give me the shoes for a couple
cigarettes, but I don’t smoke," he said. “He was very happy. It’s
amazing, the economy of the street. Friendship is worth quite a bit. The
two big enemies on the street are boredom and loneliness."
A week after his brief residency at the centre, Mr. Poworoznyk got
cleaned up and returned to reintroduce himself.
None of the men recognized him immediately, including the
Newfoundlander who had given him the shoes.
“I said, ‘I want you to know that I’ve been here before,’ "
Mr. Poworoznyk recalled. “ ‘I’ve been here last week and stayed a couple
nights and walked a few miles in your shoes — and I walked a few more
miles in someone else’s shoes.’ “I looked right at the guy who gave me
his shoes and he smiled as it dawned on him."
(jsimpson@herald.ca)
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Copyright (c)2007 The Halifax
Herald Limited 05/11/2007
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