QR codes in New West highlight personal stories of homelessness

Editor's note: some of the stories we're about to share include discussions around alcoholism, abuse, residential schools, and the ’60s Scoop. A warning that the mentions might be triggering for some of our readers.

If you've recently walked along the bridge connecting Quayside's River Market to downtown's Columbia Street, you may have seen a blue sticker with a QR code.

The sticker and the code are part of an initiative by the Union Gospel Mission (UGM). Intersections: A Campaign About People invites the person who scans the code with their smartphone to consider stories of the unhoused when thinking about local political issues. Scanning the code will also take you to a page where people have opened up to share their experiences being homeless.

Meet the people who shared their experiences. Click on their names to read their full stories.

• Maria: Maria grew up in an affluent family in Vancouver's Kerrisdale neighbourhood, and in the Greek community. Maria says her father believed in hitting her, and she was later abused by her spouse. She turned to alcohol to cope. "I just wanted to be numb. As numb as possible, as fast as possible." She'd been taking care of her elderly parents last year—including a mother who had severe dementia—when she woke up to a fire in her home. While she managed to find space at a shelter, she says the experience was terrible. "My room was broken into and so was the locker I was storing my belongings—everything, my purse, my birth certificate, it was all in there and it was all stolen." Along with navigating the system to obtain her important documents, she's been working to get sober, but wanted to share her story so that people would understand the need for less judgement when speaking or thinking about people who are homeless.

• Grace: Grace grew up in Yarrow and Abbotsford, and only recently found out she had been a part of the ’60s Scoop. Grace struggled with her sense of belonging, and began drinking at the age of 14. She's been displaced the last six years, living in a tent with her partner in Abbotsford, but is working hard to repair her relationships with her kids and grandkids. She wants people to know that the issue of homelessness isn't fixed by advice like "get a job" or applying for housing. Grace hopes that through this project, people will be more open to getting to know those who are unhoused, and understand that anyone can end up in the situation she's in.

• John: John is a proud Mission guy, born and raised near the original Mission Hospital. He is Xaxli'p and belongs to the Lillooet Nation in the Interior. Like other families, John moved to Mission because of the St. Mary's residential school. John explains that many were sent there and so families like his came and stayed. While he was a business owner in the restaurant industry, he struggled with alcohol, using it to escape the traumas of his childhood. That combined with an accident that left him with a neck injury, and the attempt to navigate a system to obtain income assistance eventually culminated in his first experience being homeless with one of his kids.

"We went to four different municipalities in Metro Vancouver to put up QR codes ... to really create bridges between people's stories and the issues that are going on in our communities," explains Rachael Allan of UGM. Allan says the intent was to have them up ahead of the election so that people would vote with homelessness in mind, and according to her, many people pledged to do so.

"The election was right at the end of Homelessness Action Week, so it coincided perfectly for us," says Allen, who says nearly 900 people signed up for the campaign, pledging to vote with homelessness in mind.

The bridge connecting River Market to Columbia Street isn't the only place you'll see the codes, as Allen says locals will be able to spot them outside places like local coffee shops.

"Old Crow [Coffee Co.], Hive Cafe, New West Public Library, [Centennial] Community Centre ... Take 5 Cafe in Sapperton, so they're dispersed all throughout the city," says Allen.

As some of the three participants mentioned, Allen people will also read these stories with some space for reflection. With some of the difficulties linked to inflation and affordability, Allen says these are also people who have done their best to stay afloat.

"I think we can all feel that sinking feeling in our own stomachs when we see gas prices rising, or you're at the grocery store and food costs more than it did the last year before," Allan says, noting that the intent is to help folks understand that these issues hit everyone hard, including those who are marginalized. "By sharing stories of these folks, of having this QR code campaign, the goal is to highlight how ... we're all [in this] together."

Allen says she's encouraged by the campaign, adding that they've been engaged in conversations with people while they've been posting the QR codes.

"In New West, when I was going to different coffee shops and community centres, putting these up it was cool to kind of imagine who was going to come by and talk to the barista ... and then knowing that they're thinking about [the QR codes and the stories] now. I think it's just getting the conversation out there; we're trying to start to change the conversation."

If you'd like to learn more about the campaign, visit UGM's page.