E075 Ross Earnshaw Addressing Homelessness
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 74
Date: July 4, 2023
Participants: John Webster, Isabelle Sinclair, Cameron Earnshaw and Sheila Webster
Guest: Ross Earnshaw
Start times and Segments:
[0:00:35] What’s On Your Mind: Isabelle had people call her wishy-washy for changing programs at university. She’s moving past that and staying positive. Journaling helped in the process.
[0:11:43] Expanding Minds Interview: [Social Wellness] City Councillor Ross Earnshaw returns to talk about the homelessness crisis. This time we hear about initiatives aimed at making things better, including sanctioned outdoor encampments, consumption treatment services sites (some with attached wrap-around services) and supportive housing. Waterloo Region is at the forefront of some of the initiatives aimed at alleviating the crisis. It’s pioneering sanctioned outdoor encampments. In some cities like Guelph, if someone attends at a safe consumption site and thinks, “I really hate this lifestyle and I want to escape from it”, help is literally two steps away. It’s adjacent to the treatment room. There’s a mobile connection to a local psychologist or psychiatrist who can immediately prescribe appropriate medication to assist in the rehabilitative effort.
[0:31:57] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron is waiting to hear back on a number of projects and auditions. It feels like hurry up and wait. He heard back on one of his contributions. Check out WDYTMF [What do you take me for] by the Silvertone Hills.
[0:35:45] Move That Body: Sheila’s motto./ advice is not to be discouraged when you’re feeling discouraged after not working out for a while. Go workout and break the negative cycle. You’ll feel better.
[0:39:36] Running Popup: It’s “Rebirthday” number 7. This year was the toughest. It felt good to keep a streak alive to get to another rebirthday.
[0:42:41] Flipside of the Coin: Please don’t wear your shoes in Sheila’s house. It creates stress and anxiety.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
Isabelle – Being a young adult is hard enough. I just need to chose not to care about the negative connotations people may have about me and my career choices.
John – Choosing not to care, and not being affected are two different things.
Ross – One of the things I’ve learned is that it’s important to talk about lived experience, and I haven’t had lived experience in a sanctioned encampment. I’ve learned to talk to people who have. It’s startling the perspective you get.
Ross – Waterloo Region is the first, as far as I know in this area and possibly in North America, to pioneer the concept of a sanctioned encampment.
Ross – The proper name is not safe injection site, but rather consumption treatment services site. It’s a safe place where under the supervision of medical personnel, persons who wish to use some kind of drug in some fashion can do so in a safe environment. If something happens that is adverse, there is a medical right there ready to assist.
Ross – Some people are of the view that people should be forced into rehabilitation. Everything I’m told by the experts in the field is that forced rehabilitation doesn’t work at all. A person must want to have some help.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by John: Suck it up buttercup. Stop whining.
Guest Information: Cambridge City Councillor Ross Earnshaw studied Music, Science and Law, before an exemplary career as a litigation lawyer in Waterloo Region. I worked with Ross. He was and is a mentor to me. He held executive positions with the Waterloo Region Law Association, the Law Society of Ontario, and the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. He was a board member with the Law Foundation of Ontario, an organization devoted to increasing access to justice for vulnerable and marginalized elements of society. After 40 years, he retired from the practice of law. He ran for and was elected as a Councillor in 2022. He’s passionate about his community and the people living in it. In his spare time, he enjoys biking and hiking the trails in and around Cambridge with his life partner, Suzanne. He has two adult sons, including our very own Starving Artist, Cameron.
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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle and Julie