Victoria Wells – Journalist

Ronzig poses at the asleep in Toronto exhibit at the Leaside Public Library, January 2009. Photograph: Victoria Wells

By Victoria Wells

In March 2005, Ron Craven had to make a choice.

Ten years of homelessness and crack addiction had taken its toll. Weighing in at 90 pounds, Craven knew he would not be able to make it through another winter. But he needed to decide if he even wanted to survive.

“The bottom line was, ‘Do I want to live?’” said Craven, who now goes by the name of Ronzig. “If I wanted to live, I knew I had to quit drugs. You cannot get off the streets and still be an addict.”

Ronzig discovered that he did want to live. He got in contact with an outreach worker and from there, everything changed. Off the streets for almost four years, he now helps others tell their stories of poverty, homelessness and exclusion.

His experience was one of many shared at the Leaside Public Library on Thursday, Jan. 22 as part of the Asleep in Toronto and A Day in the Life exhibits. The library hosted a meeting with the directors and photographers involved in the projects, which examined homelessness in Toronto through the eyes and words of those living on the streets.

Portions of both projects were on display in the community room of the library for the month of January.

The exhibits feature the words and experiences of the homeless printed on banners representing blankets – a symbol of what it’s like to sleep in shelters or in makeshift squats on the streets. Black and white photographs, some with captions of their own, complement those words. In one photo, a person lies asleep, wrapped in a sleeping bag on the floor of a Toronto bus shelter. “Ontario, the place where poverty grows” is handwritten across the bottom.

In another, a figure sits alone on a park bench, the words, “When I was little, I never dreamed I would be on the streets” scrawled beneath his feet.
That’s a message participants hope viewers will take away from the exhibit.

Poet, artist and photographer Helen Posno spent 10 years fighting a deep depression that led her to the streets.  She said the project provided her with a way to share that message with the public.

“I took pictures of the feelings of people, the debris, what they left behind. I wanted to preserve people’s dignity,” she said. “I wanted to give people a sense that [homelessness] is just another human experience. It’s not something to be vilified or punished.”

Nancy Halifax was the director and “lead artist” of the projects, which ran for seven months in 2006. After securing funding from the Wellesley Institute and the Toronto Arts Council, Halifax joined with Street Health, an outreach centre in the downtown core, to recruit members of the homeless community to participate. Armed with cameras, the artists took photographs of what they felt represented their lives as homeless people. They met together after each session, dissecting their experiences and sharing their stories.

Halifax said the process was a transformative one for many involved.

“What mattered was giving people a voice,” Halifax said. “It was a really important part of their lives.”

Jim Meeks, now a peer outreach worker with Street Health, agrees. He said using photographs gave him and other members a way to show people who wouldn’t usually listen what it’s like to be homeless.

“Some of the stories are so harsh that people close down to them,” he said. “This was an opportunity to tell the stories in a different way, to have an element of separation so that people can take it in more comfortably and hopefully understand a little better.”

Meeks found himself on the streets after losing his job as a librarian following the Toronto amalgamation in 1998. He credits Asleep in Toronto and A Day in the Life with helping him to not only share his experience, but to make a difference in the lives of those still living without adequate housing.

“Without being a part of something like this, my voice would never be heard. Our voices wouldn’t be heard. (The project) showed us ways we could change our world,” he said. “It’s been an empowering experience.”

While the exact number of homeless people in Toronto is not known, The Street Health Report released by the organization in 2007 suggests there are more now than ever before. Its research indicates the number of people using shelters on any given night has tripled since a study done in 1992.
Halifax said programs like hers give the homeless a chance to express themselves at a time when the public would prefer to turn a blind eye to the problem. She believes long-term funding is needed for adult arts programs that help keep people healthy, both emotionally and mentally.

“Does creative development stop at a certain point?” Halifax said. “No. It keeps (people) going.”

And in turn, she said such projects bring added value to the community at large by contributing to arts in Canada.

Halifax hopes members of the public will come away from the exhibit understanding that homelessness is still a problem and one that shouldn’t be ignored.

“Things need to shift. We need to be active around social justice issues because it affects everyone we know,” she said. “Treat people with dignity and respect. Acknowledge them. Don’t walk by people like they’re invisible.”

Originally published in the East Toronto Observer, February 6, 2009.