Welcome Home …

With all of the focus on the lives of the homeless during the ongoing Abbotsford Homeless Crisis which started when the City of Abbotsford, with the agreement of the Salvation Army, dumped chicken feces on the homeless camp opposite the Sally Ann by the Honey Tree on Gladys Avenue on June 4th.

Just over three months later, the City of Abbotsford evicted those same citizens from the camp to which they had escaped and they moved back to the scene of the chicken manure dump.

Abbotsford Today Contributor Lily Kaetler went to the old camp on Gladys Avenue, the new camp on Gladys Avenue as well as a few other camps she discovered along the train tracks and throughout the City of Abbotsford.

Now that the homeless citizens of Abbotsford have gained an international audience for their plight and despite all of the efforts of the City’s Economic Development Department, Parks Department, Forestry Department, Bylaw Department – all of which were implicated in the Abbotsford Chicken Manure Homeless Incident – not only this summer but over the last decade or so, we thought a look at what home looks like to some citizens in Abbotsford might shed some light on the issue.

While Mayor Bruce Banman waxes poetic about the responsibilities of the homeless (carefully omitting those of the rich, the entitled, the police, the politicians, the Abbotsford Christian Leaders Network, the City of Character Council and the City of Abbotsford) it might give him pause the next time he tries to talk about obligations and responsibilities of the poor.

If you’re among the growing number of Abbotsford citizens who are one pay cheque or less away from the street …

Welcome to your new home from Mayor Banman …