'There's a lot of heart down here, but there's a lot of sadness too': Woman describes Christmas in a shelter
Robyn Massey lives in a women's shelter in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. She called into Checkup's Christmas Eve show to talk about how challenging this time of year can be for people who are homeless.
But after "many Christmases" Massey has found renewed hope after reconnecting with her own family. And through the various events and classes she attends, Massey has also found a family within the community around her.
"You never know who you're going to meet at these get togethers," she told host Duncan McCue.
Massey says there is "a lot of heart" in her shelter of 52 women, but "a lot of sadness too."
'The poorest postal code in Canada'
Well I'm living in the downtown eastside in a women's shelter and I'm spending Christmas here with 51 other women.
And for those who don't know the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver is the poorest postal code in Canada so there's a lot of dispossessed people down here. There's a lot of disenfranchised people. There's a lot of disfunction down here.
So Christmas can be an eerie day. When you look out on the street people are just shuffling from place to place.
There are some centres that offer meals, but unfortunately a lot of people don't have family and it's hard for people to connect in the way that I grew up with Christmas with my family.
There's a predominance of male residents down here, so that's a factor too of people kind of keeping to themselves.
It can be quite a challenging day to get through.
'It's been a miracle'
Leading up to Christmas I have a friend who's a pastor and he does a lot of celebrations of Blue Christmas in the downtown eastside. That was my tradition for a number of years while I was down here.
But this year, even though I'm in the shelter things in my personal life are going a lot better. I've reconnected with family that I was out of touch with for a long time for various reasons.
It's been very emotional. It's been a miracle that I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. I thought that I would just grow old on my own. But many Christmases, many seasons of Easter, and all the celebrations, just got to my heart year after year. Forgiveness is possible, especially at this time of year.
My grandmother is 96 years old and she won't be with us much longer, so I'll be calling her. I'll be calling my aunt, my mother, some cousins in Alberta. And this is all new, within the last six months to a year.
'You never know who you're going to meet'
Usually my Christmas tradition, along with Blue Christmas, was just taking a pill and going to sleep and trying to get through the day feeling quite badly. Believe it or not, being in this shelter and having other people around me is buoying up my spirits.
I belong to a meditation centre and we had a beautiful chanting program this morning, early in the morning. And I got two invitations to spend part of Christmas day with another family, so that was a real blessing to me.
Friends that I've made through different support groups, my pastor friend took me and another friend out for a brunch this week and covered the cost of the meal
I've had invitations to do crafting at people's houses. You never know who you're going to meet at these get togethers.
There's a lot of heart down here , but there's a lot of sadness too.