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The Downtown East Side has the potential to reach greatness. Regarding the strategy of creating a coordinated social approach, the city of
Problem solving tactics/ what’s being done
Prevention: Promoting healthy families and communities, protecting child and youth development, preventing or delaying the start of substance use among young individuals, and harm reduction associated with substance use. This will improve the health and safety of the general population and reduce differences in health between social and economic groups.
Treatment: Offering individuals access to integrated services to come to terms with issues revolving around substance abuse. This includes counseling, life skills, methadone programs, daytime residential treatment, housing support, and ongoing medical care.
Harm reduction: Reducing the spread of deadly communicable diseases, preventing drug overdose deaths, increasing substance users contact with health care services and drug treatment programs. As well as reducing consumption of drugs in the street.
Enforcement: Recognizing the need for peace and quite, public order and safety in the Downtown East Side by targeting organized crime, drug dealing, drug houses, problem businesses involved in the drug trade, and improving coordination with health services and other agencies that link drug users to withdrawal management, treatment , counseling and prevention services.
The Four Pillars is a very useful tool to further development within the downtown east side residence. It provides society with four strategies which play a large role within the assistance of creating a safer and more welcoming environment. It managed to bring the coordination and cooperation among the different levels of governments and community organizations working in the Downtown East Side. The improvement within the Downtown East Side will not be a speedy process. It involves patience, time and the ability to become accepted into their environment in order to physically and emotionally connect with the individuals in that area code to discover what “they" feel would be an equitable and respectful approach. We must remember that in order to achieve permanent success there must be a happy medium between the residence in the downtown east side, the service providers, and the individuals attempting to create change. The four pillars is a simple solutions that when fully implemented will achieve the desired success.
Organizations involved within the improvements in the downtown east side
-The
-Strathcona Community Centre operated by the Vancouver Parks Board, offers fitness and martial arts classes, special events, a pre-school, after school care, general recreation, arts and crafts programs and free showers.
- Carnegie Centre serves food, provides live music several times a week and offers free art sketching opportunities.
- LifeSkills Centre offers activities such as arts and crafts, sports and special community events and lunches.
- LATSE Local 118 puts on annual turkey dinners and clothing give-aways at the park just before Christmas.
-The Downtown Eastside Women's provides the Relocation Project/Bridge Housing aids women in need of emergency housing.
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How can we get involved?
There are several organizations in which individuals can get involved with (stated above) on the journey to achieving success in the Downtown Eastside. Promoting the issue at local events, fundraisers and schools are ways in which local and non local community members can get involved to make a difference in the people's lives of this area. Making blog sites could assist individuals in understanding and awareness on the seriousness of the issues of the Downtown Eastside, and how it affects society as a whole. Individuals of different ages and gender, young and old can all contribute towards the continuous improvement of the Downtown Eastside. If there is a will there is a way!
Hi Selam,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your cartoon, it was eye-catching and a really creative way to present your topic.
I found it interesting that your father was involved in the community consultation that led to the Four Pillars concept. How did he get involved? Also, is his involvement in this issue part of the reason you chose it as your blog topic?
It's great to see how many organizations are already in place to help this issue. What I'm wondering is,how effective has the four pillars strategy been? Has the downtown eastside noticeably improved since its implementation? I'm wondering also what obstacles are preventing this solution from working. For example in your previous posts you talked about the lack of funding from the government for mental healthcare, etc., which is clearly a major obstacle.
Thanks Mina, my father is very involved with the downtown community, and is very familiar with the residence. But no that is not the reason I chose this topic, it caught my attention due to its severity. The four pillars is decently successful, the main problem is the enforcement. The development in the downtown east side is extremely slow due to the lack of government assistance. As you read in my previous post, the Downtown East Side needs more assistance, such as funds. This will push the developmental aspect towards a positive direction.
ReplyDeleteHi Selam, I enjoy your cartoon. It inspires to make one myself. I think its great that your family is involved in helping the downtown and that there is something done about it as i had very little knowledge about anything being done. As every other social justice issue the main point to helping is more awareness. As said in Mina's post its a social justice issue because its the minority and they don't have much of a say.
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