Last updated:  Sept 03/10  

North Point Douglas Seniors Association

Seniors With  ATtitude

  Aka… North Point Douglas Seniors Association

By Chris Burrows

On less formal occasions I like to use our SWAT letterhead.  It’s more fun than our serious NPDSA.

This is a report on the activities of SWAT during the spring and summer.

Rob Forbes has been delivering food, usually on Sundays, donated by a big store to local seniors in North Point Douglas and also to the seniors living at 817 Main.

Earlier we had brought in a large number of pocket books to start a library for residents of 817 Main Street. Manitoba Hydro had already donated us some shelves and tables which were gratefully received.

As soon as the renovations to the Common area are complete we will be receiving more pocket books from Chris Melnick (MLA) Minister of Water stewardship. We have also been offered the volunteer services of an experienced librarian.

A donated TV has been used upstairs for watching TV as a group rather than all alone in an apartment.

A number of residents had deplored how dirty and unattractive the area around 817 looked, so we bought some brooms, rakes , bin and garbage bags, and volunteers are cleaning up for a small honorarium.

We have learned that there is a strong city policy enforceable by the police, called Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) that suggests that clear sight lines prevent crime and make people feel safer.

 So another very important joint action of SWAT with the help of the Green Team was cleaning up the dangerous overgrown lot next to the old yellow warehouse to which a couple of years ago a young woman was dragged and raped.

With the help of our Green Team we were able to plant some shrubs and flowers around the outside of 817. Thanks to Eric Dihic of Primal Construction for a free yard of topsoil. Trying to organise accessing the hose to water the plants was a bit challenging but working with people of good will, a way was found.

We were helping water one day when a woman who resides at 817 said “I love the flowers. I never thought I would ever live in a place with flowers in front”.

It was a wise elder who made the remark about walking in someone’s Moccasins for one day before passing judgment.

Sitting with our new friends in front of 817 gave us a snapshot of everyday life for residents of 817 Main, it is depressing. Drunks stagger about with bottles or cans of beer on the street in full view of everybody, they are so drunk they vomit and urinate in full view too.

It is unbelievable on Main Street one of the busiest thorough fares of Winnipeg it is as if the usual laws we live by just didn’t apply. It is a tragic reinforcement for visitors of our dubious honour of now being the violent crime capital of Canada.

Right next door to the seniors building, drugs were being sold out of a little window, just like those stores that sell ice cream out of a window at the beach. The residents said “Oh yes that goes on 24/7”. We said we would try and help out thru the Powerline and ask the police to get involved. The residents just laughed.

A few days later we went back, many of the residents were still astounded as the place next door had been raided not once but twice by our police officers. The by-law officers had also visited as living conditions at that address were horrible too.

We have just bought a barbecue for the building with a hefty lock and chain so it does not wander. Today it is going to be used in a grand barbecue event.

We had donated two older sewing machines which we took over to   Ruth a lady at 817 and she will be organizing a sewing club, donations of cloth, thread and scissors would also be greatly appreciated.

Yesterday we were offered the chance to be one of the recipients of the “Share the Warmth” event that was so successful last year in North Point Douglas. We eagerly accepted as I am sure there are many elders whose winter will be warmer and brighter with a new coat or jacket.

We were given 50 tickets to a Bombers game by The Liquor Commission and with the help of WASAC (Winnipeg Aboriginal Sports Achievement Centre) who have young people able to drive buses; we will be able to get the seniors to a Bomber’s game in October.

 SWAT with SISTARS still believe in Barber House, we are fully in support of SISTARS efforts to raise enough money to restore Barber House. We hope to bring the outside of the house back to its original state; the inside will be an open area for NPDSA/SWAT activities.

The board of SWAT is comprised of seniors (65+) and our objective is Seniors Helping Seniors and it is very satisfying.

To contact the North Point Douglas Seniors Association, call Chris or Sel Burrows at 956-4090 or drop in to  40 Grove Street, Winnipeg. MB. R2W 3K7

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