A Tale of Two Crises

By Daniel R. Y. Gan

This piece is an excerpt from the COVID-19 edition of the GRC News.

The concept of lifeworlds has been used in existential anthropology to describe the different physical, social and ideological realities in which we live. While most individuals in society live and breathe the same lifeworld, its coherence break at the margins of society—among the very rich, very poor, very sick and/or sociocultural minorities etc. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected our lives disproportionately. For some, it has been relatively easy to adapt and stay connected using technology; for others, isolation has been stressful, especially if appropriate help or technology are inaccessible; and for others, work continues or intensifies—often accompanied by more risks even if celebrated (e.g., healthcare workers, waste/recycling collectors). Despite these differences, most of us largely share the same lifeworld—public health announcements make sense to us. Whether on the giving or receiving end, most of us find ourselves fitting together in a coherent narrative—we will get through this pandemic together. 

Meanwhile, the pandemic has put unprecedented pressures on non-profit organisations serving the unhoused and precariously housed population in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). A significant proportion of the people served by these organizations are above 50, considered ‘older’ among this group due to lowered life expectancy. Systemic, spatial disadvantages make it challenging for these individuals to cope with life stress, which has been made more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic given reduced essential services and closure of places for intermittent rest. While the mass media reported some stories of human interest, it missed positive responses from the DTES community. For example, some news sources attributed heightened tensions to limited drug supply when borders were closed. Unreported was how more than 40 local non-profits came together to form rapid communication forums, sharing resources and needs in unprecedented ways. They were supported by peer workers recruited from the DTES community to carry out specific tasks, such as queue management, conflict de-escalation, and cleaning. At some point, in the words of staff at the Overdose Prevention Society, the streets had never been cleaner—despite occasional lapses of cleaning services by city contractors. Also hidden from public view was how COVID-19 infections had remained low in the community, perhaps due to lower risk in unconfined spaces and/or non-travel.

Thus, differing lifeworlds appear in many forms with often unanticipated consequences. For instance, most city-level pandemic communications have been targeted at the general population, and have not understood communication channels of the DTES disadvantaged groups, who often use word of mouth rather than new media. While many of us panicked and hoarded in early weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, some members of the local community at Oppenheimer were practicing Taiji, six feet apart from each other. One could think how it must have felt to be part of a public health decision, whereby one were to be forcibly moved away from the temporary homes and supportive connections that they had created for themselves. And one could also imagine how bewildering it must be that other unhoused persons beyond Oppenheimer might not receive the same benefit. In the quote below, Kris Cronk, a DTES community member, expresses an alienated sense of self, arising from a feeling of estrangement common among unhoused persons.

In adverse psychosocial landscapes, it is difficult for a community to adapt to change without trusted local actors (Gan, 2019). Unless we live in the same lifeworld, the help one offers could be perceived as threatening especially when the exchange is not mutual (Neufeld et al., 2019). We must ask: Is this a shared agenda? What emotional labour might be required of the community? Are there issues beyond my purview that is clearly within the purview of the community? These are necessary questions especially when our lifeworlds differ, and when community members have experienced vicarious trauma amid the overdose crisis. To build trust, interventions in the DTES require communicative action. Relationships forged and consents sought by workers from Carnegie Outreach were probably instrumental in averting negative outcomes from provincial action at Oppenheimer. 

In the words of Julia Aoki, Executive Director of Megaphone, a community magazine, “the largest upheavals to our social lives are made up of so many adjustments and pivots in our experiences and perspectives … Some of the deepest learnings we can take right now come from looking at this moment from the perspective of another person” (2020, p. 5). Perhaps we could start by admitting that we do not know best—while seeking the good of the other. Along East Hastings a block away, the need for dignified housing for unhoused persons remains as a salient issue that the pandemic has once again revealed (York et al., 2019).

Daniel thanks Anne Park and Stephen Rathjen for feedback on earlier versions of this article, Joben David (Jacob’s Well) for volunteering opportunities, and Andrew Wister and Don Shafer for editorial suggestions. Today, Kris is a writer for Megaphone and a member of the Speakers Bureau team, sharing lived experiences for open dialogue around complex issues of homelessness. Support Megaphone and Voices of the Street here: https://megaphone.nationbuilder.com/electronic_single_issue 

References:

• Aoki, J. (May, 2020). Sharing new perspectives in Voices of the Street. Megaphone, 231, 5. 
• Cooren, F., & Fairhurst, G. T. (2008). Dislocation and stabilization: How to scale up from interactions to organization. In L. L. Putnam & A. M. Nicotera (Eds.), Building theories of organization: The constitutive role of communication, pp. 117-152. New York: Routledge.
• Cronk, K. (2020). If I had been born in some ancient village. Voices of the Street 2020: Envision, pp. 49-50. Vancouver: Street Corner Media Foundation.
• Gan, D. R. Y. (2019). Pathways between neighbourhood experiences and mental health among community-dwelling older adults: towards an urban community gerontology (Doctoral thesis). 
• Neufeld, S. D., Chapman, J., Crier, N., Marsh, S., McLeod, J., & Deane, L. A. (2019). Research 101: A process for developing local guidelines for ethical research in heavily researched communities. Harm reduction journal, 16(1), 41.
• York, F., Grant, E., Liu, C., Meza-Wilson, A., & Nicholson, C. (2019). Housing and Mental Health. Vancouver: Cargenie Community Action Project and Gallery Gachet.