STORIES OF VULNERABLE YOUTH IN

THE SHADOW OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT

We acknowledge that the land on which we
gather in Treaty Six Territory is the traditional
gathering place for many Indigenous people.
We honour and respect the history, languages,
ceremonies and culture of the First Nations,
Métis and Inuit who call this territory home.
COVER PHOTO BY: VICKI-LYNN MOSES
The Voices from the Street project is a partnership between Cynthia Puddu,
assistant professor at MacEwan University, Boyle Street Community Services and
the PLACE Research Lab. This project came about after youth and youth workers
at Boyle Street Community Services expressed concerns about the possible
impacts of the downtown redevelopment on their lives. The youth wanted to tell
their stories because they stated that people who have not lived on the streets
cannot know what life on the streets is like. They felt that no story is too small.
In the summer of 2016, several youth from Boyle Street Community Services
Youth Unit were asked to take photos that represented their experiences living
in downtown Edmonton. What came about were stories of how the changes
in downtown Edmonton have shaped their lives, stories of their day to day
struggles and challenges and stories of joy, resilience and hope. All the stories
presented are direct quotes from the participants.
Special thanks to all the youth who took the time to graciously share their
photos and stories.
 Interviewer: How much do you walk in a day?

Not as much as I used to. Back when I was doing

drugs... well they nicknamed [meth] ‘Go Fast’...gives
you energy, you know... one night I was on Whyte
Ave, I walked to the west side, back to Whyte Ave
and then back to the west side all in one night. Just
to deliver drugs.

PHOTO BY: H.M.

 They were shooting up. Down,
morphine. … this is my life…This is
what I do every day. You do need it,
so you’re not sick and dying, and in
the hospital. And cause I want it, it’s
addiction.

PHOTOS BY: S.O.

 …it totally represents the poverty and the injustice
in Edmonton.

… the youth unit gets flooded and then we have to

wait for them to sanitize it and stuff. And I think it’s,
its terrible…You know, but yet they’re over there
making that huge big new arena, and here we are
suffering on their path.

They’re taking over this block and they’re going

to fucking run us out of here, and they’re going to
be happy because they’re going to be making lots
of money.

PHOTO BY: VICKI-LYNN MOSES

 That one I kind of wanted to show because like downtown can
sometimes be like really messy and you, and just some kind of like
tough, and – and that I think is a good [representation] of things
that are very beautiful, you just got to take the time to kind of look
at it... So I thought well that’s kind of a hidden beauty that should
be shown to the world

PHOTOS BY: VICKI-LYNN MOSES

 I can honestly say this picture speaks volumes... On
one side of the picture you see Rogers place ( white
privilege) and on the other side you see Boyle street
Community Services (Homelessness) (I don’t mean to
offend anyone) but we desperately need a change.
People see what they want to see... What do you see?

#yeg #Rogersplace #edmonton #Boylestreet

#homelessness #dontjustlookattheprettysky #helpus

PHOTO BY: VICKI-LYNN MOSES

 I like seeing art like
this on the walls of the
city, you know…it gives
people the chance to
like express themselves
in different ways.

PHOTOS BY: SAM

 What me and my friends do when we’re out flail-
ing…It’s when we … get high …And they’ll jump
on the, on top of the handle…And they’ll be in this,
inside the clothing bin looking for clothes.

Yeah and you know that, that, that’s what a lot of

people do out on the streets, you’ll - they’ll jump in
clothing bins…See it’s, it’s very common out on the
streets…And sometimes you find really good clothes
in there.

PHOTO BY: SAM

 Hope Mission 24/7 Rescue van. 

The Hope van you know drives around and gives

like socks, bottles of water, sometimes food. Give
away supplies to people that use, you know, like
clean needles and everything…Either that you know
if they see someone drunk some where’s and they’re
unable to walk or whatever, you know they’ll drive
them to the Hope, take them to intox.

The last time they helped me was, I was on Whyte

Ave and the lights were on and I think it was the
cops, because I snapped out of it, you know, I back
to reality and I was just like I saw and so I put my
hands like this and they’re just like you know we’re
not cops, we’re here to help you out. I’m just like
well where are you taking me am I going to jail? And
they’re like no we’re going to drive you down to the
Hope, I was like oh okay. Yeah.

PHOTO BY: H.M.

 Boyle Street...It’s like my guest house. It’s a surprising zoo. Because you never
know what’s going to happen the next day, right… It helped me get a place, it
helped with ID. They found me a job.

… the staff are like my family. And I became really close to all of them, and it’s
hard for me to do that. And I love this place so much.

PHOTOS BY: H.M.

 Interviewer: Tell me what it means to
you guys – the youth unit?

It’s like a home away from home They

got laundry facilities. Good memories
there.Youth unit’s awesome, it rocks.

Interviewer: Why is it so important to

sleep at youth unit, for you guys, or for
the people that are there?

Because you’re tired…Because if you

have nowhere, nowhere else to go
and you’re tired. You can’t even sleep,
you can’t even sleep in a park without
cops waking you up and telling you to
leave. 

PHOTO BY: H.M.

 Those are my empties on the balcony.

Interviewer: So why are those empties

so important to you?

Cause I need money…To support my

addiction.

PHOTO BY: S.O.

 Those are my valium’s, I take those
for my DTs cause I get delirium trems
every morning…That’s a bunch of
needles and pill bottles, and rigs and
all of that stuff…And that’s for crack.

PHOTO BY: S.O.

 They were crying cause their friend died. 

Those are my dead friends that all died within the same week..

PHOTOS BY: S.O.

 Someone sleeping.

PHOTOS BY: S.O.

 That’s my paramedic, she comes here
and she checks on everybody. I love
her, she’s my favourite paramedic.
Cause she loves me lots and she’s
really nice.

PHOTO BY: S.O.

 It was a very beautiful day, I like the clouds behind
it and they had just finally put up the Roger’s Place
sign there. I think it’s – it’s kind of somewhat hard
to tell, but I think it’s going to kind of bring a bit of
trouble for the homeless community, so I can kind of,
unfortunately really kind of see it now.

Apparently it’s going to – crime rate’s going – crime

rate’s going to skyrocket. And with more cops on the
streets now and like, it’s just – it’s good but it’s bad.

I’m actually kind of worried because of the lack of

parking around the downtown area and how there’s
going to be lots of people using the LRT, and
possibly taking that path from Boyle to wherever and
I think it’s kind of concerning, especially when most
people don’t know how to interact with homeless
people…so I think we’re really going to see what
Edmonton and the police force, well what they do
honestly and how they handle situations.

PHOTO BY: VICKI-LYNN MOSES


I see a person trying to make a living
and bottle picking, they’re doing what
they can to survive.
Interviewer: Why is bottle picking so
important?
When I was near the end of the month
or the middle of the month and I was
really like, hurting and just you know I
couldn’t find or get money – that’s what
I’d do.
PHOTO BY: S.O.
It’s better than selling yourself… it’s
a way of making money you know.
You’re not robbing somebody, you’re
not stealing something to sell it. You
know you’re not trying to sell drugs or
something to make money.
it’s me contributing to keeping my city
clean, you know and I’ll go take em to
a place that actually recycles them.
Interviewer: Anything else you guys
want to say about this?
Try to avoid sleeping downstairs
the recycle bins. I feel asleep in one
recycle bin on Whyte Ave cause I was
cold. It was like 2:30, it was like 2:30
in the morning you know, it was cold,
I didn’t want to go downtown so I
hoped in that and fell asleep. I got
woken up the next morning to the
forks going right in the side and they
fucking dumped me in …Dumped me
in the back of the truck.
Yeah my friend in Winnipeg was died
that way.
Because sometimes people don’t like
going to … homeless shelters because
of like, they’re either barred or like
they have – people don’t like going
there, stuff
like that.
Interviewer: And so what, what
happens to you when you’re barred,
like what, what do you end up doing?
Well like you said you might sleep in
a bin
Walk, walking around to find a place
to stay. If it’s, if it’s summer you go
find somebody in a tent, somebody
that you know or something, or you,
you – what I did last summer when I
first became homeless, I’d sleep in the
stair – stairwells at city center. Go find
a place of like a air vent or an air duct,
you know, keep the cold off.
I’ve known people who they, they
break into abandoned buildings cause
they don’t know what else to do, or
they – they go, they put their selves in
uncomfortable situations to – to keep
warm.
Or I go with a man at a man’s place
and
Interviewer: Yeah. Do a lot of girls do
that?
Yeah.
Lost In a Place Called Life

Dropped off at the hope with a bag and a purse. A

smile on his face trying to hide the hurt, me holding
back tears to hide the anger and slightly fighting
the guilt that I felt. No one knows my pain (you may
only know my name) Words cut like a knife your
words stinging like a blade. No no no no I tried so
hard, I can’t seem to see. I fail yet again. No scars
to show my pain just the ones hiding away. I long
for a place where I can be safe.

Vicki-Lynn Moses
For more information about this project, please contact Cynthia
Puddu at pudduc@macewan.ca.

VOICES FROM THE STREET PROJECT PARTNERS:

FUNDING FOR THIS PROJECT WAS PROVIDED BY:

ICON: C=0, M=75, Y=75, K=0

TEXT: C=0, M=17, Y=100, K=65

Funded by the Government of Canada’s Homelessness Partnership

Strategy through Homeward Trust Edmonton’s Research Project
funding. The opinions and interpretations in this exhibit are those
of the researcher and do not necessarily reflect those of the
Government of Canada or Homeward Trust Edmonton.