I do not believe the mentors would have made it without the social worker providing clinical supervision. As I work with individuals with chronic addiction/mental health issues i came to realize they makehanges to their situation only when they decide their present situation is no longer attenable. I was pleased that the doc showed the mentors coming to this realization.

A majority of long term involved folks have chronic mental health issues resulting from childhood trauma, abuse, and self esteem issues. These are not changed in the short term or on another person's time agenda We need to provide long term support and advocacy to alter social welfare systems. For example, the aboriginal fellow's objection to receiving welfare was not only based on a perceived paranoic reason but based on the history of his peoples with the social welfare system that had disastrous impact to his grandparents and parents' generation.

working with opiate addicted persons is extremely frustrating as they are often very adept at getting their next use to the detriment of food, shelter, and their own values. When the addict said the mentor would learn a lot from him I fouund this to be a valid statement at the time he said it as the mentor was not getting his reality.
Good effort.

What struck me to the core after watching The Devil Plays Hardball was that society really has very little to offer the homeless. In our arrogance we point to our houses, and our jobs as though we've managed to find the best way to live out our days on earth. It is a tattered flag we wave, and no wonder the homeless balk at the chance to join us.

I watched the documentary last night and was facinated by it. I happen to work in the community mental health and addictions field.I told my co-workers about it and they are interested in having a copy as an educational piece.How can we obtain a copy of the documentary?

An excellent film and kudos are deserved all round.

I don't know what kind of viewership it will have had, airing at that time on a Sunday evening, so I hope it will be broadcast several more times with a little more publicity and promotion.

I wouldn't have known about it at all without a 'heads up' from one on the mentors who is a friend of mine.

It is troubling to me that our public network doesn't put the same effort into advertising this kind of work that it has lavished on several of the corporation's recently cancelled and highly touted flame-outs - J-pod, for example.

This kind of documentary is especially valuable because it deals with the reality of the residents of the DTES - taking the camera inside the Flea-bag hotels and down the alleys and streets of East Vancouver both day and night and in all kinds of weather. It should be a revelation to anyone who thinks solving homelessness is a simple matter or that the people we try so hard to ignore aren't human beings who deserve more than dismissive lip-service.

The most depressing part of the whole experience for me was the evident bureaucratic inertia and resistance of the provincial welfare infrastructure; the interminable waits, the long lines, the lack of accountability. The patience and commitment of the film's volunteers who stuck with this assignment over 10 months was touching and admirable. And, given the character of the people involved, I suspect that commitment hasn't ended yet.

This province has a lot to live down and the fact that there are now between ten and fifteen thousand homeless people living on streets ought to make the inventors of that stupid phrase 'best place on earth' very embarrassed.

Please CBC - show it again - and folks, please watch. Along with the Olympic apple polishing, it would be good to know that the public isn't totally ignorant of the rot and hopelessness hiding behind the glitz.

Thanks to everyone involved.

A little less management fascination with emulating American TV and return to what CBC does best is long overdue - this could be the start of something good.

I am so greatful that I randomly decided to check out what was on the Passionate Eye last night - what a FANTASTIC documentary!

I volunteer in a homeless shelter here in Ottawa that houses women struggling with a variety of issues, many of those included in this documentary (mental illness, addiction, etc.). Every time I leave the shelter I am plagued with this "I need to do more, what can I do?" feeling...it's so awful!

I often wondered what it might take to help turn one of these lady's lives around and if one person alone could do it - I think I have found my answer! Unfortunately the answer is - no (in some? most? cases?)! I am realizing more and more with each visit to the shelter that homelessness is a COMPLEX issue... no one person is the same, and no one solution will fix everything!

I would say that we must advocate for better mental health services, better housing services, better addiction rehabilitation services, etc, etc etc... but even with those in place the question is - will people accept the help? As we saw in this documentary, this is not always the case!

Is there a solution?

In our own personal lives we should always be aware of these individuals and treat them with the same kindness and compassion that we would like to be treated with. Lend a helping hand wherever possible...support the organizations in your community that are working to help these people.

Thanks CBC once again for airing such a fantastic doc!

Well I'm glad to see that you are trying to help people get off the streets. That is something positive for sure. But after watching Dance the young native man I was furious. He told his mentor that if he signed a government document that he would loose his aboriginal rights. But obviously he must have been told this at some point in his life.

Then as I continued to watch I was made aware of the fact that he was in residental school.I feel like this day in age we are all aware of how our government has literally screwed the aboriginal people and still continue to do so on a daily basis.As well as all aboriginals that have attended residental schools were physically and mentally abused repeatively. Therefore I would have been alot happier to see Dance's mentor probably get another aboriginal person to help him build some trust with Dance.

Here in Yellowknife the majority of our aboriginal population that attended residental schools received a settlement from the government for the torture they were put through in their life. Which is how our government has always dealt with people like Dance.

I would seriously suggest that the mentors watch the movie Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.. This will give you some insight on what the aboriginal people have been subjected to in their life at the hands of our government and by us not changing the hand of time to go out of our way and to stop this we are not making any differences in any of their lives.

I would have liked to see the mentor try a little harder and maybe use some source to break the barrier with Dance and gain his trust. Therefore he may have been successful. I would then have felt like this was positive because it would have been breaking a trend of dis-trust between the both cultures.

Not trying to rain on your parade but I'm quite sick of how white people treat aboriginal people and I do support them when they speak up for themselves and I feel bad that I'm white sometimes knowing what our culture has done to them and they destroyed the lives of thousands of natives. I wouldf like to have a response if you are interested but if not your the same as all the rest of the white people that screwed them to begin with. Thank-You from a big hearted newfoundlander living in Yellowknife for 14 years and treated as if I was here all my life.

I found "Devil Plays Hardball" to be an insightful glimpse into the lives of those who live on the street. A few years ago, I had the unique opportunity of spending an evening on Vancouver East Side with Agape Street Ministry....what an eye opener to meet face-to-face with real people who are struggling with addictions, history of abuse, etc.
Here in Yellowknife there is an increasing number of people who spend much of their time on the street, despite our harsh winters.
Let's hear more of the wisdom of Judy Graves.

For the average citizen there are many other ways to contribute to the solution of homelessness and poverty besides mentoring a street person. I felt sorry for the mentors and the frustration they experienced in making so little progress over a 10 month period.

Average citizens should leave the complicated social assistance work to the professionals like Judy Graves who reportedly places one person per day into housing and points them toward assistance. She is 300 times more effective than the 10-month ordeal of the documentary mentors.

The report 'Mayor's Task Force on Breaking the Cycle of Mental Illness, Addictions and Homelessness - A Victoria Model' states that homelessness in Victoria is the result of deinstitutionalization of mental care, harsh provincial social assistance policies and senior government neglect of affordable housing. The report recommends ACT teams of professionals who can place the homeless in housing first and then help them access assistance in a coordinated way from health agencies.

Average citizens can contribute effectively by volunteering with social assistance agencies to get first-hand experience and by letter writing to government asking them to change policies for more assistance for the mentally challenged, raising the basic social assistance rate ($550/month in BC) and urging senior governments to fund social housing.

After recently watching another CBC documentary, Canine Confidential, which showed how much pet owners spend on their beloved pets, the plight of the homeless in Canada stands out even more. Caring adequately for animals is very important, but we must not turn our backs on human beings. It is also well known, but always worth repeating, that many of our street people are suffering from serious mental illness. When will society find a better way to reach out and help our brothers and sisters on the street? Only when we find a solution to the problem of the homeless will we truly be a great country. To those of you who work in this difficult field daily--thank you! I applaud your efforts.

I happened upon the 'Devil Plays Hardball' purely by accident last night and was very interested in the efforts of the four people to mentor four homeless people. It was interesting to see how at the start of the program, when the mentoring first started how optimistic the mentors appeared. Then as the program progressed getting the sense that they were beginning to realize that it was not as easy as all they might have anticipated.

The lawyer had made a comment in the program to the following effect - he thought that on Wednesday he would meet the person he would be mentoring; then by Friday they would find him housing; and by Monday he would be looking for work. But it was in no way that easy.

The issues of homelessness is not only that people are living on the streets; but the issues that may have brought them there. These could be mental issues; addictions issues; past abuses; unresolved grief; separation issues;residential school - just to name a few. I have a strong believe that if we are to help people on the streets then we need to do this with a Team effort and with backing from governments at all levels working in an integrated manner.

I hope that this program will be shown more often; and that people use this as an opportunity to combat homelessness!

I also enjoyed the documentary very much and applaud the CBC for airing it.

I was particularly pleased that the film makers highlighted the need to be eligible for income assistance or welfare in order to access housing, subsidized or not.

Politicians are loathe to tackle the issue of barriers to income assistance - the party in power for obvious reasons and the party in opposition because they're gutless.

But make no mistake, the barriers to welfare that were put in place in 2002 by the present provincial Liberals, are the main reason we see so many people on the street today. The barriers must come down and the NDP has to develop some courage to address this.

I watched the CBC documentary last night. Mike (aka "the flower guy") lives (lived) in the warehouse/alleyway behind my apartment building and my husband and I talk with him almost on a daily basis for over 4 years now. The managers of our building allow him to use our loading bay to arrange his flowers for sale.

Mike is a hard working guy who NEVER asks anyone for a handout, he is a business man, and with what little means he has, he has created a means to support himself without hurting anyone. I just wanted to add, that although he has stolen flowers in the past, 95% of what he sells are not stolen, often they are flowers that are no longer fresh enough to sell from a retail florist, or have been donated to him.

When he makes arrangments they are suprisingly excellent given what he has to work with and, if he ever kicks the devil, he will definitely succeed with his dream of becoming a flower shop owner. He remembers everyones names in the community and what is going on in yours and your neighbours life, he NEVER asks for a handout. Slowly but surely he is taking better and better care of himself. Keep up with your path Mike, you are a great inspiration to us all!!:)

With respect to the documentary, I was dissapointed that the mentors were not better equipped to assist the homeless people they were charged with in the first place. The initial goals all of them had were hopelessly naive and unrealistic. Bless them for trying of course, but to have been fair the CBC should have provided better support up front to them. The mentors did a fantastic job with what experience they had to work with.

I currently sit as a parttime member of a homeless committee. This films is so important to begin to understand the homeless and the authorities that minister to them. I hope someone at the CBC will show it again.

The documentary was an excellent illustration of some of the difficulties faced by homeless people and those who do not have access to adequate housing, social services, mental health services, and personal support.

The documentary was not an example of mentoring. That is, it wasn't the mentoring anticipated by the producers. The mentoring went in the opposite direction. It was the mentors who were mentored by the homeless and by Judy. If we use as a simple definition of mentoring that it is a way to maximize learning in a short period of time, it was clearly the mentors who were doing most of the learning.

The producers had good intentions, but the volunteers were advocates not mentors. From time to time the advocates were learning about boundaries and how far the could go. Perhaps with better orientation at the beginning of their mentoring, they might have been able to have a more significant impact on each homeless person.

While mentoring and miracle both start with "m" they are not the same thing. What the homeless people needed was not mentoring, and while frustrating for the mentors, it appeared that they were starting to learn what was needed as "advocates."

The program also acted as a "mentor" for the public viewers. I think it helped anyone who watched the show learn about the difficulties, compassion, and pitiful services available. Maybe the documentary will help the rest of the province and country to act as advocates and take a greater role in ending homelessness, poverty, drug abuse, inadequate housing, and too few services.

I watched your prog. last night. It was just by chance that I watched it. I have to say I was very impressed with the entire process. I have some one in a similar situation and running in to road blocks from one end to the other is very frustrating and leads one back to the street etc. I would love to see a mentor prog. here, one on one that would provide help finding housing or just providing some transportation for those that cannot afford bus fare and have no way to get from one area to another. I have to say even though I have dealt with some of these issues, it gave me a deeper insight into the lives of people on the street, and wouldn't it be nice for all of us to care a little more and offer more help to those who are in need.

As someone who has worked with low-income/no income people for over a decade (and watched our social safety net become torn to tatters),it is a tremendous relief to me that viewers who are commenting on this programme "get" the scenario re people on the street.

With regard to Dance's comment that signing the papers to apply for welfare would cause him to "give up his rights", I offer the following interpretation: the release forms that people sign when they apply for welfare are so broad-reaching as to allow the government to investigate virtually every aspect of a person's life.

Many people feel that they are "giving up their rights" when they sign these papers. (Certainly they are giving up their right to any privacy.) Most middle-class people would be shocked at the level of investigation these release forms permit. I suspect Dance may have heard this concern and may be worried it even extends to aboriginal land rights.

Shouldn't there be a change in approach...from what they call - getting the homeless off the devil's hand - to - the care they have on fellow human beings who suffer.

Its not compassion but mere approach from an idea of their own.

I hardly ever watch TV because it is usually crap, but chanced on this show last night - very impressive! - could not turn it off. I am a family doctor, and in my work, do not see a lot of homeless patients. The show helped me understand to a certain extent. It was clear that two of the homeless people in the show had serious mental health problems - but that doesn't necessarily help to know how to help them. Every medical student should see this show - how do I get a copy?

I was definetely pulled in by this documentary. I've been hooked on the documentaries on CBC since I saw Bangkok Girl on the Lens.

I was particularily interested in this one because I'm doing a project for school that has to do with the experience of being homeless or just being affected by the homeless in any way. I was wondering if anyone here might have any stories, anecdotes or people that I could talk to about it.

Basically, a few of my classmates are creating a mini-collective to present to our class (we're in a theatre program)using the stories and experiences we learn from other people or experience ourselves when we hopefully do some volunteer work. Any help would be much appreciated,

Jordy Rolfe

I've just turned 16 years old and I've lived half of my life in East Vancouver. Being a former citizen as I have moved to Nanaimo recently, not only myself but everyone else familiar with the area knows that it truly is the Devil's Playground and the Devil really does Play Hardball.

One of my goals in life at some point is to seek out the problems and help with not only the homeless but a lot of the crap, pardon my language, that goes on in the lower East Side of Vancouver.

I'm not going to say anything critical about this documentary especially for the fact that I haven't done anything to help the people struggling on the streets just yet, but it was definetly a big push of inspiration for me to lean more towards helping these particular situations in the future.

It also helped give me a better idea of the problem with homelessness as a whole and how I can play my part to contribute to the better well being of these people who are not homeless but equals with a different struggle than I.

The main reason I want to help and strongly encourage others to do so as well is the fact that we are all equals and should be treated with all the same respect. I know that unfortanetly that would take a real miracle to happen in an instant. But the fact is that it doesn't have to be such a phenomenon, people just need to have a little compassion. A lot of times people with a roof over their head and food in their tummy's can sit and complain for a lot of things they don't have in their lives. I just can't understand how ungreatful we as people have come to be.

All I know is that with the toss of a coin those people that were mentored could not only be anyone of my loved ones but it could even be me. I'd also like to add that I was really pleased to see that people in our community are finally trying to reach out to the homlessness in the community.

Kudos to the mentors and the makers of this documentary. I recognized Danse and have conversed with him on many occasions who's apart of the community and a very kind man. I was happy to see someone helping him.

Sincerely,
Brittany Ross

Thank-you for bringing this documentary about homelessness, addiction and mental illness in Vancouver. I am a government employee who was addicted to alcohol and had severe mental health issues as well now experiencing difficulity in finding affordable housing. I am considered "a lucky one" in the "system" on a disability pension and a government insurance plan, so when I saw your documentary I realized how complicated this government of B.C. has made it for people who are mentally and addicted to get affordable housing, access to counselling for their issues. I had the knowledge to know how to access help with my issues so to that effect I was pro-active about my addiction and mental health issues.

I admired these mentors for trying but they are so in-experienced in what they are up against. It took several months for them to see all the barriers that were up just to collect welfare for these poor individuals.

I have been trying for 4 years to get affordable housing with no luck, I was told I'm not poor enough for affordable housing yet, so I wait trying to get into a co-op. I face discrimination when people find out I struggled with addiction and mental illness and a visible minority born in Canada. My family struggles with embarassment about my issues even though I am in recovery with my addiction and mental health issues.

I would like to see our government provincial and federal put money where their mouth is and I would like to see the C.B.C. air this documentary on prime time for people to see first-hand what is happening in this city. This government would rather forget about this issue.

Although the problem of the homeless requires huge resources (that don't seem to be forthcoming), I think the place that really needs more work is the home.

Didn't the majority of homeless start off in a home? What happened? If we don't get to the root of the problem it's never going to go away.

The idea of handing someone in need a welfare cheque and saying "Good luck!" is not cutting it. The system doesn't work and we can see the proof every day. So change the system. Or work around it. Surely there is someone on the planet who has been successful in dealing with issues of mental health, addictions and despair. Let's take a page from their book and turn things around.

Start with classes in parenting skills. Advertise the hell out of it. Make sure everyone is aware that help is at hand. (can't depend on Gov't programs - politicians only get elected for promoting popular policies and until the people show that we take these problems seriously and do in fact care,the politicians won't.)

If someone initiated a "life skills" program that also assisted with providing food and shelter, don't you think people would volunteer to help? Wouldn't you?
(again, not just aimed at the homeless - we also have to go after the "pre-homeless").

So...calling all potential Florence Nightengales and Mother Theresa's ...show us the way.

A professional therapist would not be a mentor to someone with an active drug dependency; so why would CBC have ordinary citizens play such a role?

Out of self-respect, a sober person would not engage in communication with a non-sober person. So, why would CBC have ordinary citizens try to engage in such conversations in one of its documentaries?

Well meaning family members or friends often intervene to stop an addict from ever falling to the "bottom of the pit". They are doing more harm than good by delaying the arrival of a crisis point where the addict profoundly accepts responsibility for his/her addiction and seeks help for it.

A health expert in the documentary stated that mentors could help addicts make small improvements in their lives. Why would a health expert suggest sober people to sacrifice their lives to "save" addicts? Again, they can not be saved until they, themselves, decide that they want to be saved.

In my life,I've seen the lives of families destroyed by a member who is an addict. In most part, they are destroyed by the ups an downs of trying to "save" the addict. Like the CBC documentary, there are fleeting rays of hope, few and far between, that give one an illusion of the addict "progressing". It is only a question of time when the next "down" arrives.

Some of the foregone comments on the ineffectiveness/naivete' of the mentors in "Devil Plays Hardball", tells me that a major point was missed.

The mentors were chosen, I beleive, not because they were skilled social workers, but because they represented a cross-section of the public who do not really understand the fundamental nature of the homeless problem in Vancouver.

The mentors, at the beginning, held the wiews of that portion of our society whom have economic power and if they wanted to, a powerful political voice for change. It was rewarding to see how the mentors perspective changed as the documentary went on.

It was only when the mentors began to "get it" that they became more effective with helping to bring the change to these homeless persons lives that they had come to want.
Too long has society lived with the myth that the homeless live on the streets because they would rather be there. Nonsense!

Most of the homeless are on the streets now, due to a distinct lack of safe, clean, affordable housing. The City of Vancouver and the Province have spent tremendous resources on this issue. Is it not time for the Feds to ante' up??

I am encouraged by the movement afoot in Vancouver of our many world class service providers of health/mental health and addiction issues, starting to form partnerships or strong working relationships with some housing providers. I beleive this "integration" is one of the keys to make substansial progress on the homeless front.
Just because an "answer" has not been found yet, does not in any way mean, that an "answer" is not attainble which will have a major impact on homelesness in Vancouver.

Here at Fernwood NRG we provide affordable housing. We work, as residents, together on becoming environmentally, socially and financially sustainable as an organization, and as individuals.

The biggest challenge we face? The internal models that we hold. The belief in a division of labour which creates 'experts' and 'novices'. A belief which disempowers folks from being human and reaching out a hand to their fellow humans...

Leave this to experts? No way! The 'professionalization of the gifts of the soul' as Sam Keene termed it has managed to commodify even human caring. I would like to extend an invitation to all people, whether paid or not, to reach out a hand and ask, 'What ails thee brother?'.

Perhaps then we can give people a good day, and not just a good clinical hour!

I would suggest that the devil in this documentary is not the addictions or the mental illnesses that many of these homeless people live with, but rather a provincial government that blames the poor for their "lifestyle" choices and then denies basic human rights to damaged human beings.

Could the welfare system be made any more complicated? And if you do get through all the line-ups, complete the pages of forms and then actually qualify for income assistance, you discover it's not adequate to cover your basic needs without going to food banks or thrift stores!

Oh, but I forgot- if the process were simpler, the rates higher and the vulnerable treated with respect and dignity, we'd all stop working and go on the dole for the rest of our lives! As if....T

hanks CBC for funding this thought-provoking documentary. I hope some of our elected representatives were watching it too. Politicians need to stop playing hardball with the poor and the weak.

I really appreciate this documentary as I too have often wished there was a way to help these people.

Why on earth do we allow them to live on the street?

The only solution I see is:

We should arrest the homeless put them on a bus and drive them out to a country farm with walls for rehab. There would have to be counselors and the intensive therapy and medical help, but a walled community with no drugs and they stay there and learn to work and heal themselves.

It is cruel to allow them to suffer as they are, and they are too ill to make a choice for themselves. They are indeed mentally ill for the most part.

Think about it, it is illegal to commit suicide, if they attempt it they can be arrested and put in a psych ward. Well they are all committing suicide the way they are living. And we as a society are enabling them to continue the way they are.

Affordable housing is not the answer because the problems need to be addressed long before these people can be allowed to live in society. Once they are healed and able to work, they will be able to find housing just like the rest of us. For the small percentage that may never be productive then the solution for them is going to be government assistance.

To offer them money, to provide low cost housing for them while they are mentally ill, and or addicted to drugs is enabling them to continue the endless cycle to their grave. Don't offer a suicidal person a noose to hang themselves! Don't help them live close to their source for poison to kill themselves! Arrest them on a health warrant and take them out of that environment and out to a facility far away in the wilderness somewhere so that they can have a new start at life.

The mentally ill, cannot think for themselves, if we are a compassionate people then we should take a tough stand against their suffering and help them really help them turn their lives around. The only way is what I just proposed. What about the exceptions? There always will be, but either people who are down and out are given a chance to turn their lives around, or they may never and need to be living in a separate community from the rest of us for their own protection and welfare. The rehab community need not be a prison, just a safe place and yes it will need fences and walls. Still it will be 1000% better then the life on the streets.

I'd like to know how many people agree with me. I would like to see this tried as I do believe it would work. I think we have to do this if we truly care.

Gary from Calgary, like many of us, feels compassion for the poor and homeless and that is why the documentary struck a chord with so many of the commentators. Desire to help can't always be translated into effective help. The film's mentors learned lessons others have learned before them, but the mentors were not very effective in their 10 month task.

We can all learn from the experience of others. Gary can learn about the effectiveness of new approaches by Googling 'Housing First'. Besides the Wikipedia description he will learn of astounding reductions in homelessness in cities such as Portland OR and New York City.

Thank you CBC for this perspective on homelessness that so many do not see. The largest impact for me was the fact that each client needed to have autonomy over their lives in order for change to work.

I would like to respond to Gary from Calgarys comments:
Gary I applaud you for taking the time to watch the documentary and enter your thoughts of what to do with the homeless. I do however disagree with your stance.
By reading your posting and reflecting on your suggestions I have a preconceived image of you. I am aware this image may not reflect who you really are. In much the same way, you seem to have preconceived images of who the homeless population are, what their issues are, and what it will take to 'fix them'.

I would like you to reflect on challenges you have in your own life. Perhaps you have experienced an addiction like smoking for example. If you were locked up in a facility in the woods with crack addicts, alcoholics, and people with mental health issues away from your family, home, friends, security would this help you cope and overcome your addiction?

Many issues the homeless face are interconnected and complex. This was illustrated so well during the documentary. The housing first model did not appear to work for these particular folks but that is not to say it could not work for others. It just reiterates that people are all different and one cookie cutter solution for all does not work! How many types of shampoo do you see at your drugstore? This many options for hair but only one approach to homelessness? Come on!

I would strongly encourage you to get involved by volunteering with this population so you can either confirm your beliefs or reevaluate them. After six months, I wonder if your views would change if you took the time to get to know a homeless person or family as an individual not a statistic.

Would you still say:
'The mentally ill, cannot think for themselves'
'The rehab community need not be a prison, just a safe place and yes it will need fences and walls. Still it will be 1000% better then the life on the streets.'

My husband and I are both human service providers in Calgary Alberta. I work with children, youth and families at risk and my husband works directly with homeless clients in our city. Even being a professional in this field I often forget it is not about what I think is best for clients�they are the experts in their own lives.

Gary please see volunteer Calgary for opportunties to put faces and stories to statistics!

Everyone thinks that the people on the streets just need some money and a place to live would solve the problem to get them off the streets. When you saw what the show, see how easy it was to do that? I think not.

Wake up! What should have be the start of their relationships to help them is to talk with them to learn about them, what got them on the streets in the first place, find the resources to help them over come their barriers, show them people that have succeeded, help get them on the path to a meaningful live that has an income (social assistance or employment) and a place to live that they would like to be involved in. These are adults, not children, that need guidance to help them do this.

How can I say this? I have a disability that's not seen, and understood, from an accident I was is in 13yrs ago; a brain injury that's not a mild one. From that, it gave me epilepsy that's not 100% controlled and surgery failed. I lost a job that I loved dearly, ability to go back to college, not able to work at a full time job, and question if I would be able to work a part time job.

It was from my passion to fight and research to learn what I have to live with, things that deserve and need, that gave me a rather decide life that I'm happy with. If I didn't would I be or not be on the streets? Wouldn't the problems that the people on the streets have, or grew up with, interfere with that?

Many of the people that live on the streets have been out there for years, not just days or months. Isn't this a way to start to get them off the streets.

I will take the time to ponder the comments that have been submitted; for the time being I would just like to congratulate Nijole Kuzmickas on a powerful, and obviously thought-provoking, documentary. Bravo.

I am equally heartened by both the documentary itself, and the discussion that has followed. I viewed this show last Sunday, and it has certainly given me pause; many days worth, to say the least!

The biggest realization I came away with is how poorly portrayed the issue of poverty is in mainstream society. To refer to this population as merely 'homeless' oversimplifies the complexities of the situation; as if it were to suggest that the remedy to homelessness is to simply provide a home . . . which was the clear endpoint of this project. Although the outcome was poor (only 1 of the 4 stories had a somewhat successful ending), it is a blessing that the primary objective was NOT achieved, since it underscores the need to take a more considered, holistic approach to a homeless person's ENTIRE situation, with careful consideration of the psychiatric and social issues that are the cause his/her plight, rather than just finding shelter, and then assuming the job is done at that point.

In reading the comments, I noticed a subtle but recurrent unsympathetic tone with regards to the mentors, how they were ineffective, and how the expectation that they could make any improvements was felt to be inappropriate to begin with, given their lack of specialized training in the field of mental health and social work.

Though I do agree with these comments, I wonder whether this was, in part, an element of the project design? Whether the beliefs held by these mentors, which in essence reflect the commonly held beliefs of the mainstream, were meant to be tested through this social experiment, as a means to challenge the fallacy of such widely held preconceived notions?

Last thought: I also noticed a large proportion of the respondents to the discussion from Victoria. Is there any particular significance to this?

Thanks for reading this far, and special thanks to the CBC for continuing to promote powerful and meaningful programming.

I deal with mike on a day to day basis on my job. He seems vary smart but really has no interest in having a real life. He would rather lie, steal, and cheat. He is a huge problem for the merchants in yaletown. He trespasses on there property constantly trying to sell his stolen flowers to there costumers witch makes them uncomfortable. He shows vary little respect for people who are trying to run a business. He is a vary good liar and a menace to yaletown. Hopefully you can help him to put his talents to a better use instead of hurting the businesses in yaletown any further.

I work with the homeless on my job every day and i deal with Michael on a day to day basis. It is hard to watch what happens every day i have a great deal of empathy for the homeless. But i do see from both sides since i started my job most of the street people understand the safe streets act and can work with it.

Some others like Michael have no respect for it. I see the damage done to small businesses when someone like Michael trespasses on there property and makes there customers uncomfortable. I hope you can help Michael he seems like a smart guy who has something to offer. I know he sees that stealing flowers and selling drugs wont get him the the things he wants in life. Please dont give up on him i think all he really needs is a chance and someone to push him.

Unfortunately I did not get the chance to see it all, but it sure was touching. Though, I ask myself, shouldn't there be made a difference between homeless, drug addicted and mentally ill? most of those unfortunate who got unemployed and as a consequence at a certain point homeless always have a chance to get their feet back into society.

On the other hand, those who are mentally ill and drug addicted (and I am not talking of coke addicted rich people, but poor crystal meth individuals) will never really have a chance to get back into society. As you have noticed I have taken now the three extremes, though they often mix.

So, what are we going to do with these lost souls? Our so called "humane society" threw them on the streets to the sharks, the drugdealers. Was this the way to go? The experiment did not seem to include this man made glitch, which was created by our politicians 20 yrs ago under the four pillar principle which got wiped out after the first pillar was established. Maybe opening up the discussion about our spineless politcians could help recouping our mistakes and do it better next time.
Looking forward to more "experiments"...

Thanks to CBS and to Paperny Films for this excellent documentary. My husband and I watched it together and had a quite , er, spirited debate about it. He is among the millions of Canadians who believe quite sincerely that those who are homeless are lazy and shiftless, that they could enter mainstream society, get a job and live in a home like we do, if only they would put their minds to it! Of course he is also firmly convinced that HE (and I and most of our friends and relatives) could never end up on the streets. I, on the other hand, have always been willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt, to credit people on the streets with the same humanity as everyone else, to believe they also have dreams, yearnings, potential, talents and weaknesses. (It's a debate we've been having for 21 years and I'm sure it will continue. )

I think this is what's missing from so many statistics and stories on homelessness. Micheal said it perfectly: "When I was a kid, and people asked what I wanted to be when I grow up, I didn't say heroin addict!".

When I say "no" to a panhandler, I try to remember this and look her in the eye, greet her and treat her like a person, not just an annoyance to be ignored.

Maybe watching this doc will open our eyes to the humanity of those that we see on the streets, that we can regard them as our fellows; force us to debate the whys and wherefores and make this issue a priority for society as a whole.

Please show this doc again - soon!

Great documentary, kudos to Nijole Kuzmickas for bringing a different perspective to the issue of homelessness. I live in Toronto and face many homeless people on a daily basis-- I pretend to not see them and I try to avoid eye contact because of the guilt I have for not being able to help them. The reality is, as much as we do want to help them get off the streets, get off drugs, and get a job, we cannot for many reasons.

Firstly, to a certain extent, perhaps homelessness is a choice. Not because they like it, but perhaps because it is a way to fight all the rules of society and to live a sovereign lifestyle. Like Danse who did not want to receive social assistance, the most obvious problem here is power. I could only fathom what one feels like when one is treated like the trash of society on a daily basis; perhaps the last source of empowerment is in the form of choice, in this case, the conscience decision not to show up to things, not to seek help, not to receive social assistance, not to get a job, etc.-- in general, not to conform.

Secondly, a vast majority of the homeless are in some ways or another addicted to drugs, or are affected by mental illness. Hence, although I argued that on one hand, homelessness is to a small extent a choice, the same argument is weak since it only blames the victims. Drugs are addictive, that's the nature of it; mental illnesses happen, but treatable. My point is giving them money and shelter is not enough. It might be more effective to treat the problem with a bottom up approach-- let's get to the root of the problems, which are drugs and mental illness. Let's get them treatment using our tax dollars, let's get them methadone, let's give them the help they need. When their health is stable, perhaps it would make them more reliable in terms of taking that step to get shelter, then to get a job, then to get off the streets.

Lastly, homelessness should not be seen as a problem at the micro level of society. One person cannot get a homeless person off the street without the assistance from the government or from other individuals. I would argue that it is perhaps juvenile to conceive that it is at all possible to solve homelessness without addressing the real root cause, which is the structure of our society. Our government is not doing enough, throwing money at them is not the answer, nor is providing temporary shelter.

Another issue is the way we view the homeless-- sure, hypothetically speaking, let's say Michael suddenly turns over a new leaf, gets off dope, get's off the street and pays for shelter using social assistance-- now, here's the tricky part-- who will hire him? Our society is fixed on the notion of hiring based on merit, which is the reason why students bust their bums in school to get that job that pays six figures. Who will hire a person with little to n experience, with no references, and who is a recovering drug addict? Our view of the homeless needs to change if they are going to go away. Most importantly, the macro structure of society needs to change so that their is equal opportunity and there is assistance in the form of medical help and counseling that the homeless require.

Without these fundamental changes, I cannot truly believe that homelessness will alleviate, let alone disappear.

Great documentary, enlightening and insightful. And Brent, call me :)

This movie saddens my heart, but I feel it was a worthwhile project. I lived with Danse and his brother when we were teenagers, both coming from horribly dysfunctional homes. I was lucky, got off the streets and built a good life for myself. It was a lot of work on my part and took many people and many years to help make it happen. I remember Danse as being smart, funny, talented, loyal, sweet and caring, yet tormented by the things he was subjected to in his life. His brother loves him and I know he will help him as much as he is able and as much as Danse will allow, but I fear, after watching this show, that Danse has become so complacent in this existence, he may not find his way out.

I agree we need more housing, but feel we also need mentors to show those who are struggling that there is hope, that they're all worthy of a good life and that they can realize their true potential. These people have faced derision from society and multiple barriers to obtaining the most basic things like safe housing, food, employment, and health/mental healthcare.

Society generally takes these basic needs for granted and some think a person in a homeless situation can just decide it's no longer the life for them and move on, to pick a path, stick to it and all will be well. However, they don't look at the big picture.

Leaving the streets and that lifestyle sometimes requires many different levels of care and committment, yet some are hard to obtain: understanding and emotional support, counseling, mentorship, treatment for addiction or mental illness, life skills coaching, education, basic employment skill training, affordable housing, and removing that person from the negative influences that helped put them in the lifestyle to begin with. Added to that, most of them have suffered some kind of abuse, have been beaten down one way or another for so long, that they don't want to get up again because they know what's coming - better the devil you know than the one you don't.

I feel this project positively influenced the lives of those who participated in it in ways they may never have expected. The saying "it takes a village to raise a child" also holds true for those less fortunate than us - they need a community to help them improve their lives when they can't do it on their own and the more people who realize this, the better we can help those who need it.

There is the belief that the major causes of Homelessness are the result of such personal obstacles as mental illness, addiction, inadequate schooling, low intelligence, disability, past abuses, unresolved grief, discouragement, depression, etc.

However a look at the flip side of this coin would show the devastating effects of corporate downsizing, the lack of meaningful work that is often dehumanizing and which pays an (unsustainable) minimum wage that can not adapt to un-subsidized (profit-driven) housing. These are also important factors!

Included in this list is the “not my problem” attitude of political leaders who spend outrageous fortunes on military preparedness, the de-institutionalizing of mental care, tax cuts to the wealthy, (thereby shrinking the public purse), while ignoring the plight of its own citizens.

Let’s try to look at this issue from the perspective of those who are disadvantaged as well as the commonly accepted one suggested by this documentary. What kind of values or morality, (Christian, Atheist or otherwise), encourages us to treat these citizens worse than we treat our pets? Wasn’t the basic idea of “democracy’ to be a government by the people for the people? NOT all of the people EXCEPTING those who are legitimately disadvantaged in our profit-driven society !!!

So far the answer is to increase the barriers to income assistance for our allegedly free-loading lazy outcasts, (the standard stereotype). But there's no strategy to lessen the suffering of the 5 million Canadians living in poverty, more than 1 million of them children. Although I applaud CBC’s willingness to look at the problem, (which is a refreshing sign of empathy), I deplore their right-wing pro-capitalist slant in this documentary. To ignore all of these factors may very well defeat the solutions, assuming any genuine political will by our pro-war Evangelical Prime Minister.

I watched this documentary 2 nights ago and felt compelled to comment. I believe many of the street people portrayed as well as many of the people with drug and alcohol addictions are suffering from untreated mental illness and thus I will address via the mental illness aspect.

I have an adult aged child whom has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia for approx 6 to 7 years. The largest and most difficult aspect of the illness is the fact that he has no awareness of his illness (lack of insight). Any help offered in a rational way has been turned down. In short, his brain at this point, does not have the objectivity to follow the steps required to improve his plight/ function in society. This aspect of the illness has caused massive stress in our family. Lead a horse to water but not being able to make it drink holds starkly true in this situation as shown in the documentary.

The differences of mental function regarding goals, basic necessities of life (food and shelter) between someone with a mental illness and a well person are so vast that they defy reason. Herein lies the culprit Reason and logic are impaired which makes mental illness so hard to address.

I have watched my son get so ill and paranoid that he stopped eating for weeks with food all around him until he was almost anorexic (not normally a part of his illness). I being an administrator and an information detective have accessed all services to no avail…none were accepted by him. We, looking from within our own minds think that of course everyone wants the same basic living conditions but it is the problematic state of the brain that prevents this, not any lack of desire or lack of mental health services. There are many, many services that are not being utilized because of the nature of the beast. I know because I found them, got involved, encouraged, etc. all to no avail. I believe this is fairly typical.

For our own personal situation we have come to the conclusion that if the devil plays hardball (mental illness being the devil) then we will play hardball too. After perhaps 15 hospitalizations in psychiatric hospitals our hardball is supporting the belief that at this time our son must be treated with medication, no option at this point. We believe this is in his best interests as well as the interests of society.

That said, there has never been anything as traumatizing to our family as supporting the enforcement of the mental health act in this regard. The family has been in tatters over this issue but gradually everyone has come on board. This has occurred with major trauma, fear & stress in the family, violence, police intervention, write offs of our ill brother and son. Stability is our goal and it is a far cry from instability (illness).

As I see it, there is room for lots of improvement. In our own smaller city it is a lot easier for mental health to keep tabs and work with people living with mental illness. The availability of low cost housing is shameful (non-existent). I have seen many patients in the psych ward released into the community with no where to go except a waiting list for a shelter. It costs over a 1000 dollars a day for hospitalization with an average stay frequently over a month….Why can’t we have some low cost housing specifically for people with severe and persistent mental illness? For those who are unable to work because of there illness living on 900 dollars a month disability is extremely difficult. In our neck of the woods the cheapest rents are 6 - 700 dollars a month without utilities.

Many people no longer have any family support because of the nature of the illness. Also there is a massive shortage of staff to provide services in the communities, not many professionals want to live in a less populated location.

I am always interested to see TV coverage regarding the homeless as well as mental illness and substance abuse and hope that there is more education, focus and understanding of these very hard to address situations.

At this point our son is doing well. I say this cautiously as we hope for the best and from prior experience we expect the worse. We take it day by day and hope that society will bring mental illness out of the closet and start to provide the education, research and support to tackle this hard to treat illness.