- [Mark] Brad, we're here in Winnipeg,
you're homeless, tell me about it.
- Well, I mean, I came here, uh,
me and my wife came here from B.C.
Our family's B.C, we get here and had everything stolen.
Because of that, when we went and tried to get assistance,
we were turned down.
And for 16 years, we were told one excuse
after another excuse not to help us.
They were coming up with, you know, everything imaginable
and then some, but we kept meeting their, the requirements,
so finally after 16 years of fighting them,
being on the news, having the story brought forth
by the downtown biz here, having it put forth
by Winnipeg Free Press.
They said they'd start helping us, right.
So, they did, and while we were on assistance for a year,
we were renting a duplex, but we couldn't meet the rent,
we couldn't meet the hydro and water and still buy food,
clean our clothes with the little funds
that they were giving us, so, uh, it turned out
that we had to have a couple move in with us.
What people don't realize is
that when you sign those applications to get assistance,
you truly do need to read every single, you know, word on it
because if you don't, you'll end up like me and my wife did,
we even cut off for a year, and--
- [Mark] Wait, wait, wait. Again, I...
Just have to repeat it because I've heard this type
of story too many times.
Took you 16 years
to get the help, - Yes
- [Mark] got inside, got support, but it wasn't really
enough to live on - Right.
- [Mark] So you took in another roommates--
- Couple.
- [Mark] To help make ends meet
- Yeah.
- [Mark] But because government assistance
has some crazy rules--
- Major crazy rules.
- [Mark] Then they stopped your assistance.
- Basically, yeah.
- [Mark] That caused you to be homeless.
- That's exactly why.
Yeah, it caused me to have to be out here
at age 51 having to beg to survive for me and my wife again,
which we had to do for 16 years.
And you have to understand that when I mean beg,
when I was doing it for the 16 years,
I was 49 years old, I would get down on my knees
to beg from even children for sandwiches,
half-eaten sandwiches, half-eaten donuts
when they come out of a restaurant with their father
or their mother, and that has to be very belittling
and very demoralizing as a human being having to do that,
but there was something that kept me going,
something that kept reminding me that, you know,
at least I wasn't doing wrong things to provide for us.
- [Mark] And it's cold, where did you sleep last night?
- Slept in the parkade over here underneath the Delta Hotel.
- [Mark] You slept in a park--
- In a parkade.
- [Mark] What's that?
- It's similar to these parkades where the cars park.
- [Mark] Okay, got it, got it - Underground.
- [Mark] Like a parking lot.
- Yeah basically, underground.
- [Mark] Yeah, got it, got it, got it.
And, um, but I mean, you know, it's freezing,
and it's getting colder.
- Yeah, yep, we for 16 years were out here
in 65 below weather, you know, having
to beg till three in the morning to try
to get a home for us and not getting it.
- [Mark] Oh, my gosh. Oh.
- But, still staying positive,
still staying sober and clean the whole time,
never once using, never once drinking, that's even harder.
Me, myself, I have paranoid delusional schizophrenia,
severe depression, anxiety,
and a multiple personality disorder.
My wife, her being anemic, that's very hard,
very hard to survive, but we do it,
and I thank God that, you know, that he's on our side,
and that's what we decided.
I'm a religious person, but that's what I believe in,
I don't force it upon you or anybody,
but I will declare it to people.
- [Mark] What's your future like?
- Well, we got four more months of being homeless
and then after that, we will get reinstated back
onto assistance and--
- [Mark] I gotta stop you again
because I hate black and white thinking.
You know what I mean?
Because people are, we're humans, we're complicated.
- Yep.
- [Mark] So you're saying they cut you off for a year,
and you just have to wait out
for that year-- - Basically.
- [Mark] Basically causing your homelessness
and then in four months that year penalty is up,
and you can get support again.
That is-- - Insane. Fucking insane.
- [Mark] I was going to use one
of those more-- - Well, I used it.
- [Mark] Yeah, those words are perfect--
- It's fucking retarded, and it's wrong,
but it's the system, and if you don't work with it,
then it's just going to screw you longer.
- [Mark] If you had three wishes what would they be?
- First wish would be to ending homelessness
in this city and every other city.
Second wish is to make people realize
that it doesn't matter if you're (mumbles),
it doesn't matter if you're black or white,
everybody is an individual, and you have
to treat that person like that.
And I guess the third thing would be
for me and my wife to be back on assistance right now
instead of being homeless having to beg.
- [Mark] Well, thank you very much for talking.
- Well, thank you for listening to my story.
(light music)