Category: Personal Dispatches

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Composite sketch based on lived experience inside a communal shelter. Architectural details and identifying elements have been altered to protect privacy while preserving the emotional truth of the morning it

The accompanying illustration is a composite courtroom-style reconstruction based on lived experience. Architectural details, mural content, bed numbering, clock placement, and identifying characteristics have been altered or combined to protect privacy. It should not be interpreted as depicting any specific …

The Morning Everyone Knew Their Lines – A Place Called Richter Street Read more »

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In the corner sat a man. The third man. Hands folded. Everything he appeared to own balanced around a walker.

Three men waited for the bus at the Queensway Transit Exchange. I thought back to Charles. Earlier that evening… Yum Yum Tree. Capri Centre Mall. A large combo. Curry rice noodles. Thin. Fragile. With a sweet bite. Chop suey. Barbecue …

Three Men Waited for the Bus Read more »

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Today I called. The answer was simple: keep your file active and wait five to ten years

This morning I called the BC Housing Registry. The call lasted 13 minutes. I was told my file was active. My information was updated. My mobility needs were reviewed. We discussed walkers, wheelchairs, stairs, bathtubs, income assistance, shelters, and the …

Hurry Up and Wait (For 5 to 10 Years) Read more »

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Cory Hyde. Carpenter, storyteller, movie lover, model builder, proud Newfoundlander, and friend.

Most people know the headline. Some remember the news stories. Some remember the public debate. Some remember the arguments about housing, healthcare, responsibility, and policy. Some remember the photographs from the hospital. Some remember the letters. I remember Cory. Not …

Who Remembers the Man Who Walked Home? Read more »

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Nobody gets the certificate. Everybody just gets today.

Dispatches are allowed to be messy because life is messy. A storm rolled through Kelowna this afternoon. Rain. Ice pellets. Wind. The kind of weather that sends people looking for cover wherever they can find it. I shot weather footage …

Nobody Gets the Certificate – Everybody Just Gets Today Read more »

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72 Hours — An Open Invitation to Experience Homelessness in Kelowna.

Today I invited elected officials, BC Housing, and provincial leadership to spend 72 hours navigating homelessness in Kelowna using the same systems available to everyone else. The invitation remains open.

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Messages left by shelter residents and guests on a communal chalkboard.

What’s Crazy? What’s Human? What’s Crazy? The stereotype. The caricature. The stigma. The version of homelessness many people carry around in their heads. Lazy. Dangerous. Addicted. Living on free money. Refusing to work. Choosing this. The version of homelessness many …

Profoundly Human Read more »

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Opening a bottle of Advil should not be an obstacle course. Today it was.

The pain woke me up again. At first it was my hands. Then my wrists. Then my forearms. Then my elbows, shoulders and neck. By morning I was trying to figure out whether I could brush my teeth, open a …

When Your Hands Stop Working Read more »

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Paramedics respond near a North End shelter. The call itself is not the story. The story is how ordinary these moments have become alongside breweries, coffee shops, warehouses and daily life.

A few weeks ago I was housed. Now I’m carrying most of what I own in reusable bags, trying to figure out bathrooms, bus schedules, insulin supplies, charging cables, where to sit without being moved along, and whether I can …

Kelowna’s North End — breweries, fancy coffee, wine tasting, live music, overdoses — sometimes feels like a city arguing with itself. Read more »