Housing advertisements promise possibility. The search for an affordable, accessible home often feels very different.

People tell you to keep looking. They mean well. They imagine looking for housing means scrolling through listings over a morning coffee, sending a few messages, arranging a viewing, signing a lease, and moving in. That isn’t what it looks …

You Can Stop Reading Now Read more »

Looking for something most people never have to think about.

There are sentences you’re not supposed to say out loud. “I like taking my shits here.” Read that again. It’s crude. It isn’t polished. It isn’t the sort of sentence you’d expect to open a piece of journalism. It’s also …

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Editorial photo illustration depicting a hospital discharge: medication, water, and a transit ticket in the foreground while a wheelchair user waits outside the emergency department.

At 4:42 a.m., I called 911. By that point, my regular medications had stopped controlling the pain. It had become so severe that simply getting from my bed to the shelter door was an ordeal. Every push on my manual …

Bus Ticket Read more »

A composite image pairs a three-frame sequence of a passerby playfully stepping through a chalk “snake” after accepting a joking challenge with a panoramic view of the artwork that became the centrepiece of an evening of conversation, photography and spontaneous participation at Stuart Park. (Randy Millis photo composite)

I wasn’t looking for a story. I’d finished what I needed to do for the day. I was tired. I had a few hours before the last bus, and I really didn’t feel like going back to the shelter just …

You Have to Go Through the Snake Read more »

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 »

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 »

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 …

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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.

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 »