Personal Dispatches – RANDY MILLIS

When Asking Questions Becomes the Problem

By admin Posted on 2026-11-10 Posted in Personal Dispatches Tagged with bc housing, British Columbia, disability, homelessness, human stories, Kelowna BC, Kelowna housing, Personal Dispatches, Turning Points Collaborative Society

Turning Points Collaborative Society describes emergency shelter as temporary housing that provides access to case planning, referrals, meals, showers, and other essential services. Screenshot from the organization’s website.

Personal Dispatches — November 10, 2026Kelowna, British Columbia There’s something particularly exhausting about having to fight for the things that should never have been a fight in the first place. A place to sleep. A safe place to charge a …

When Asking Questions Becomes the Problem Read more »

The Kitchen Sink Is Taken, but the Garbage Can Has Potential

By admin Posted on 2026-11-06 Posted in Personal Dispatches Tagged with bc housing, British Columbia, disability, homelessness, Kelowna BC, Personal Dispatches, un affordability

November 6, 2026 — Kelowna, British Columbia There’s a pizza place in Kelowna that sells a pizza called The Kitchen Sink. I discovered this tonight while contemplating spending approximately forty dollars on a large pizza. Forty dollars. For a fucking …

The Kitchen Sink Is Taken, but the Garbage Can Has Potential Read more »

The View From the Top of a Very Small Mountain

By admin Posted on 2026-11-04 Posted in Personal Dispatches Tagged with British Columbia, disability, homelessness, housing, human stories, Kelowna BC, Personal Dispatches

Untitled Original painting by Randy Millis.

Personal Dispatches — November 4, 2026 This morning, I ate pasta salad for breakfast. I wanted eggs. Toast. Coffee. Something hot. Instead, I had a chocolate bar, chili and rice, meat sticks, and pasta salad to choose from. Not exactly …

The View From the Top of a Very Small Mountain Read more »

The Stories We Never Hear

By admin Posted on 2026-11-03 Posted in Personal Dispatches Tagged with bc housing, British Columbia, Community Advocacy, disability, healthcare, homelessness, housing, human stories, interior health, Kelowna BC, Personal Dispatches, transit, un affordability

Personal Dispatches — November 3, 2026 I’ve had a lot of things happen to me. Some of them have been difficult to believe, even as I’ve been living through them. But perhaps the most profound realization I’ve had throughout all …

The Stories We Never Hear Read more »

Discharged. Nowhere to Go.

By admin Posted on 2026-11-03 Posted in Personal Dispatches Special Investigation Tagged with British Columbia, disability, healthcare, homelessness, housing, interior health, Kelowna, Kelowna BC, Kelowna housing, Personal Dispatches, un affordability

My belongings, hospital bed and wheelchair at Kelowna General Hospital.

A wheelchair, a hospital, a tent, and the question nobody could answer PERSONAL DISPATCHES | SPECIAL INVESTIGATION By Randy Millis | Kelowna, British Columbia | November 2026 “And if I’m not ready to go then?” “Then security will be called.” …

Discharged. Nowhere to Go. Read more »

A Bed Is Not a Destination

By admin Posted on 2026-11-02 Posted in Uncategorized Tagged with bc housing, British Columbia, Community Advocacy, homelessness, housing, Kelowna BC, Kelowna housing, Personal Dispatches, Street Photography

Avivo Village — Minneapolis, Minnesota. An indoor shelter project providing private accommodation and support services for people experiencing homelessness. The project illustrates the adaptation of warehouse space for shelter, although the accompanying image should not be treated as a verified photograph of the facility.

November 2, 2026 — Kelowna, British Columbia There’s something profoundly exhausting about having to prove, over and over again, that you’re a human being. Not that you’re homeless. Not that you’re disabled. Not that you’re entitled to special treatment. Just …

A Bed Is Not a Destination Read more »

When Mission Statements Become Muscle Memory

By admin Posted on 2026-10-22 Posted in Personal Dispatches Tagged with addiction, bc housing, British Columbia, Community Advocacy, disability, harm reduction, homelessness, human stories, Kelowna, Kelowna BC, Kelowna housing, Lived Experience, Personal Dispatches

Personal Dispatches — True Stories. Real People. Public Good. October 22, 2026 | Kelowna, British Columbia Today, I lost my bed at an emergency shelter. After more than three months at Kelowna Gospel Mission’s Bay Avenue Shelter, I was told …

When Mission Statements Become Muscle Memory Read more »

Cleaning Up an Encampment Is Only Half the Story

By admin Posted on 2026-08-20 Posted in Personal Dispatches Tagged with bc housing, British Columbia, homelessness, human stories, Kelowna BC, Kelowna housing, Personal Dispatches, un affordability

An open letter to Castanet Castanet’s August 20 story about the cleanup near Mill Creek reports on legitimate concerns: fire hazards, accumulated debris and public safety. Those things matter, and dangerous conditions should be addressed. But there is another part …

Cleaning Up an Encampment Is Only Half the Story Read more »

When Does a Housing Crisis Become a Housing Emergency?

By admin Posted on 2026-08-11 Posted in Personal Dispatches Tagged with addiction, BC Wildfires, British Columbia, Climate Change, disability, Drought, Evacuation, homelessness, human stories, Kelowna BC, Kelowna housing, Personal Dispatches

Screenshot

The everyday inconsistencies of everything. When wildfire forces someone from their home, the question is: Where can we put them? When someone is already homeless, too often the question becomes: How do we get them out of here? Over the …

When Does a Housing Crisis Become a Housing Emergency? Read more »

I’m Homeless. I’m Eating Better. Something Is Broken.

By admin Posted on 2026-08-09 Posted in Personal Dispatches Tagged with addiction, British Columbia, food insecurity, harm reduction, healthcare, homelessness, human stories, Kelowna BC, Kelowna housing, Personal Dispatches, Street Photography, un affordability

The Price of Being Housed There is something absurd about becoming homeless and discovering that, in at least one important way, my life improved. I’m eating better. Meat. Vegetables. Salads. Fruit. Yogurt. Eggs. Potatoes. Pasta. Actual cooked meals with variety. …

I’m Homeless. I’m Eating Better. Something Is Broken. Read more »

Tag: Personal Dispatches