Stories from the streets

> Homelessness, addiction, and recovery

Colten Kamlade
Staff Reporter

 

A event in Coquitlam is aiming
to educate people on the
struggles of living on the streets.

Stories from the Street isa
program that gives people the chance
to understand homelessness. The
Coquitlam Public Library hosted the
event on October 12. Three speakers
told their stories of life on the streets
and what turned their lives around.

“I came from a fairly good upper-
middle-class family. You know, military
family, my mom worked in a hospital,”
said Bruce Conlan, the first speaker of
the night. “I grew up ina little farming
community. So I was surrounded
by a lot of stuff you wouldn't think
somebody would be able to transition
into a negative type of lifestyle”

Conlan’s childhood, however, was
not everything it appeared to be.

“The outside picture of the home I
grew up in looked good, it looked like
it should for a middle-class setting,
you know, everything was in place, but
then inside that picture there was a lot
of chaos,” he said. “My dad, he was a
military guy and then became a police
officer, and there was a lot of stress
involved, and in that time period there
was a lot of drinking involved, to cope.”

“He would drink, and there was a lot
of abusive and violent moments,” Conlan
said. “I got the brunt of the violence.”

This was the beginning of
Conlan’s journey onto the streets.

“I started to leave the house for
longer and longer periods of time,” he
said. “So I started to discover pieces of
the world further and further away from
my home and I started to meet other
kids who were getting into trouble.”

When asked about the turning point
in his life, Conlan said that two cops found
him in an alley one day, and they told him
“wwe come across a lot of people who have
died ... we can tell you the way you look
right now, if you don’t stop or get help
or something changes, within a week to

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ten days we're going to find you dead.”

Conlan now helps others deal
with addiction and mental trauma.

Donna Wollf, the second
speaker of the night, also grew up
in a dysfunctional household.

“I grew up in a family where I wasn’t
wanted, and I was told that every single
day, and when I got old enough to figure
out how to get out, I did get out. So, I left
home. I ran away at thirteen,” she said.

It wasn’t until Wollf became
pregnant at the age of 17 that she
got off the streets. Many years later,
she found herself homeless again,
but this time for less than a year.

Sandra McRae said that she
felt her story was a combination
of Donna’s and Bruce’s.

“IT was born and raised by my mom.
My dad left when I was young, I was in

 

grade one. He was an alcoholic. [My mom]
worked two jobs. There was me and my
brother at home. I became just a horrible
little girl in elementary school,” she said.

Although McRae was not alone
in the house, her older brother had
a negative influence on her.

“THe] got me to smoke weed and
cigarettes,” she said. “I hung out with a
bad group that was in and out of jail.”

She continued down that road
and ended up on the streets. It wasn't
until she was introduced to RainCity
Housing and Support Society, a homeless
advocacy charity that helped organize

  

7)

the Stories from the Street event, that she
was able to get clean and get a home.
Sandy Burpee, the chair of the Tri-
Cities homelessness and housing task
group and the moderator for the night,
said “it’s really important to have events
like this that make us aware ... to see
and hear people who are presenting
tonight, to be able to look inside the
turbulent times they experienced and
realize in those times the people you
see here tonight were always inside.”
“There is a light at the end
of the tunnel, no matter how far
down you might be,” Wollf said.

C C I grew up in a family where I wasn't

wanted.” —

Donna Wollf.

 

Veterinary technology graduates excel

> High exam scores for Douglas College students

Colten Kamlade
Staff Reporter

D ouglas College veterinary
technology (VTEC) graduates

performed exceptionally well on the 2016
Veterinary Technician National Exam,
according to a statement released by the
College. Graduates have “surpassed the
Canadian average by more than 10 per
cent overall,” and “the US average by 19
per cent overall,” the statement said.
Pauline Chow, co-ordinator for
the veterinary technology program,

 

said in an e-mail interview with the
Other Press that the success was in
part due to the fact that “VTEC has
further concentrated on teaching and
assessing essential skills, in areas such
as veterinary medical and surgical
nursing, anesthesia, pain management,
radiology, and dentistry, which has
resulted in improved Veterinary
Technician National Exam scores.”
Chow suggested that those who are
considering enrolling in the program
ensure “they want to enter the veterinary
nursing field, by gaining as much
veterinary or animal related experience

as they can, ideally in a veterinary clinic.”
There are also free information

sessions for those who are interested.
The veterinary technology

program “donates $60,000 of free

veterinary services to shelter and rescue

animals annually... Douglas College

will continue to support the students,

staff and faculty needed to run the

VTEC Teaching Clinic,” Chow said.
Brian Chapell, the science and

technology dean, said “this year’s

group worked exceptionally hard

and the results of their efforts are

demonstrated in the exam results.”

Maintaining the quality of the
program is “always a major focus for
us,’ Chapell said. “We will continue
to work with our program advisory
committee to ensure relevance in the
veterinary community and to address
any deficiencies if they arise.”

Any deficiencies look to be far
in the future, however, as according
to Chapell, “Douglas students have
consistently been above average on
the Veterinary Technician National
Exam over the last several years.”

Photo by Analyn Cuarto