Saturday, June 14, 2025

They Only Observed

 💔 “They Only Observed” — Reflections on W5’s Report from the DTES

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

Recently I watched W5’s investigative piece by Jon Woodward on the fentanyl crisis in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES). It’s titled “48 Hours After Welfare Wednesday” — a raw, gut-wrenching account of what happens when people receive their social assistance cheques and try to survive just one more week.

The scenes are devastating: overdoses, heartbreak, resilience, and desperation. W5 documents the frontline — paramedics administering Narcan, volunteers reviving people, mobile medical units and even prescription heroin programs trying to reduce the chaos.

But as powerful as it was, I couldn’t stop thinking:

❗Where are the solutions?

Why are we still treating this humanitarian crisis as a spectacle instead of a system failure? Why are we watching people die instead of fighting for what they need to live?


💊 Harm Reduction is Essential — But It’s Not Enough

W5 does a good job showing tools that save lives in the moment:

  • Narcan kits reversing fentanyl overdoses
  • Supervised injection sites run by people like Sarah Blyth
  • Mobile Medical Units (MMUs) to handle overdose surges
  • Crosstown Clinic’s prescription heroin, led by Dr. Scott Macdonald

These things matter. They are keeping people alive. But they are still band-aids on a gaping wound.


🏚 Housing is Health Care

You can’t expect someone to heal while they’re sleeping on a wet mattress in an alley or in a dangerous single-room occupancy (SRO) hotel.
And yet, over and over, that’s what we expect. The Housing First model is proven to reduce overdoses, criminalization, and hospital visits — but it’s underfunded, stalled, and blocked by bureaucracy or NIMBYism.


🧠 Mental Health Support? Long Gone

Almost every person in that documentary has faced serious trauma. Many are dealing with PTSD, intergenerational trauma, childhood abuse, and mental illness — all untreated.
Our mental health system in BC is so broken that even people with homes struggle to get help. What chance do people on the street have?


💸 The System is Set Up to Fail People

“Welfare Wednesday” is the day people receive their social assistance — and it’s the day when overdoses spike. Not because people are reckless, but because the amount given isn’t enough to live on — only to escape pain, briefly.

Let’s be clear:

  • BC’s social assistance rates are too low.
  • Safe housing is nearly impossible to find.
  • Prices for everything — food, meds, rent — have skyrocketed.
  • People are punished for poverty instead of supported out of it.

💔 We Need to Stop Watching and Start Changing the System

I appreciate W5’s coverage. But what’s missing is accountability. We need more than just stories of pain — we need stories of action, policy change, and community-led transformation.

We need:

  • Affordable, supported housing
  • Accessible trauma-informed therapy
  • Universal healthcare that includes addiction and mental health
  • Decriminalization paired with care
  • Education and prevention rooted in dignity, not punishment
  • A complete overhaul of how we “assist” the most vulnerable

✊ I Refuse to Look Away

I’m writing this because I care. I’ve lived close to poverty. I’ve seen the struggle. And I know we can do better — but only if we stop managing crises and start transforming systems.

To the volunteers, doctors, harm reduction workers, and brave survivors: thank you. You are holding the line.

To governments, developers, and policy-makers: enough with the observation. It’s time to act.


📌 Related:

  • [Digital HorizonZ Book 5: Struggling for Dignity – Coming Soon
  • [Follow me: @zipolita on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube]

💭 Reflective Questions (For Book or Readers):

  1. What systems or policies contribute to the fentanyl crisis in your area?
  2. What would a “Housing First” model look like in your city?
  3. Why do you think it’s easier for governments to fund emergency response than prevention?


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