Hamilton Indigenous Housing

Today we received sad news from the office that another tenant has passed away.  Eli has been a tenant here long before I arrived, he was never the type to hang out with the other tenants or participate in programs but who cares….he was still one of us (the tenant group) whenever I saw him at the entrance he would say hello.  Over the years I would see him walking around town minding his own business and I also remember he had a fiery temper back then. One time a big fat native guy approached him on the street to say hello and Eli told him to fuck off then walked away.  LOL This evening there will be no Christmas lights flashing from my apt due to Eli’s passing and I offer my condolences to Eli’s companion Shirley. Eli Anakons  RIP

Today I set aside our differences and attended the Christmas celebration in the KM community room, the staff gave a good presentation and it was fun to hang out with my often zany fellow tenants.  I was in such a good mood I actually asked the Super if she and young Luke are joining us for the feast.  The food was phenomenal but I was disappointed that I bought kaiser buns instead of dinner rolls from the bakery..I didn't realize my error until after. Funny moments: when we saw staff member Lorraine whispering sweet nothings in Howard's ear I thought "get a room you two" and Thank Gawd I didn’t have to sit on Santa’s lap.  :)  This is my third turkey dinner celebration this season and I have two more to attend then I’m home free.  At our table I had the pleasure of sitting with tenants Deano, Miss Catherine, Deloris, staff member Charles and we welcomed the newbie tenants Deb and Peter. They’re having a post turkey dinner bingo game as I write this, I’m n...

Yesterday I got a copy of The Minutes Report from the last tenant meeting.  Now I'm aware KM office has to produce written reports of what goes on around here…but let’s keep it real.  I would say it’s about 78.8% accurate. This happened before when former staff member Joseph held a tenant meeting. I suggest instead of appointing a staff member to type and record the proceedings in long-hand on a laptop, let's get an unbiased professional stenographer.  I decided not to attend the tenant meeting scheduled for today read my previous posts you’ll know why. Today there was a housekeeping letter delivered under my door with the usually mundane reminders.  There is one item that caught my eye “Turn off your Christmas lights when you leave your unit”.  I and another tenant are the ones who proudly displays Christmas lights so I'll assume that was aimed at us.  Well guess what!..I'm all for energy conservation but I'll decide when and if to turn off my energy s...

I look forward to the holiday season, I get to decorate my windows with flashing and glowing Christmas lights for all to see, I’ve been living at KM for a few years and it seems I’m the only tenant who goes all out during the festive season.  This building can be quite dreary during the holidays and I intend to brighten things up.  Across the street there is a nursing home and many times during the evening I can see the elderly folks peeking out their window staring at my Christmas light display and I hope it brings them some joy in their final years. So the next time you’re in the neighbourhood at night I wanna hear oooohs and awwws as you pass by my Christmas lights window display.  :)  LOL

For the first time I decided to attend the Native Christmas dinner hosted by The Hamilton Regional Indian Centre.  The food was excellent, the staff and volunteers were very helpful and I enjoyed myself, I met some family members and saw a few former tenants that I like.  This was not a fancy affair the setting was similar to an informal dinner gathering.  The only criticism I have is they didn’t use the P.A. system it was hard to hear the young man who said a Native prayer before the meal and the MC had to shout to announce the door prize winning numbers.  KM tenant Teresa made a big basket of corsages to be handed out and there was five leftover so I politely asked if I could give one to a family member she said No!  I thought “Ok up yours, you grouchy old bag”. :P.   A special thank you to UNH's staff member Nancy...she offered her corsage which I gave to my family member.  :) Congratulations and a big applause to neighbors Shirley & El...

Today I peeked in the community room to say hello to the troops and I see a small group of tenants have organized a Christmas arts & crafts fundraising event. You should see those aging busy little elves sewing, wrapping, cutting, shaping and decorating I was impressed. :)  I wish them luck on sales and I wonder if they get to keep all the proceeds or will KM demand a cut in the profits. Last summer's outside fundraising event was a flop it’s a shame there is no real plan in marketing and advertising these fundraisers. Someone (like myself) could be appointed to display and post flyers on the newly installed trading posts in the downtown area and with my connections in social media there’s a excellent possibility for a good turn out on this event.  Of course nobody has asked me…so we’ll see. Message for Lorraine posting the event on a few doors in the building is not going to cut it.  :P

A cute little native child. Attawapiskat Chief Spence says department-appointed third-party manager booted from community | APTN National News After reading this article.......I see a red flag.

This has relevance to my Native Housing blog on so many levels. Watching the National news I was appalled seeing the living conditions at Attawapiskat Reservation this is unacceptable and I feel for my fellow Natives in the north. As a child my father and I traveled to many reservations in northern Ontario visiting family and friends and I've never seen it this bad. I can recall walking down a gravel road to the lake to swim, using an outhouse, going to the well to get a pail of water, we all bunked up usually 4 children on a large bed, the house was well insulated plus no matter what there was food on the table.  Now this was many years ago and you would think living conditions on the Rez have improved, later as an adult when I drove to visit my father’s grave at Pickerel River Reserve I was impressed on the improvements in housing, that goes the same for Parry Island Reserve.  All this makes me wonder what happened at Attawapiskat how did they fall through the cracks a...

Finally I got the chance to say goodbye in person to a staff member on their last day by shaking their hand and wishing a fond farewell.  UNH's has a strange policy where they inform tenants usually a day or two after a staff member has left the building and offer no explanation, no advance notice, no chance to say goodbye.  :( I would never work for a non profit organization like UNH's ...they offer minimum wage for outreach workers and yet they demand the highest qualifications. I also know staff cutbacks are in progress and they've been known to screw up on the payroll. Surprisingly unskilled laborers get paid more at temp agencies depending on the assignment.  I believe in full time employment, profit sharing, raises, job security, benefits and most important employees contributing to company growth.  There is no growth in a non-profit organization, like I said I would never work for a Mickey Mouse operation. :P