A little hope can go a long way

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This article was published 28/09/2022 (1384 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

POINT DOUGLAS

For Al Wiebe, hope is crucial. It is a buoy to which people grasp as the depths of despair tug at their feet.

Wiebe spent over two years living on the streets after losing a well-paying job in advertising. He struggled through his time without a home, and almost lost his life to it, but Wiebe made it through and now works as an advocate for people living experiences as he once lived.

For the past two years, Wiebe has been trying to get a small, narrow stretch of alley along Henry Avenue that connects Main Street to King Street renamed as Hope Alley.

On Sept. 21, the city bestowed the alley with the honorary street name.

“I’m slightly overwhelmed,” Wiebe said among a crowd of people gathered near the alley, which Wiebe and Main Street Project worked to adorn with benches inscribed with hopeful messages in English and Cree, flower pots with bright yellow flowers and blue and green paint for the concrete underfoot. Wiebe said there are plans to add a mural and trees, as well.

“When you work on something mentally for a couple years, it’s a very dreamy day. But so happy, so thrilled, and all the people here says a lot, that these people are supporting this.”

The alley serves as a passageway and common resting spot for the community accessing services such as Main Street Project just across Main Street, Wiebe said.

Having a bright, joyful space is an important show of support — a little boost that shows people care — Wiebe said.

“The sign there,” Wiebe said, gesturing to the half-circle sign with the words Honorary Hope Alley scrawled across it, “tells them that the city is acknowledging them, and it’s important that people feel acknowledged and valued. Being homeless, it’s tough enough, but when you can have a place that’s welcoming and a place that you want to be with community, that’s really important.”

Jamil Mahmood, executive director of Main Street Project, said the honorary naming is a step that he hopes will spur on other, similar projects around the city.

“Hope Alley is a place that people call their home. It’s a place where they spend time together… The people that call this neighbourhood home are the most neglected in the city, and we need to do everything we can to make it as nice as every other neighbourhood in the city,” Mahmood said.

“We want to see this whole human corridor transformed and transform the neighbourhood in the process.”

Wiebe also thanked Coun. Vivian Santos (Point Douglas) and Main Street Project communications coordinator Ana Ziprick for their involvement in organizing the project and pushing the honorary naming through city hall.