Two days of workshops and films offer concerned Valley residents the chance to get up to date on offering effective help for issues like homelessness and opioid use.
First up on Wednesday, Nov. 30, is a daytime workshop with Al Etmanski, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. that offers a chance for non-profits, community organizations, businesses, local governments, and anyone looking for new ideas to bring questions, frustrations, stories and triumphs with the aim of working towards ideas that work. The cost of the workshop and a copy of his book is $55.
Later that same night, from 6:30 to 9 p.m. a film recently shot in Victoria, Us & Them, will highlight the problem of homelessness.
Filmmaker Krista Loughton will be joined by Etmanski, who will share ideas and suggest ways to work towards changing the story.
Tickets are $10 each. Purchase them through Eventbrite at https://www.event brite.ca or at the door.
The film Us & Them shatters misconceptions about why people end up on the streets through a compassionate narrative.
Loughton’s subjects are not just faceless people: they are the kind of people we all know, says promotional material for the film.
Shot over a decade, it involves the befriending of four chronically homeless people in an effort to help them heal their lives. The severe challenges of life on the street are portrayed with an unapologetic openness, with humour and emotion woven in with painful childhood histories, filmmakers say.
The next day, Dec. 1, from 9 to 11 a.m. the discussion continues as Etamanski talks more on the subject of homelessness and opioid use. The second workshop costs $25.