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Copies of articles about Ronzig that have been in the media and where available, links to the originals articles and Digital photoArt by Ronzig. You can comment on content seen on this page by going to the bottom of the page. Every page on the site will have a comment section at the bottom.  The following article appeared on the BlogTo.com website an my birthday, March 26/09.  Curriculum examines what puts kids on streets Louise Brown EDUCATION REPORTER Beaten by her drunk, screaming husband, she throws her teenaged daughter out of the house to keep her safe. In this heart-stopping high school play, the daughter then appears homeless, shivering on a curb. Two guys approach and offer shelter if she "shares something" with them. Tossing a lost look at the audience, she sighs and then gives in. Curtain. "Great work – but you boys need to be more threatening," drama teacher Cameron Ferguson coaches the would-be pimps. "Touch her hair. And speak up when you tell her you know a way that she can make money ..." In five gritty skits they wrote themselves that will premiere this week, teens at a Markham high school portray some of the reasons people land on the streets as part of an experimental new curriculum developed by York University that is a cornerstone of a new awareness project on homelessness. The Homeless Hub website, run by York's faculty of education, is believed to be the world's first user-friendly clearing house on homeless issues – including the spread of the H1N1 virus in shelters – from videotaped testimonials to reports from front-line workers and scholarly research made easy to read. As part of the move to bust stereotypes and boost awareness, York has developed lesson plans on this uneasy topic, plus primers for students themselves. The drama unit was being pilot-tested at Bur Oak Secondary School. Ferguson, who teaches at Bur Oak, helped write the new curriculum. "Some people think homeless people are all lazy bums, and we didn't know the real causes until we started our research," said student Dania Zargaran, 16, who wrote a skit about a girl who lands on the streets after being rejected by friends and family because she is gay. She says the class now knows that poverty, homophobia and physical abuse often propel young people onto the streets. "A high
percentage of gay kids become homeless because they get disowned by their
families," said the Grade 11 student at the school near This is exactly the kind of awareness professor Stephen Gaetz was hoping would come from the project. As associate dean of research in York's teaching faculty, he has overseen the gathering of more than 25,000 items, including podcasts and reading lists, onto the website at www.homelesshub.ca. "The reality is, youth are often scared of the homeless because they don't have an understanding of how they got there, yet the homeless are far more likely to be victims of violence than to commit violence," said Gaetz. "Our role is to seed the public discussion on the issue with facts, rather than stereotypes." Teachers can find reading lists of books that provide opportunities for a discussion about the homeless, noted York Professor Evelyn Wilson – from The Odyssey to The Grapes of Wrath and even Harry Potter. Toronto Star   Speaking for Posted by Corina Filed in City Ron Craven, known to some as Ronzig, is one of the most
compelling voices I've heard in the call to combat homelessness on the streets
of I could hardly pass up the chance to talk to this amazing
survivor turned advocate; his story, incredible and almost unimaginable,
demonstrates the ongoing challenges of fighting revolving door homelessness in
our city. Once a wealthy businessman who considered running for Mayor
of East York, Ron Craven fell in love and fell victim to the world of crack
cocaine. Within 2 years he was bankrupt and living on welfare, and spent the
next 10 years struggling to get off the streets. Given his experiences on the
streets of How have you seen the 'fight' against poverty and
homelessness change in recent years?
Is the situation changing for the better or worse? I think the situation is much worse. The politicians seem to
be more concerned with hiding the problem than fixing it. That's the whole
philosophy behind the Streets To Homes initiative. The city seems to think that
placing people in substandard housing which is far below the building code or
health standards and at rental rates far in excess of the amount allowed for
with social assistance and moving them from the center of the city to remote
areas, far away from friends and services and out of sight is an adequate
solution. The Safe Streets Act has nothing to do with safety. It was
created explicitly to drive poor people out of sight. Were there any good outreach attempts for I, like many of my homeless friends, have never been too
interested in outreach as sponsored by the city. They have traditionally been
designed to give the appearance of helping while actually aggravating life on
he street. When the city forbade outreach workers to give us warm clothes or
sleeping bags because that would enable us to remain homeless, the message was
clear to all of us. The city won't help. We place our faith and trust in the
church and privately sponsored programs which actually try to help. Also,
Streets to Homes has hired 48 new outreach and housing workers to cover the
downtown area. We can hope that this will translate into less of my friends
dying on the streets. What sort of an impact is your story having in My mission is to increase understanding within the general
population, not to directly effect immediate change. I am currently working on
a project to document conversations I have with individual homeless people in
which I focus on their stories to emphasize their humanity. I put these
mini-documentaries on my YouTube site so that viewers will see that these are
real people. It's hard to measure results with a project like mine. The
inertia I am working against is staggering and at times I feel I am preaching
to the converted and not being heard by those who need to listen. I have never
received any replies to emails sent to politicians at any level of government.
They don't want to hear it. Yet I have had thousands of viewers come to my
sites and if I can help people to better understand the issue, perhaps
eventually there will be enough public outrage to force the politicians to
listen. Any thoughts on how changing politics might affect the homeless situation? I am convinced that Harper, given his preference, would take
away existing support for the homeless. Fortunately we have a minority
government, and the parties Harper needs support from to stay in power are
usually more helpful in their philosophies. I am optimistic that thinking the
Obama government will put pressure on What can Citizens who are tired of seeing people sleeping on the
sidewalk should first inform themselves about the issues involving
homelessness: read the related articles in the newspapers and search the
internet to learn the truth. Once they are informed, they should write letters to the
editors and to the politicians demanding a policy be instituted which will
place enough income in the hands of poor people to enable them to pay rent.
That means increasing the minimum wage to the point where a person can pay
market rent and feed his family without the demeaning need to rely on food
banks and clothing banks and other charities. There is no excuse for a person
who is working for a living to have to rely on charity to make ends meet. That also means increasing the rental portion of social
assistance to a level that reflects the true cost of accommodation in the city.
The present maximum rental allotment is less than $350.00 per month and the
worst slum room available costs $450.00 per month. That $100.00 monthly
shortfall guarantees homelessness for most social assistance recipients, unless
they are in assisted housing, have a hidden income, or are living with a
relative or friend who is willing to absorb the loss. I have seen a lot of positive media response to the
situation, which is very exciting. If the media treats it as a serious issue,
their audience will become more enlightened and that will effect change. More information on Ron and his story can be found at DownbutNotOut.com. Eva on Thankyou for highlighting the issues of homelessness. I have
a friend homeless there since November. Its a cold place in Winter. I
appreciate that you have tried to break down some of the stereotypes of this
increasing problem world wide. (In Paul on "That means increasing the minimum wage to the point
where a person can pay market rent" Seriously?! Before someone jumps on me for mentioning something
business-related; I'm not saying that the homeless issue should be taken care
of, just that increasing the minimum wage is a bad idea. Corina on The recent increases in minimum wage (since about 2003) were
a LONG TIME COMING, going up to $8.75 last March, with planned increases to
$9.50 as of Given that it is deemed reasonable to spend between 40 and
60% of your income on rent, this would just barely cover market rent in a
crummy area. keven on actually it would be a good investment, especially right
now. The more money people have, the more money people spend.
This much is clear. Damian on i was once homeless. mostly due to my own stupid, selfish
behavior. many i came accross had the same story as me. i did need to rely on
the safety net to get my footing. you're right about the church and privately
sponsored programs taking it to the next level. but at the end of the day,
homeless people really need to change their attitude about life and try to use
the help that is out there. if they do not show signs of willingness to change
themselves they need to be cut off from the support. and left to their own
devices to live and provide for them selves. some folks need to really hit rock
bottom before they are willing to change. they need to be willing to actually
do something about their situation. not all, but most people i've come across
when i was on the street only cared about getting high and how to manipulate
others to get what they wanted. i don;t like harper or politics but i don't
really think its their problem to solve. queen on "just barely cover rent in a crummy area" ??? Let's see, assuming you pay 50% of your minimum wage salary
towards rent, and you working full time, as of April 1st you've got $760.
Plugging that into housing maps in Ryan L. on "The more money people have, the more money people
spend. This much is clear." Not necessarily. Most of the people who aren't spending
money now aren't people with a lack of funds. They are just people concerned
about the economy and are saving their money in the event the recession starts
hittinng closer to home. Corina on Well queen, you're ignoring a few important issues... first
you must pay into CPP, EI and some income tax with each pay cheque. This is
true even if you're earning minimum wage. So you won't take home the $1570 or
so you've calculated, but probably closer to $1200. Second, although 50% of
your income towards rent is do-able, you're not adding on hydro, bills, and any
other living expenses that may be incurred. Finally, and most importantly, plugging in a rent value to
any rental sites for Ridicule all you like, but if you think you can guarantee
low rent based on what you plugged into a blogger on Really appreciated reading this post. Keep on the good work
Ron! I can't understand how anyone can think $6.85/$10 currently
is a liveable wage in a city like yammy on Ron Craven your story is enlightening. I have attended some
of the open CA meetings with family and have heard similar experiences however,
yours has truly been a moving one..I can only really say that it is amazing
that you have made it this far in all your hardships, but as long as you have
that will to survive, you can do it. Thanks for sharing. Corina, thanks for posting this. merriemelodies on Good on ya for calling the situation what it is. If these
people don't have any desire to better their position and only want to stick it
in society's eyeballs (not to mention their own, in a self-annihilating way),
then leave them to the elements and natural selection. People who fall on hard
times and really want to come back will find a way to do exactly that. This
situation doesn't exist in many countries (eg. Corina on Uh, http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/03/19/hong-kong-ng-hao-big-naug-or-you-are-dead/ queen on Well I had no problem living in the Queen/Spadina area for 2
years at around $550 inc. utilities, and it wasn't hard to find. Yeah it was a
shared apartment, but seriously if people are making minimum wage what do they
expect? A penthouse in Yorkville? Get real. And I think you just proved merriemelodies point, the cops
in HK don't take shit. Ron Craven (Ronzig) on Thank you Corina. Great article and a nice birthday present.
I'm very interested in the comments. It's a little disheartening to see so many
callous people in this city. It seems I have a lot more work to do. Perhaps as
the recession escalates and some of them find themselves homeless they'll begin
to understand. merriemelodies on "...where all human beings are of value and will have
the opportunity to live with security, freedom and dignity. All human beings ARE of value. But if the individual
him/herself for whatever reason has insufficient self-worth, determination, and
dignity, there is no amount of societal lovingkindness gonna turn that
situation around. Social workers and do-gooders and government tax dollars are
not going to fix that. Ya gotta want it and make it for yourself, Ron. Ain't no
such thing as a free lunch. Ron Craven (Ronzig) on The problem with your assessment is the fact that most of
the people we are discussing at one time had self-worth, determination, and
dignity, until it was crushed out of them by the machinery of this society. Ron Craven (Ronzig) on I am not proposing a Free Lunch as you say, just a more
equitable share of a very large pie. It seems that people will superimpose
their own prejudices to misconstrue my meaning no matter how I try to explain
my stance. Ron Craven (Ronzig) on Furthermore, since the inequities of our present system are
the primary cause of the problem, it behooves us to assist the victims in their
efforts to re-establish themselves in our society as a first step in correcting
these inequities. Feldwebel Wolfenstool on Part of the very valuable social work the Pigs perform, is
to lean on the poor and homeless, to harass them into LEAVING for somewhere
else. The Police have better things to do. Like, protecting crooked
politicians, or, how to figure out ways of skimming cash for themselves from
their departmental budgets or pension funds. damian on its not crushed out of them by... the crack and meth. Ron Craven (Ronzig) on The problem with your assessment is the fact that most of
the people we are discussing at one time had self-worth, determination, and
dignity, until it was crushed out of them by the machinery of this society. Ron Craven (Ronzig) on the drugs are the RESULT of this crushing, not the CAUSE of
the problem. Ron Craven (Ronzig) on Too true, but that's another story. Samantha on With all due respect Ron, it is clear by your story that
when you were an addict, you were homeless, when you got clean, you got the
help and shelter you needed. you say the drugs a symptom of the problem, not the problem. well, your own story tells us something different. You were
a successful man. Then you became a drug addict. You lost everything for drugs.
I'm very sorry for your experience, but don't you see it is
a life that YOU made? Police corruption is a real problem, and so is how we deal
with the homeless. My point is simple Ron, we are defined by the choices we
make. You fight is valid Ron. Don't give up trying. Thank goodness
your outcome was good, And I'm glad you have a voice to help those who need it. Now, if we can help people help themselves, so much the
better. And throwing money at the problem only helps the people who are truly
trying to do better. otherwise, we are just tossing money at the drug trade and
the liquor store. Corina, thanks for posting this. Bringing this story to
light is a good thing. Wondering on Is sharing not an option? The emphasis here seems to be on
single-person housing, but maybe buddying up might allow a decent place, such
as an $800 one-bedroom apartment to be shared. It wouldn't be the nicest
apartment, and you'd have to share, but that might be more of an option. A lot of the non-homeless people I know can't afford to even
live on their own, and live with roommates well into their twenties, albeit in
2- and 3-bedrooms, etc. Another issue I wonder about is employability. A lot of the
emphasis in the debate tends to be on the amount of assistance given out
(whether it's blankets, clothes, food, or shelter at night), but after a basis
of care has been established, shouldn't the real emphasis be on helping people
get jobs? It might be a low-paying one, but it should be able to
secure a room somewhere in shared accommodation. I just wonder what sorts of
job resources are available, and what both sides are: I'm sure one side says
that there is the cyclical issue of no address/no job and prejudice, and the
other says they are just lazy or not trying hard enough to find work. I'd appreciate some feedback on the realities of both sides. chenyip on Feast or famine folks. damian on RE: the drugs are the RESULT of this crushing, not the CAUSE
of the problem this is NOT true Ron. you know and i know it. RE: we are just tossing money at the drug trade and the
liquor store exactly. is this what you want Ron. think about what you are
saying Ron. perhaps i wont change your mind. its good you've found
something to beleive in. just dont force us to beleive in what your saying.
especailly those of us who have experience first hand. it's insulting. Justin on Tear-jerkingly powerful. merriemelodies on Right on, man. Except for extreme situations (war zones,
famine zones, totalitarian Ronzig on Certain people become so brainwashed by dogma that they
forget how to think for themselves. Go ahead and cling to your misconceptions.
I've had my say. merriemelodies on What the motherfk is that supposed to mean? Brainwashed? By
what dogma? And if you want to think for yourself, you sure as hell won't be
homeless. You know, Ron, you'd do yourself and your cause one helluva lot more
credit if you championed the self-power stuff and stomped upon the victim shit.
Or maybe you should just apply for a job at the Assembly of First Nations. Now,
THEY know how to spin the victim role. I wish you and your ilk well. Nuff said. Ronzig on Capitalism, the new religion AGC on I have to agree with you man, although I kinda gave up a
while ago, but I definitely see people jerking off to the system when it's so
clearly flawed and unequal in its opportunities....I'm afraid its gonna take a
loooong time before we have something better, unless something out of the
common happens. Ronzig on Well, AGC, a voice from the wilderness. Welcome friend.
Something out of the common is happening right now as we speak. We have entered
into an economic implosion which the elite are hoping can be curtailed with
huge bailouts of the very people and corporations that caused it. I expect that
in the short run these measures which the poor and middle classes will
eventually pay for with increased taxes to pay off the burgeoning debt, will
initially show signs of success. But further down the road, I predict that as the
money runs out, the systemic flaws that created the problem will rise again to
bring on a second phase of recessionary economies world wide. If that happens,
there will be no choice but to rethink the whole socio/economic structure.
That's when the ture struggle will begin. damian on i can barely read through your notes anymore ron. can you
get corina to help translate? thanks. see you at AA tonight. Ron Craven (Ronzig) on Here's a link to a TVO full length movie by some the day's
most profound thinkers that may help.  This photo from Eye Magazine shows how I looked in the year 2000 Burned out by police? BY TOM LYONS Eye MagazineMay 18, 2000 Police officers from Toronto's 14 Division are being blamed for destroying and then setting fire to a squatters' camp at Spadina and Lake Shore, according to two homeless men who lived there. The two men told eye the officers smashed up the camp and poured gasoline over the wreckage on the morning of May 4. Later, in the afternoon, a second pair of officers allegedly visited the collection of squats beneath the Spadina on-ramps to the Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Blvd. and set the remains on fire. "I got a wake-up call in the morning there," says James Beach, 29. "It was nice, so I slept outside the squat, in the open under the bridge. "The police came and woke me up at 7:30 in the morning. And they sort of took a look to the right after they woke me up, and noticed the structures we had built. They proceeded there, and started dismantling them. First, they woke up Pops [another homeless man] and kicked him out. He wasn't even allowed to get all his things, his belongings out of the houses. Then I witnessed them go back to the car and come back with some gas and spread it around the squats. I didn't see them light the match, though. But I came back later that day, at maybe 4 or 4:30, and it was all burned down. And my stuff was in one of the houses, too. I had a sleeping bag. Now I don't have one." Beach identified the police car driven by the two officers as carrying the number 14S3. Ron Craven, 54, who was also at the scene, recalls the police car's number as 14S23, rather than 14S3, and remembers being woken up at 8am, rather than 7:30. "Thursday morning around 8am, two police officers from 14 Division came," says Craven. "I was sleeping in my squat with a couple of other guys. And they came and told us to get lost. These two guys moved quickly, and I stopped to grab my sleeping bag and stuff. They threatened to pepper-spray me. I went away, I came back, and they had just totally destroyed my camp. Smashed. I was working on getting a room, so I was starting to collect furniture and stuff. I had a filing cabinet and a nice little desk, that when I came back were just totally smashed up. Just for no reason at all. And the whole camp broken up. "So I gathered up what I could retrieve from it and built another one beside it. And that was around noon, I guess I did that. Then, around 3 o'clock, I was out on the corner of Spadina and Lake Shore panhandling. And the 14S23 cruiser came along and asked me if I wanted to get arrested. I said no, not particularly. Then he came in here," continues Craven, pointing beneath the on-ramp, "and I stayed out here [by the intersection] and watched, and then the next thing I know, there's smoke coming up. After the firetrucks left, I went in to see, and there's nothing left. "They burned everything. All my clothes. My pictures are the worst, eh? Because I got a 12-year-old. I got no pictures left of him now. And a computer. I had an old computer. And I had tools. I came back and just cried." But the thing that angered him the most, says Craven, was the risk to his life and the lives of the other squatters. "I could have been sleeping there, under a pile of sleeping bags, and they wouldn't have seen me. I woulda gone up with it, too, if I'd been sleeping there. They don't give a shit." Samuel Godfrey, a student lawyer at Parkdale Community Legal Services and a member of the Committee to Stop Target Policing (CSTP), visited the site, talked to eyewitnesses, and says their story rings true. He says the alleged incident is an example of the widespread police destruction of squatters' property that he other members of the CSTP complained about to the Toronto Police Services Board on Nov. 22, 1999. "This is arson, pure and simple," he says. "It fits in with the criminal code definition, and it's a criminal act. It needs to be investigated." Robert Kellerman, a Toronto defence lawyer and member of the Law Union, agrees. "Whether people are lawfully [camping] or not, I don't think police have a right to destroy property. If the property belongs to the squatters, it's their personal goods," says Kellerman. "If these guys burned something, it's arson. And it's clearly arson in the criminal code. Because no one has the right to light fire to someone else's property. And it's certainly mischief to damage property like that." Kellerman adds that police would never consider destroying private property in Rosedale, even if it was left in someone else's yard. "Obviously, this kind of solution is reserved for the poor. And people who they think should have no rights, and so on. I think it's similar to the situation in South Africa, during the apartheid regime, when people would squat on the outside of the city in shanty towns. And the government would just come along with bulldozers and bulldoze down people's homes and property. And it's the same attitude, that these people are basically outside the normal society, that they are somehow to be treated as if they're less than human." A young woman who lived in the now-destroyed squats says the shelters offered a measure of safety in a precarious existence. "At least over there I felt safe," she says. "I could go home and have a sleeping bag already there, and have my bed set up the way it is, and have my stuff there. I slept in the park the other day. It was Saturday. And I ended up waking up with an old man's hands down my shirt." Allister Field, the complaints coordinator at 14 Division, said the station hadn't received any complaints from the homeless people making the accusations. He added that he would look into the matter and try to assure the men through their lawyer that it is "well within their rights to make a formal complaint under the Police Services Act."  This photo from Eye Magazine shows all that was left of all my worldly possessions except the clothes on my back after the police torched my squat. Memories,
images of being `Asleep in After a quick
check of their gear and an application of sunscreen, the photographers hit the
streets. They are men of a certain age and they have a particular experience.
Their cameras are disposable, for the most part. More to the point, they have
all been homeless at one time. Joe Fiorito usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: jfiorito@thestar.ca  I took this photo that day, of a man sleeping "Under the Gun" Joe Fiorito Asleep in Nancy Halifax
mustered her provisional army of photographers and prepared to hit the streets. Bottles of water? Check. Sunblock? Check. Cameras? One or two disposables and a
digital SLR. The photographers are men and women who have, at one time or another, been homeless. They are working on a project called "Asleep in You'd think it would be easy. Not entirely. But she has heard that some shelters are cherry-picking – that is, taking only the most stable men and women, and leaving those with the most serious problems to fend for themselves outdoors. The photographers have also heard the rumour. It is impossible to confirm, except anecdotally. The photographers – they are the paparazzi of la vita dura – gathered their gear, piled into a couple of vans, and headed for the bridge of sighs that crosses Bloor at Sherbourne. And as we drove, the photographers talked of places they know where the homeless sleep. James said, "There are a couple of squats down by the lake, very well hidden. You know those sewer pipes, corrugated, four feet in diameter? There's two of them in the middle of nowhere, tarps all around, a couple of chairs, mattresses inside, a barbecue, pots and pans." Sounds almost cozy. As for James, he has it fairly good at the moment. He lives in a trailer near the shore. "I have propane and all that. The guy who owns the property knows I'm there. I sort of take care of things. He has a lot of copper. I was there all winter. I was getting to be a hermit." Ron, who used to kip in a squat near What the men mean is that, if you do not force yourself to go out into the world, it gets harder and harder to go out, and the world collapses in on you. After a time, we found a spot to park and headed along And then we clambered under the bridge and entered the ravine. The dry bank was steep. Old knees are not supple. City shoes are slippery. The ground was littered with debris. Ron noticed a razor blade. He scuffed it with the tip of his shoe. I raised an eyebrow. He said, "You use the blade to take the residue out of the crack pipe to smoke it again." Jim said, "Here's an old needle." Ron snapped a photo. Across the I don't know what that man thought as he sat there in the shade but this is what he saw: half a dozen strangers, armed with dangling cameras, trying to look discreet, acting as if what we were doing was the most ordinary thing in the world. The man seemed wary.  The Gateway is one of the best dhelters in Toronto. It's run by the Salvation Army A snapshot of a life left
behind Joe Fiorito The
photographers have, for the past few months, been walking around the city
taking pictures of the places where they have slept when they were homeless,
and the places in which they might have liked to sleep, and the places where
the homeless continue to make their beds. Their project is called "Asleep
in The
man watched warily. The
cameras dangled around the necks of the photographers and they slipped and
climbed, trying to look nonchalant. They could see the man was getting edgy as
they neared, so they called up to reassure him. "How's it going?" As
if that were normal. He
did not reply. Also
normal. One
of the photographers, James, said as he came within earshot of the man,
"We're doing a photo essay. We've all been homeless. We want to use the
pictures to work for policy change, for housing." The
man nodded. That was all right by him. He was young and neatly dressed. He was
also plainly homeless. He stood and shrugged into his backpack and he said,
"I gotta get something to eat. I'm hungry." There
followed a conversation. "Where
do you usually stay?" "I
usually go to a shelter." "You
want a couple of bucks?" "I
hate to ask for money." Nancy
Halifax, who is the leader of the photography project, slipped the man some
folding money. The
man said, "I'm getting my own place." That may be so. He said,
"I don't like shelters." Not many people do. He said, "There's
men there with all kinds of personal problems." Men who moan in the
darkness, men who snore, men who smell, men who are drunk, and men who have
forgotten to take their meds. The man under the bridge said he works at the
racetrack when he can. "Take
`er easy," said the photographers. "Try
to," said the man. And
he walked off to get a bit to eat with There
was a Seaton House day pass dated James
kicked at something in the bushes and said, "Someone's been doing
whip-its." I
said, "Huh?" James
picked up an empty aerosol can that once held synthetic whipped cream. He
explained how to use the aerosol can to get high. I decline to repeat the
explanation. Not a good high, the whip-it. You
could hear the cars whipping by overhead and you could see them whipping by
below on the ravine road. You could feel the heat of the day. One of the
photographers said, quietly, "If you don't have schooling ... man, that's
what they tried to tell me." And
I will tell you. Joe
Fiorito usually appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email:
jfiorito@thestar.ca  Working to buy something to ease the pain. Toronto Star City bulldozes shack by Gardiner Man lived there for several years. Byline/Source: By Christopher Maughan Toronto Star Photo Caption: TORY ZIMMERMAN TORONTO STAR Ron Craven, a friend of Chris "Gardiner," was among those who objected to the removal of Chris' shack beneath the downtown highway. He was so at home he named himself after the place. But after eight years living there, a homeless man who became known as Chris "Gardiner" has been evicted from his  The days just slide by. Peer into a looking glass to see a portrait
of city streets Tell me what you see and I
will tell you who you are. Of a photo of the urban
gadfly Kevin Clark, wearing a scarf or towel as a headdress and looking like a
smiling tribesman at some oasis of the mind, Ron said, "This was at a
sleep-in at City Hall. Kevin came in through the wading pool." Of a handsome brooding native
man he said, "This is Kenny. I have photos of him and his friend John on
my website. From the age of 12 or 13, they were bouncing between foster homes
and correctional centres until they got away completely. They are heavy
drinkers but good guys." Of a photo of a man in a park
with a dog he said, "I knew Jerry 10 years ago. I lost track of him. I
didn't recognize him when I took this." The portraits and the
cityscapes are deft and bright and they show a side of the city we rarely stop
to look at, perhaps because we are, all of us, only a step or two away. Ron said, "I was on the
street for 10 years. I've been off for almost three." His trajectory? "I had money. I owned
two real estate offices. And then I met a girl and she introduced me to crack.
I was an instant addict. I was spending $1,000 a day, and not attending to
business. It took me about 10 years to move from my nice apartment to a less
nice apartment to a rooming house to the street." He tried plenty of times to
quit crack. It took him a long time to figure out that liquor was his trigger.
"I'd go several days without crack, then I'd drink and I'd be right back
where I started. I had to quit drinking to quit crack. Now? I never get a
craving for crack. I get a craving for a drink." How did he finally quit? "I weighed 100 pounds. I
was certain I was going to die. It was And the camera? "When you quit drugs,
you have to leave your old life behind. I realized that boredom is one of the
biggest problems. My way of keeping busy? I started taking courses. Continuing
education – if you were on social assistance you could take a nine-week course
for 10 bucks." He took all kinds of courses,
including digital photography. "As soon as I put my eye to the viewfinder,
I knew I'd found a home." He sells a photo now and then
but he gets by on disability. He said, "I don't need much. I buy a coffee
once a month. I don't buy new clothes. I do my own cooking. If I have gloves,
it's because I found them." Gloves are not the only
things he's found. You can view Ron Craven's
portfolio by clicking
here. Joe Fiorito usually appears
Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email: jfiorito@thestar.ca  Juan is plagued with multiple medical problems, but he remains positive Back on the streets, but with new eyes The Joe Fiorito He knows whereof he shoots.
He lived on the streets for years. He cleaned up a while ago, and he got the
camera and learned to use it while he was recovering his health. One thing
leads to another. Ron has just been invited to I dropped by the other day as
he was printing his most recent work. He lives downtown in community housing.
His place is small and his walls are covered with portraits of his street
friends; there are portfolios everywhere, and in his computer is a library of
some 200,000 photos. He said, "I have this
new technique. I'm printing on canvas, then I use paint to highlight certain
parts of the photos." I said one thing leads to another. Ron said, "I had called
a friend at the Sherbourne Health Centre to set up a show. I wanted people to
see this new work. I brought my portfolio along and I got talking to a fellow
who told me about a friend of his in "The dump kids; in terms
of homelessness, they have to be the most desperate of all." He was invited to travel and
he plans to document the work of the orphanage and the kids who live there. The
people who run the orphanage will use Ron's work to raise money. Ron will post
his photos, and his video footage, on his website. Years ago, Ron was in real
estate. He bought and sold houses the way some of us buy and sell books. He was
a millionaire when he found crack; first he found a little, then he found a
lot. There was never enough. The man who made a living
buying and selling houses soon found that he had no place to live; he was on
the street for years. How did he get clean? "I was down to 90
pounds. I knew I wouldn't make it through another winter. I called an outreach
worker." Like I said ... When I saw him the other day,
Ron was working on a photo of some workers building a condo; his printer ate a
length of canvas bit by bit and spat out a vivid image of what soon will be
another place to live. Ron yawned and said,
"When I was homeless I think I forgot how to sleep. When I first moved in here,
I never slept more than an hour at a time." He's got that up to a few
hours at a time now. He has just applied for a
passport; the last time he had one of those was when he was rich. Does he miss
money? "My needs are minimal. I don't do anything outside of my art. I
don't buy coffee, I make it here ... I don't worry about money. I've always
been able to get what I need." One thing leads to another. You can see Ron's latest work
this Saturday at the Sherbourne Health Centre, View Ron Craven's work at
these sites: ronzigsportfolio.synthasite.com
 I like to preserve good graffiti when I see it. this would make a good poster for an anti drug campaign. All Rights Reserved No part of this page may be copied
without the express written consent of the author Ronzig |
