Naomi Henry wants to do more to help her community deal with its many social issues, particularly in the highway corridor, after seeing how much has been accomplished on Whistler Street in Duncan by local business owners and other advocates in recent years.
Henry, 16, was among more than a dozen students from a Grade 11/12 social justice class at Quw'utsun Secondary School who recently took a tour of the Whistler Street area with Doug MacKenzie, Will Arnold and other community activists and business owners in the neighbourhood who have spent the last seven years cleaning up the long-troubled streets and helping many drug addicts receive care they needed to turn their lives around.
“I’ve read all the stories about what was going on around here and it was great to come to talk to those who helped deal with it and see what was happening behind the scenes,” Henry said.
“It has inspired me to get out more in the community and help as much as I can.”
MacKenzie, who owns the Options Okanagan Treatment Centre for those struggling with addictions, and Arnold, who owns Experience Cycling, have led the successful charge to deal with the social issues around Whistler Street, along with a number of neighbouring businesses and residents.
MacKenzie also operates Option Salad & Subs Meal Prep in the highway corridor which is staffed by people recovering from addictions.
Leah Gough, Henry’s social justice teacher, said one of her students brought up all the great things that were happening at Option Salad & Subs Meal Prep to help the neighbourhood and addicted people in need, so she contacted MacKenzie to see if she could set up a time for her class to visit and see the work that has been done, and continues to be done, first hand.
“The fact that this was happening right here in my students’ neighbourhood got their attention,” she said.
“The students have really taken this to heart. They are leaders in their school and community and have their own ideas as to what they can do to help. They are really ready to help make change here.”
MacKenzie and other community members took the class out on Whistler Street, which was once the main centre for unhoused and addicted people in the area but has seen much improvement over the years, and explained all the work that he and others have done to turn things around.
He advised them that people must work together to find solutions to social problems in their neighbourhoods and make a difference.
“Anytime you get an opportunity, you can plan a couple of projects, big or small, that you can do,” he said.
“There are a lot of smart and talented kids here, and you never know what you can do. We didn’t know what we could do seven years ago when we began working to clean up this community, and I can’t imagine what will be further accomplished in the next 10 years, but I bet it will be a lot of cool things. Remember, you are the future and you can accomplish a lot as well.”
