Paradise view tenting over shelters and SROs in Vancouver.

You may live in Vancouver and see random tents pop up just about anywhere. You may think they don't have a place to sleep. Well the thing is, they do. They sleep there. They wake up to whatever view they want. Rent free and free from shelter abuse from shelter workers, street beef enemies, and bullies.

"The enemy are the park rangers. The police don't come out here. I rarely hear sirens. Birds and a bunch of Irish coming back from the bar is all I hear."

A man in his 60s was interviewed by Joey near Jericho Park late last year as Joey (the owner) stayed there in tents, which can easily be proven if needed.

"I hide everything in the thorns. The park rangers will say the junkies stole it. I know who stole my tent. The park rangers. I saw it happen. I couldn't walk fast enough to stop them and had to sit on a bench in the rain and wind all night."

Joey (the writer of this article and founder of Spherical Shield) asked if he had addictions. "Alcohol and weed and cigarettes. I love all three. I am not unhappy. I just think of how horrible the park rangers treated me. I never see cops. I am loved here, but the park rangers are the bullies of the forest, if anything."

Joey (myself) actually did not disagree with it at all and gave the man a high five. Joey knows Jericho Park extremely well and has hidden tents and other survival supplies for himself and others during COVID and heat waves.

Every morning you see older men in wheel chairs coming out of a tent, while you are homeless with no money, wanting to help, when you are literally surviving by the hour trying to decide what shelter to go to prior to a 4 week rain storm that is coming in the next day or two.

Survival in the woods is actually not super difficult, but you are not allowed to sleep in the woods. My guess is because after hearing many trees falling and that not every tent person is there to behave (since you are close to government serveillance a few blocks away and many other reasons), they do not want you in there.

An indigenous gentleman that looked about 50 to 55 stated another time. "The rules feel stupid because you get into land wars with the park rangers. Indigenous territory but we cannot sleep in the woods, even though we have the survival knowledge if things go down, and they are down right now. I did heat waves and COVID in the woods while helping people get housing. I didn't even get housing until the end."

The cruelty does not end. Shelter workers in some shelters (all Caucasian) continue to abuse people inside the shelters.

"There are two types of shelter workers. One that want to rescue. One that want to torment the ones that are too smart to be in there."

Neurodivergent individuals are subjected to high bullying in shelters. Any smart or success talk about anything that will get you back on your feet feels prohibited not just by the shelter guests, but the actual staff. People have reported that staff of shelters and the park rangers were their only enemy in a world where their life revolves around drugs.

"A shelter worker kicked me out for spilling coffee, thinking I was high. I was withdrawing. Even worse. I was eating Dollarama candy from NoFrills to deal with my stomach since the food tastes like dinosaur %%%%."

Joey laughed when he interviewed a man that was straight up telling the truth. While the toxic language may seem unprofessional, the truth is the truth.

A man from France that stayed in Jericho Park for a few weeks was kicked out during snow storms because setting up and teardown was actually causing the supplies to get wet.

"There is lazy. There is cruelty. I myself am lazy but not this time. During a snow storm you figure the park rangers would not come by. Think again. They add danger while trying to add safety."

The amount of people sleeping around Jericho park is usually less than ten. It takes a long time to get there, so it does not suffice for addicts unless they need a break from the pavement stress of hastings and concrete stress of the shelters. Some say that only the good behaved get kicked out of the shelters if anything, because they call the police which if needed, might find out that their operation is actually an abuse program in disguise.

FYI: Receipts make the story true, and the Daily Hive did put out an article about me with permission and a photo. The story is a bit inaccurate but it is there. The news never seems to be accurate.

More stories to come on the less fortunate individuals dealing with park rangers, bylaw officers, and abusive shelter workers.

Joey MacDonald

Spherical Shield

Vancouver, B.C.