Small-town resident says homelessness in her community differs from the urban experience and requires different ideas
FAIRVIEW, Alta. — Seeing a replica of an old red barn on a street corner is not an unusual site in prairie towns.
Michelle Dacyk hopes the small red barn in front of her business will provide people in need with dignity, respect and needed supplies.
“I believe in community. I believe in health and wellness. If you’re worried about where your next meal is and where you’re going to get diapers for your babies, you’re not going to have health and wellness,” said Dacyk, owner of Elements The Compass of Health, a health and wellness centre.
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The idea for the Dignity Barn was sparked after her involvement with programs for homelessness in Grande Prairie, the region’s main business centre. When she moved back to Fairview, her hometown, in 2018, she saw a different form of homelessness and need for services.
“What homelessness looks like in Fairview is much different than it does in the city. Homelessness here is a lot of couch surfing. It is not visible as the larger centres.”
The town’s food bank is open for three hours each week and the local women’s shelter does outreach but can’t look after everyone in need of services.
With homelessness comes poverty, hunger and theft, including from her business’s back yard.
“With the thefts happening and people going into the dumpster, it was really disturbing me,” said the occupational therapist.
“Locking things more was not going to be the solution. We’ve got to try something different.”
A year ago, Dacyk installed the Dignity Barn to try and make a difference. Both Dacyk and community members add “gifts” to the Dignity Barn to help reduce poverty and its impacts.
“People can drop off free gifts or pick up free gifts. It wasn’t necessarily feeling like a handout or a donation. When we changed the wording on the barn to gifts, it’s a gift, it’s not a donation. It is not a hamper. I just wanted it to be an exchange of gifts.”
The gifts include mitts, hats, toques, toiletries, diapers, food and gift cards. During the summer a cooler beside the barn was stocked with water and Gatorade.
She has even received thank-you cards from people receiving the gifts.
“I have seen people on bicycles or in fancy cars with kids stop by and pick up gifts from the barn,” said Dacyk.
“It is just reiterating that a small 16-inch by 16-inch barn can make a difference. Anybody can do this in any community, any business, any property. It’s those small acts that can really make a difference.”
