It’s no secret that the streets are dangerous places. Homeless people face many risks. From exposure to insomnia and every vulnerability in between, it’s a wonder any of us survive at all. Trust me, I know, and I live it every day as a woman too! So you know, between the hours of 8 and 8, every car that passes is one trying to get me into their car, thinking they can drive me someplace where they can’t hear me scream. Get lucky for 40 bucks. Well, I’ll tell you, those find themselves sorely mistaken. Here are some risks we face: the underbelly that tourists don’t Instagram. You see, this city isn’t all beavertails and tulips, and let’s not forget the shawarma! Nope, it’s got its own set of urban survival challenges, and they’re not for the faint of heart.
Ottawa winters? They’re like a slap from an angry snowman. Imagine huddling under cardboard, teeth chattering, while frostbite nibbles at your toes. Yeah, that’s street life here. The struggle is real, and so is the icy grip of hypothermia. Until, of course, summer shines a light on our frozen faces. Then it’s heat stroke, dehydration, and sunburn. With sidewalks so hot, you could cook an egg on them. With the jumps from one extreme to another and all the rain, wind, and snow we see at random in between, the homeless population gets the brunt of common colds and flu. Hyperthermia and hypothermia aside, they were exposed to all the beauty of the outdoors. We play roulette with everything we come into contact with (which is quite a lot)!
So, you might think big deal, just hop on over to the doctor and get some cough medicine and a prescription for some long-needed rest. if only! Being sick ain’t all snuggles and Neo-Citran; this is street medicine! No appointments, no insurance. Just a mix of septic abscesses, MRSA-infected wounds, and lungs coughing up greyish phlegm—that’s enough to make anyone panic. And guess what? Hepatitis and HIV play hide-and-seek in the alleyways, while the only thing distracting you from the smell of rotting teeth is the itchy spot on your back from the parking lot fleas and bed bugs if you dare stay in a shelter bed. Speaking of beds: pillows? Blankets? Luxury. Ottawa offers concrete mattresses, where sirens sing lullabies and insomnia waltzes. Every rustle, every footstep—it’s a potential threat. Sleep? That’s for the privileged. You’re too busy counting rats to do the cha-cha outside your cardboard suite.
Insomnia turns your brain into a foggy swamp. Your memory? It's on vacation. Concentration? Ha! You're more scattered than a jigsaw puzzle in a windstorm. Not to mention your mood, increased depression, and anxiety (like you needed help with that), will have you just as stable as the weather here in Ottawa. Insomnia helps us all win the Pain Olympics. slower reaction times and an increased chance of accidents. It's like playing Mario Kart blindfolded. If that doesn’t jumpstart your heart, lack of sleep messes with your ticker, increasing the risk of heart disease. So combine that with gingivitis and tooth rot, and you're on a fast track to heart failure, my toothless friend.
With insomnia making you feel hungrier than usual, you realize, hmm, it’s not so easy eating out here. Dumpster diving is our cardio. Forget protein shakes; we’re chowing down on despair. Malnutrition? Check. Hunger pangs? Double-check. risk of food poisoning? You know it! The lucky ones find the cleanest garbage, where they tie up the bags and have food kept separate from bathroom tissues and chemical cleaners. (Thank you to all the shop owners who do this; you are truly appreciated.) the rest? Well, they’re the real-life contestants in the “Hangry Games”—may the odds be ever in their flavourless favour. With a free one-a-day take-away meal that tastes the same as the packaging it’s served in (not complaining, just saying...).
So, you decide you’ve had enough and decide to eat and sleep down at Shep's (if you’re lucky enough to get a spot, that is). Well, there’s as much danger outside as inside on the block.
Any shelter, for that matter, but you figure you'll take that risk. So you brave the midnight marauders.
When the sun clocks out, the streets clock in. Shadows stretch, and the city’s heartbeat changes tempo. Your stuff is stolen from your very body, the moment you close your eyelids. Oh, and be sure not to be caught stepping on someone’s sidewalk square or breathing funny air unless you want a quick knife in your side. Ouch! Did you need that spleen? Not anymore! You survive the night only to find out that it’s frosh week at Ottawa University and groups of froshers have made a game of beating on homeless people. Guess it’s time to head over to Tent City . All this and more, including feelings of hopelessness, loneliness, mistrust, feeling chronically unsafe, discomfort, lack of privacy, bad self-image, drug addiction, and more, pose spirals of risks.
And just when you think to yourself, "Phew,” Rideau McDonald’s is closed for good. We’re that much safer…boom! . Your pal in the next alleyway wakes up dead—of a hot shot. What’s a hotshot, you ask?
Since the dawn of the opiate epidemic, which was so generously donated to us by pharmaceutical companies, household philanthropist heroes like Teva, Purdue, and Johnson & Johnson, a freakin family company (HA!). Since the emergence of fentanyl, the number of lives lost has been unbelievably high. In Ontario alone, accidental overdoses have taken over 40,000 lives since 2018. That’s not including suicides, undetermined, ongoing investigations, or homicides!
The newest danger to people on the streets (especially those involved in drugs—that includes you too, potheads!) is an increase in what is being called "hotshots." This is when an unsuspecting user is drugged with a lethal dose of opiates, usually given to them free of charge, given to them forcefully, or left planted in their belongings for future use. Laced with the death-dealing mixture. Often these deaths will be ruled as yet another overdose, and the statistics continue to climb. Leaving murderers free on the streets! I mean, come on, if you’re going to kill someone, at least have the gumption to stand them up and give them a fighting chance!
Hotshots have paved the way for your run-of-the-mill person with pent-up resentments and loads of self-hatred to become cold-hearted killers with no accountability at all. These are petty theft crimes turned cold-blooded murder. To anyone who knows anyone who has died of an overdose, I’m so sorry for your loss and for the losses to us all, sadly those losses continue to climb in number. The hotshot madness needs to stop. The lives of human beings are worth more than proving a point. The threat of losing your life, or the life of someone you love, to overdose, is a real-life looming danger for so many. We should stand united against more losses. We really can’t afford to lose anyone else, and we all have enough risks to face every day.
So that’s just a taste of what we face out here on the mean streets of Cap City. I hope you learned something. To my fellow street wanderer, grab your toque and brace yourself. From the burbs to the back alleys, remember to spare a thought for the ones that sit on the sidewalks—the invisible warriors that live day in and day out on that street you walk on. They’re not just surviving; they’re writing their own damn stories. And maybe, just maybe, they’ll teach you a thing or two about resilience and bravery to pass along to whoever might need it. Who knows? Maybe that little extra could be what saves someone’s life one day.
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