Five Prayers for the Vancouver Olympics

The following prayers were written by my friend Al McKay, who is also a member of Streams of Justice. The Olympics are certainly on the back of most people's minds, and certainly, it is an exciting event that is meant to celebrate humanism. I find that a tad ironic though, especially when we begin to think about how our city has chosen to use crimilization as a means to figh poverty, which I believe to be ultimately dehumanizing. The human spirit doesn't only exist in the acquirement of a gold medal, or the crowds who are cheering the athletes on, or even the often touching and memorable stories of "everyday people" who are accomplishing their dream by being part of this international spectacle. The human spirit exists on our downtrodden streets, on the crowded buses, and most certainly on the faces of those who remain hungry, evicted, and in pain.

1) Pray that all three levels of Government will act upon the recommendation to start to build 3200 units of Social Housing immediately
2) Pray that the Provincial Government would take away the barriers to receiving welfare - like the 3 week waiting period
3) Pray that all three levels of Government would work together to acquire 800 units of low income housing by 2010
4) Pray that the Provincial Governmentt would increase welfare rates by 50% using the March 2007 elevels. This would mean that welfare recipients could actually rent.
5) Pray that there would be the political will to convert 200 units of the Vancouver Athletes' Village to low income housing