Former Langford resident advocates for new virtual platform to help regionB次元官网网址檚 homeless

Rafael Zambrana still remembers a conversation he had with a friend, who like him, was born in Mexico.

B次元官网网址淎nd I heard him talking about homeless people as drug addicts, you know, unwanted people and I said, B次元官网网址榣ook, IB次元官网网址檓 living in my car. You are talking about me. IB次元官网网址檓 homeless.B次元官网网址�

Zambrana, approaching 70, tells this story as he sits at a table in SaanichB次元官网网址檚 St. AidanB次元官网网址檚 United Church, where has to come speak about homelesspartners.com, a virtual platform that connects the larger public with local homeless.

The site recruits volunteers, who interview people who are staying at homeless shelters.

These stories then appear on the platform, where people can browse them and pledge gifts to the people behind them.

He wears a flat cap and speaks in a measured yet forthcoming way that points to his past life of business trips to Asia and stays in the United States, Mexico and Europe.

Zambrana once had a store on Johnson Street, where he sold jewelry.

B次元官网网址淚 even had a property in Langford, which had I kept it, I would be a millionaire,B次元官网网址� he said.

But then things went off the rails. B次元官网网址淚 had accumulated some wealth and then made some bad moves and ended up with no money at all. So basically, what I have is a car, that I am driving.B次元官网网址�

After a serious accident in the summer of 2014 forced him to spend time in the United States, Zambrana eventually found his way back to Vancouver, where he lived for three months out of his car.

B次元官网网址淚 actually stayed in the parking lot of a mall and they [mall staff] knew I was sleeping in my car,B次元官网网址� he said.

Still in touch with friends, he eventually made his way to Victoria, where he spent another four months living in his car.

After a few cold nights, he decided that it was time to start looking for other places.

After spending one week at the Rock Bay Landing Shelter run by the Cool-Aid Society of Greater Victoria, he found a spot at its Next Steps shelter, a transitional shelter that provides an opportunity for 15 emergency shelter clients to access the resources and services they need to get their lives back on track, according to the societyB次元官网网址檚 website.

Such services include housing, employment, financial, life skills and mentorship, as well as physical and mental health services.

B次元官网网址淪o Next Steps is a very good system to give us the time to settle down and think clearly and be able to get out of it,B次元官网网址� said Zambrana.

More than a year has passed since he moved into Next Steps and he sounded genuinely surprised when he realized he would be spending this past Christmas B次元官网网址� his second B次元官网网址� at Next Steps.

And yet, he could not be more grateful for the assistance that he has received, because it does not take much to lose everything that had taken so long to build up.

B次元官网网址淭here are lots of people where I live who had a very good living, actually made a lot of money and had a big house. And for whatever reason, now they donB次元官网网址檛.B次元官网网址�

editor@goldstreamgazette.com