{"id":23725,"date":"2016-11-27T14:11:04","date_gmt":"2016-11-27T19:11:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/huntsville.dopperonline.ca\/?p=23725"},"modified":"2016-11-27T14:11:04","modified_gmt":"2016-11-27T19:11:04","slug":"listen-up-paul-fenc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/listen-up-paul-fenc\/","title":{"rendered":"Listen Up! Supporting a person through addiction and mental illness is really difficult"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Hugh

Hugh Mackenzie
Huntsville Doppler<\/p><\/div>\n

Tragedy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Last week was a terrible week for Huntsville. A young man died. He died tragically and his story has gripped our community. His name is Paul Fenc and he was known as JC. He was homeless. He was a street person. He was in \u201cthe system\u201d and well known by social workers and others. Those who knew him, liked him. But he chose to live in the open. He chose to live on the street. He chose his own way to deal with the devils that consumed him. In some ways, it is too sad to talk about and in other ways it must be talked about.<\/p>\n

Sadly, in this particular instance, social media, a forum which allows us to instantly jump to conclusions, has not been helpful. As a result, many people in Huntsville have come to believe that JC died because the Town dragged its feet in issuing an occupancy permit to The Table, an independent agency in Huntsville who have worked to provide a Men\u2019s Shelter here. Perhaps it makes us feel better to point fingers, but it is simply not true and focuses our attention in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n

Read what Paul\u2019s father wrote in part, after learning of his son\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul has chosen to live in outdoor settings most of his adult life. It seemed to help relieve the pressures he felt when being part of society. Paul learned to survive any weather conditions and any situations that came up. The events that led to Paul\u2019s death were not caused because THE TABLE facility was not yet open\u2026\u2026..There is no one to blame in this case.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n

What a courageous statement for Paul\u2019s Dad to make as he mourns the death of his son.<\/p>\n

<\/broadstreet-zone><\/strong><\/div>\n

I am well aware that there is controversy over the occupancy permit required to allow the Men\u2019s Shelter to open. Believe me, I have heard both positions and there are <\/strong>two sides to this specific story. But I do not want to deal with that issue here. Heather Berg, of The Table is a strong personality and perfectly capable of presenting that matter from her perspective and Mayor Scott Aitchison is equally able to explain the position of the Town and the District. What is important however, is to separate this matter from the death of this troubled young man.<\/p>\n

It is true that Paul Fenc was well known to The Table. He knew where to go when he needed food or clothing. He also knew how and where to get shelter when he really needed it. It is also true that Paul visited The Table shortly before his death and he may well have asked if the Shelter was open. But there were other options for shelter available to Paul which folks at The Table would have helped him with, but he would \u201cnot let us offer more\u201d. He was also offered warmer outerwear than he had on but he did not want that either. He believed he would be OK. It was Paul\u2019s decision. Even if the Shelter was open, there is no reason to believe he would have stayed there. He wanted to be outdoors.<\/p>\n

This article is a particularly difficult one for me to write because I too, have a daughter who is a \u2018street person\u2019.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We adopted her when she was eight-months old. She had been abandoned on a Reservation. She was malnourished and had fetal alcohol syndrome. Her mother and I and subsequently her stepmother, did everything we could to help her, both as a child and as an adult and in some ways, it worked. But it did not change who she was or how eventually she dealt with it. She learned the ways of the street and how to survive on the street, not because she had to, but because she could not conform in any other way. She has been suicidal and she is an alcoholic. When she is sober, which sadly, is not often, she is a fine person. When she is drunk, she is a terror. It shames me to say that I worry about her less when she is in jail, than when she is on the street. We have been told that we will lose our daughter. We are fortunate it has not happened yet.<\/p>\n

Our daughter too, has been in \u201cthe system\u201d. Agency after agency have tried to help her as have people who care for her. We have had to come to grips with the fact that she is who she is and we are incapable of changing who she is.<\/p>\n

Paul Fenc did not die because the Men\u2019s Shelter in Huntsville was not open. Nor did he die because there were not people who were trying to help him or people who cared for him. He died because he is who he is and he lived in a manner that best suited that reality for him. Quite possibly, it was a mental illness and mental illness is a terrible thing. It cannot always be adequately addressed any more than cancer can and sometimes it has dire consequences.<\/p>\n

We are far better off, in my view, to confront the realities of mental illness, to bring it out from the shadows, to conquer the shame, than we are to bury the hard issues by pointing fingers somewhere else, where they don\u2019t belong.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss out on Doppler! Sign up for our free, twice-weekly newsletter here<\/u>.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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