(NightReach film screenshot)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

United Way

#UNIGNORABLE campaign shines light on Red Deer’s homeless

Oct 19, 2019 | 2:00 AM

A short documentary from one of Red Deer’s best-known filmmakers has uncovered some of the many faces that make up the city’s homeless and drug-using population.

The film by Rueben Tschetter of Cache Productions focuses on Turning Point’s NightReach program, and is part of a national United Way campaign which is highlighting the #UNIGNORABLE aspects of poverty.

“As a filmmaker and documentary storyteller, I try not to take sides too much, but I am empathetic, I feel for everyone in our community,” says Tschetter. “As a community, we need to do everything possible to support people who are down on their luck and who may have challenges that we can’t even imagine.”

The film’s three minutes and 17 seconds follow the NightReach team as they embark throughout the downtown, as they do 365 times a year. The trained professionals who work in the program distribute everything from equipment for safer drug use to safer sex materials, and water or warm clothes, depending on the season.

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“NightReach is a really vital service for people who are street involved. We’re often seen as a safe point of contact, and we’re meeting people where they’re at,” says Aisley Miles, Turning Point’s Harm Reduction program manager.

“It’s really important to the people who access it. We walk people to shelter if maybe they’re not feeling safe, or not able to walk on their own. We’ve found people in snowbanks in the past, passed out for whatever reason … we probably did save a life that night.”

Brett Speight, CEO of United Way Central Alberta explains why they partner with an organization like Turning Point, which rightly or wrongly has become a divisive part of the community.

“I’ve worked downtown for a number of years and have managed businesses downtown, so I totally understand why it is divisive, but our mission is to build strong and healthy communities,” he states. “Turning Point is one of many agencies that work with the vulnerable population and we feel because it is such a complex issue, it requires a number of strategies; intervention, education, harm reduction, and treatment, so the work they do is important.”

On the #UNIGNORABLE campaign, Speight believes there is much to be learned by viewing Tschetter’s film.

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“Only by getting the conversation going and getting the community together are we going to be able to solve these issues. The film intersects a number of issues — addictions, homelessness and mental health — and you can see it’s downtown Red Deer that we’re looking at,” Speight says.

“Before we released it, I showed the film to a few people who don’t work in the sector, and their response was that if they didn’t know the landmarks, they might think it was a much larger centre. So we challenged Rueben by saying we didn’t want any speaking at all (in the film), to highlight it through imagery, and he did a great job.”

The #UNIGNORABLE campaign will continue over the coming weeks and months with a number of provocative roaming art installations around Red Deer and central Alberta. For now, you can keep up with where they are by following the United Way Central Alberta on their social media channels.