"I just want to feel human again"

To Whom It May Concern,

I write to you with a heavy heart, compelled to expose the humanitarian and spiritual catastrophe unraveling in the streets of Oceanside, particularly around Parksville. This is not a distant threat—it is a present, suffocating darkness that chokes the life from our most vulnerable neighbours. The question is no longer whether this crisis will worsen, but how much more suffering we will allow before we act. I beg you to hear this desperate plea, not just for the homeless and less fortunate who are at risk, but for the soul of our community.

Let me tell you about a woman I met on the Parksville waterfront. She  is 42, though her weathered face and hollow eyes make her look decades older. Once a nurse’s aide, she lost her job during the pandemic, then her apartment, and finally her hope. Now, she sleeps in a tattered sleeping bag behind a dumpster and other unsafe areas, her only shelter from the elements. 

She has an untreated infection in her foot, swollen and oozing, and no access to a doctor. She told me, while great pain, "I just want to feel human again.” She is not alone—hundreds of people at risk who live in their vehicles or shacks or on the streets like her roam Oceanside, trapped in a cycle of neglect, despair, and systemic failure that feels engineered to break them.

This crisis is a humanitarian failure of staggering proportions. The homeless in Oceanside are denied the most basic necessities: washrooms , clean water, decent food, a safe place to sleep, or even rudimentary medical care. The streets are awash with dangerous drugs—fentanyl, meth, and worse—while access to rehabilitation, job training, or mental health support is virtually nonexistent. Shelters are absent, leaving people exposed to the elements and vulnerable to violence. This is not mere oversight; it feels deliberate, as if designed to crush the spirit of those already on their knees. The result is a Third World-like wasteland in the heart of our community, where hope is a luxury and survival is a daily battle.

Consider the stark hypocrisy of our priorities. In British Columbia, plastic straws are banned to “protect the environment,” yet the government turns a blind eye to the flood of deadly drugs that destroy lives. Worse, some leaders seem complicit, allowing policies that perpetuate addiction over recovery. In Oceanside, the conditions are not just deplorable—they are apocalyptic. People like this lady suffer from untreated illnesses, from festering wounds to chronic diseases, with no hope of care. The lack of shelter leaves citizens at the mercy of extreme heat in the summer , torrential rains in the winter or freezing nights. The easy availability of drugs, coupled with the absence of meaningful support, creates a perfect storm for failure—One that our leaders have allowed to rage unchecked.

This is more than a policy failure; it is a spiritual assault. By stripping the homeless and people at risk of dignity and basic care, those in power have opened the door to darkness. They retreat to their comfortable homes, insulated from the chaos they’ve enabled, while the streets become a battleground where the vulnerable fight impossible odds. The victory, for now, belongs to neglect and apathy—but it is a shameful one, built on the broken bodies and spirits of people like this lady.

Here are further examples of this engineered catastrophe:

•  Untreated Medical Crises: Beyond her infected foot, countless others suffer in silence. I’ve seen people with heart disease and diabetes without insulin, women with untreated mental health disorders spiraling into despair, and a large number of people with untreated respiratory infections. The absence of basic healthcare or even first aid ensures physical deterioration, eroding the will to persevere.

•  Abandonment of Shelter Solutions: There are no meaningful efforts to provide safe, stable housing or even temporary shelters. People sleep in doorways, under bridges, or in makeshift camps, exposed to theft, assault, and exploitation. The city and RDN spend thousands to “clear” these encampments, only to push people into new areas where the cycle of destruction and filth begins anew. Without shelter, there is no stability, no safety, no hope.

•  Proliferation of Drugs Over Dignity: The availability of hard drugs far outstrips any attempt at redemption. Rehabilitation programs are underfunded or nonexistent, job training is a pipe dream, and mental health support is a cruel joke. This imbalance is a choice—one that prioritizes addiction over recovery, death over life.

•  Erosion of Community Safety: The chaos in the streets doesn’t just harm the homeless—it poisons everyone. Families avoid downtown Parksville, where needles can be found on the streets and the sidewalks and in our public parks. Businesses struggle as customers stay away. The social fabric frays, yet no comprehensive plan emerges to restore order or compassion.

•  Dehumanization Through Neglect: By treating the homeless like animals—shuffling them from one area to another without addressing their needs—we dehumanize them. This approach hasn’t worked; it only deepens the crisis. We spend more on policing and cleanup than we would on shelters or support, perpetuating a vicious cycle of suffering.

This cannot continue. The leaders of Oceanside must be held accountable for creating an environment where failure is not just possible but inevitable. Their inaction—or worse, their complicity—has allowed this darkness to spread, and it is the most vulnerable who pay the price. I implore you to act, to shine a light on this crisis, and to demand change before the situation becomes irreparable. The homeless and those at risk deserve care, dignity, and hope. They are not animals to be herded or problems to be swept away—they are human beings, created in the image of the Creator crying out for compassion.

Without immediate action, the darkness will deepen. We risk not just a humanitarian disaster but a moral collapse. Oceanside could become a place where hope is extinguished, where families are lost forever, where the fire of neglect consumes our safe community. I beg you—do not let this happen.  Create shelters, expand healthcare access, prioritize recovery over addiction, and restore dignity to those who have been stripped of it. Act now, before the light fades entirely.

Robin Campbell

Manna Homeless Society

Donations can be made by e-transfer to:

MannaParksville@gmail.com 

Or  cheques can be sent to:

Manna Homeless Society

P.O. Box 389

Errington BC VOR 1VO

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