Ward 11 Alderman Brian Pincott | City of Calgary Office of the Aldermen

I had the pleasure of attending a performance of The Invisible Project last week. This is a unique and moving piece of theatre I believe all should see and experience. It creatively gives voice to those in our community who are invisible, either by choice or by force.

Running during the High Performance Rodeo at One Yellow Rabbit, this piece of theatre was developed as part of ‘This Is My City’ project. My City is about raising awareness and understanding of those who are homeless and to giving them a voice.

Our homeless community, and I emphasize ‘community,’ has exploded over the past few years. We, as a City, have realized that we must address the problems of homelessness and strive to get the over 4,000 people who don’t have a safe roof over their heads into proper housing. We have initiated the Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness to address what is, frankly, a crisis.

And yet, the homeless, as persons, remain invisible to us. To properly address and deal with the challenge of homelessness in our society we can no longer afford to allow this invisibility. We must begin to see the homeless as citizens, as fellow Calgarians. In order to see the solutions, we need to see the people. We must allow our homeless citizens to become visible.

This play draws on a few of the true stories of the over 4,000 that are out there. A few of our fellow citizens have risked taking off their masks to show us a slice of their life. They have decided to no longer be invisible. They have taken the incredible chance to invite us to see their true selves.

It is important that we accept the invitation and begin to share understanding, to share our City with everyone. We have a lot to learn from the homeless, and with this show, I believe they have begun our education.

For more information, check out these two links:

http://www.calgary.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_726041_0_0_18/This+is+My+City.htm

http://www.oyr.org/rodeo/09_rodeo/09_my_city_w3.html