Windsor Independent - January 2016

THE FIGHT
FOR YOUNG
MEN AT
HOME AND
ABROAD
BY ALEX DENONVILLE
Most Windsorites, like me, will greet
incoming Syrian refugees with a
warm welcome and open arms. We’re
glad to be their place of rest after an
arduous journey. And yet, in the tens
of thousands of faces seeking refuge
in this country, few will be young
men.
Citing security concerns, our newlyelected
federal government has said
no to unaccompanied young men
seeking asylum in Canada. Minister
of Defence Harjit Sajjan stated that
efforts would be focused on the most
vulnerable of refugees; families,
women and children.
What could our country’s refusal
mean for those young men? And
given the seemingly frequent calls on
local social media pages to “help our
own, before helping refugees,” how is
their exclusion reflected in Windsor’s
own “help” for a population of young
men in need?
Locally, I turn to Greg Goulin, the
newly-named Executive Director and
founder of the Windsor Residence for
Young Men. The residence provides
a home for homeless young men,
ages 16-24, while providing life skills
training and social services to help
them build the confidence and ability
to venture out on their own. All at a
measly $80 per resident per day.
“We’re trying to teach them how not
to be homeless, how to be productive
citizens of our community,” explains
Goulin, a long-time local lawyer
who, along with his partner Bonnie
Patrick, started the push for WRYM
in the 90s after recognizing a lack of
services for homeless young males in
the community.
Then there’s Muhammad Robert Heft,
a prominent Canadian expert on deradicalization
and founder of Paradise
Forever, a Toronto-based charitable
group dedicated to providing
social services, programming,
and assistance to newly-converted
Muslims.
Heft played an important role
in bringing down the renowned
Toronto 18 terrorist group in 2006,
helping to notify law enforcement
officials and push a counter-narrative
to what he calls a “gangster version”
of Islam propagated by groups like
al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Heft and Goulin share remarkably
similar stories about the people their
organizations have helped. Tales
of young men seeking meaning,
guidance, and an escape from their
often harsh circumstances of abuse
and marginalization.
There was the young Muslim man
struggling with mental illness and
unable to hold a job for more than
a day, Heft explains. Angry and
unable to deal with his feelings,
he developed a keen interest in
conspiracy theories and the apparent
coming fall of the American empire.
He was ripe for radicalization.
Fortunately, he worked one-on-one
with Paradise Forever’s psychology
and social work professionals (all
with what Heft calls an “Islamic
twist,”) while pulling part-time
janitorial duty at the centre. He’s still
monitored regularly, but now holds a
regular full-time job.
“When you can help get something
going for them, they have a bit of
light at the end of the tunnel... A
lot of these people feel like they’re
dysfunctional... They think they’re
not going to be able to make it in
society anyways, so why not join up
with groups like [ISIS],” Heft says.
Take out the Islamic aspect and
the same could be said of the men
that enter the doors of WRYM.
Instead of radicalization, feelings
of hopelessness and inability to
live independently in Canada’s
unemployment capital make them
ideal for induction into gangs and
crime.
Across Canada, young males are
twice as likely to perpetrate a violent
crime compared to their female
peers. They’re much more likely to
be the victim of aggravated assault
or assault with a weapon and a
whopping 85 per cent of all Canadian
inmates are male.
In WRYM’s first year of operation,
Goulin points out, Windsor saw
a 40 per cent reduction in youth
crime. He’s hesitant to claim a direct
correlation, but he’s unaware of any
other changes within the community
in that time frame.
“We give our guys the ability to walk
away from trouble, to say ‘I don’t
have to participate in anything I’m
not comfortable with’,” Goulin says,
discussing the finer details of the five
point life skills program that WRYM
teaches.
The program isn’t one of handouts
or freebies, it takes work to stay
at WRYM. The men are required
to either be in school, at a job, or
looking for a job to live there. They’re
provided food, but must have a hand
in preparing it. They’ll get help to
access government benefits, like
Ontario Works, but are drilled into
proper budgeting for their future, a
skill necessary for when they leave
the residence and may barely be able
to make ends meet.
The fruits of this approach are
apparent in the many success stories
from WRYM. Young men who’ve
gone on to higher education, steady
work, and much-needed stability.
“It’s not a place where you live
without accomplishing something,”
Goulin says. It takes work.
Much like WRYM assisting with the
transition of boys into adulthood,
Muhammad Robert Heft assists
young men transitioning into a new
religion. It’s not as simple as picking
up arms for the “gangster version” of
Islam.
“Criminality is the easy way, the idea
of picking up a gun and shooting
people or blowing yourself up for
your religion,” he explains. “Having
patience and working in reforming
your character, it’s not easy, it’s not
easy to change habits, it’s not easy to
work on yourself.”
And that’s the rub, none of this
“
We give our guys
the ability to walk
away from trouble,
to say I don't have
to participate in
anything I'm not
comfortable with.
is easy. It’s easier, politically and
economically, for the government
to push a blanket ban on young,
unaccompanied Syrian males, than it
is to put the proper resources in place
to ensure they have what they need to
integrate into our diverse Canadian
community.
Prior to the establishment of WRYM,
there were no services dedicated to
homeless young men in Windsor. At
the time, two facilities were dedicated
to serving women of the same age.
Goulin is quick to point out that it’s
not at all a criticism of the good local
work being done for women.
“It seems to be that our community
somehow has come to place greater
emphasis on either the value of
young women, or their needs or
their vulnerability, and with respect,
I think that’s sexist, whether it’s
intentional or not,” he says.
But those gendered expectations
run deep: the idea that our young
men are tough, able to fend for
themselves, and don’t need that
arm around their shoulder or a
supporting hand to lift them out of a
tough situation.
Sure, they may be the first to go to
war for their country, or even be
drawn into violent extremism, but
the idea they are any less deserving of
the chance to be put on the right path
must end.
That’s worth fighting for.
“
windsorindependent.com
JANUARY 2016
11