1/ A 20-year-old with the cognitive capacity of a small child is being released from custody onto Edmonton’s streets tomorrow with no ID, no bank account, no supports, and severe mental health challenges. He eats all his antipsychotic medication at once because he cannot manage it independently.

1/ Grandfather, and primary caregiver of his grandchildren, has been cut off from income support. He states that he has complied with everything they have asked. It irks me that they have no warning, no date. And these vulnerable people find out after the fact. When their funds don't arrive.

I want to thank @KevinSpeaksUp for his years of volunteer work helping @coalition4jhr and me. He has been an amazing advocate for our most vulnerable. And I have always admired his tenacity, passion and kind heart. He is--my friend.

1/ A mom with small children calls me. She states, shelters are all full. She called emergency social services, and they hung up on her. When she finally spoke to a worker, they refused to help. I directed the mom to now call Children's Services and self-report. #abpoli

It's crazy that, in all likelihood, I will be taking these children into a Children's Services office for a life in care. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

Dealing with a mom who wants to give her baby up for private adoption. Without the knowledge or consent of her family, the father of the child. It's a mess.

1/Frustrating day yesterday. Two kids, I caught them on my camera(They never saw they were being filmed). One kid films on his cell phone, the other takes a metal rod and smashes my vehicle windows, then runs off.

Frustrating day. I think the person I was supposed to take to treatment played me a bit. And never did connect with me for the ride. Comes with the territory, but I had scheduled the whole day for him.

Just my personal opinion as a human being in a free and democratic society. Please enjoy. #yegcc #yeg markcherrington.substack.com/p/the-revolv...

1/Have been meeting with federal MP offices regarding a mom. She has small children, all born in Canada, and this bio father is terrible and has an outstanding arrest warrant for sexual assault.

Helping a lady with a six-year fine, a bylaw ticket. She has significant challenges and is on AISH. She has remained in her dwelling for years, worried she'd go to jail for being unable to pay. When she was homeless, she was ticketed for not having a license for her puppy.

In a financial crunch. I have a few single parents in crisis and need safe transportation, access to medication, and food. Safety nets have now been exhausted. You can support me, or I can provide you with these families' direct contact info in private. Please help if you can. I hate asking.

Help a young dad. He has job at a car wash & forgot his wallet & needed a ride from work. A minor issue, but has 2 boys & they come home from school. He has dinner to make & has to make sure his boys do their homework, which becomes a huge stressor. It's the little things I find make a huge change

Helping families caught in domestic violence is frustrating and discouraging. The cycle keeps going, and too often victims can’t step away, or don’t have the sustained support to do so. That’s the hardest part.

When I pick up clients from the remand, they come out of there in the same clothes they were arrested. This lad was arrested on a hot August night. The staff at #yeg Remand Centre gave him a jacket, but he looked a little funny in short pants.

Very impressed by this young man!

Helping a woman with minor charges. Sexually exploited & stuck in a circle of abuse, use, and institutionalization. I'm trying to break her from her pimp. So, looking for a donated phone. If anybody wants to help me with hygiene products, clothing, or funds for safe transportation, please reach out

Off to see three women in the remand centre today. All three are mothers, and all of their children are in care. That's just the reality of the situation.

1/ Helping a youth with a history of care with Children's Services. She has been kicked out of her father's residence, who is struggling with his mental health. She attends school and now lives with an aunt.

Taking a visually impaired single mom of 3 to the Dr. Office, then for some groceries. She is on AISH and has a very difficult time making it. Her children 5/9/12 are amazing.

I get requests sometimes from court workers. Today, a lady who has stabilized, but has an old bylaw offence. She is elderly and has mental health struggles. Afraid to leave the house. So we at the coalition are covering this so she can renew ID.

Mom of 3. Her 13-year-old, previously in residential care at CASA for mental health, has self-harmed, gone to a bridge to jump & threatened family with a knife. Police took her to hospital; held a few hours, then released. Hospital called it “behaviour.” This is my morning. Helping mom find help.

Supporting a single mom of 7 since 2005. She’s done an incredible job, but gaps remain. As her older kids turn 18, income supports drop, leaving her struggling to meet basic needs.

Great news. A lot of eyes followed this, and as of Friday the youth has been placed in an accredited youth home and is very happy.

1/ I am helping a family following the death of a loved one who was experiencing homelessness. The family was informed that he was found deceased with two stab wounds to the head, with a knife located in close proximity to his body.

We refuse to accept government funding. Your support is critical. We have no marketing budget; every dollar goes to fighting for human rights & access to justice. Google The Coalition for Justice and Human Rights & see who we support. If you can, please consider a monthly donation. #yeg #abpoli #yyc

1/ Had a very frustrating meeting with Children’s Services yesterday. The front-line team is outstanding. Fully engaged and doing everything they can. The failure is systemic. #ableg #abpoli

While some Canadians are doing mental gymnastics about whether their liberals and conservatives are progressive or not, I’m hoping one day we have a federal party that leads us away from American imperialism while funding Canadian healthcare, education, housing, science and art.

I’ve helped many library patrons over the years with provincial or federal forms for disability, immigration, tenancy, and other complex things that seem designed to make people fail. It’s so incredibly frustrating and I want to shapeshift from librarian to legal advocate.

Juggling a few files this morning: a youth placed in an adult shelter; a mom fighting for her kids forced to pay $1,800 for transcripts (not waived, even on AISH); an older woman struggling with severe medication side effects; and a father in custody working on a release plan. That was my morning.

If you can, join Mark and donate monthly. Any amount helps as there is no other financial support for Mark’s valuable and highly needed work in the Province. bsky.app/profile/mark...

Children in care are living at the Hope Mission, and it is unacceptable. Yet that's what's been happening. And we at the Coalition are fighting this! #yeg

Helping an old client of mine, a great mom raising three boys, who’s being sued for $75,000 by a neighbor over soccer balls going into a yard. No damage. No broken windows. She has a lawyer (likely connected to the other side). Does anyone know an affordable civil lawyer who can shut this down?

1/ Children’s Services relies on “Collaborative Service Delivery” partners—agencies funded by taxpayers to carry out work that was once done directly by government caseworkers.

1/ My interactions with staff and administration at the #yeg Remand Centre have been excellent. Most officers I’ve dealt with are professional and fair. But...

Helping a young man who at one time was in film school, doing well. And then some bad choices led him into jail. Released today, helping him hit the reset button. Taking him to a sober living home this morning.

I reach out every few months to ask for support, and I never like doing it. I hope the work I and @coalition4jhr do speaks for itself. We take no government funding. Community support is everything. If you can, please consider a monthly or one-time donation. See my pinned post for the details.

A disabled mom on Income Support keeps getting denied AISH. She’s stuck on a 2-year housing waitlist and is relying on the food bank. I help with cash, because e-transfers risk being clawed back. Meanwhile, Alberta focuses on ideological crap over the real needs of Albertans. #abpoli

This weekend, I will try to support an average of 4-6 families. This morning I got a text about a very sick child, and mom can't afford an ambulance. They also have no food, which compounds the issue.

At Leduc Court a few mornings back. Assisting defense counsel. My hybrid Toyota saves me so much gas. I get more than 20km per liter. 45 liters =1000km.

Love these meetings. Busy around the table with a mom and her supporters as she crushes any and all expectations Child Services had. Child will no doubt be returned to mom soon!!

Helping a young mom with a baby and two small children. Both small children have Influenza B, and one has pneumonia. Helping mom with prescriptions. One of the medications doesn't have a cheaper generic version. Wow!

I admire the work of judges, clerks, sheriffs, Crown and defence counsel. As officers of the court, they remain objective while facing disturbing, horrific evidence that undoubtedly impacts their mental health. Today’s case involved the alleged exploitation of children—our most vulnerable.

Helping a mom with a broken leg and a small child get food. I’ve supported her before and am working to get her into residential treatment in the next couple of weeks. She’s still not approved for Income Support.

At the second appointment, we helped a mother enter residential treatment. When she is sober, she is loving, gentle, and a great parent. However, when she is intoxicated, she can become violent and aggressive.

A young dad I’m meeting today shares custody of his small child. He’s sober, housed, and present—yet his child was apprehended from the mother and placed in a foster home hundreds of km away. He wasn’t even considered as a safe parent. How does the system justify bypassing a fit father?

When somebody is driven by addiction or has no access to basic needs and makes a poor choice, I try to help them. This includes sober living homes outside of Alberta. Today I am working on a housing plan for somebody who calls Victoria home.

1/ Friday, two of my colleagues and I drove a young man to Homes4Hope, a sober living house in #yeg. We then went to Nayoskan, a First Nations treatment program and picked up another client, driving him to Opportunity Home in Drayton Valley.

I am helping a young man. I took him to treatment out of town. He is marbling out tomorrow, and I am driving him to a second-stage treatment program to continue his positive journey. I am looking for a duffel bag.

Ugh, I accidentally deleted a text from a person donating a cell phone to me today. If you see this, I'm so sorry. Please reach out.