They come quick and often. Rolling up to talk to a young Indigenous woman standing on the corner of Ellice Avenue and Furby Street. A black truck pulls up at just after 6 a. Days later, her year-old body was pulled from Red River wrapped in plastic. Especially since the corner has been in the news in the last few weeks. Fontaine was also reportedly inside the building before she went missing. You get involved with them and you become their friends and you become their lifestyles and become involved with what they do.
APTN was told stories of kids being put in hotels at young ages where they hung out with sex workers. Us kids had bad lives, and so did they, and we really connected with them and they gave us our basic needs which was smokes, alcohol and drugs. Faith, who asked that her real name not be used, said the drug situation was pretty bad. Many of those who started smoking weed moved on to meth and crack.
Because the older kids were doing it. Not many kids sobered up. Some kids got worse. I was lucky I had family to stay with. Some kids went straight to the homeless shelters.
Kelly stands on the corner of Ellice Ave. June Three guys are standing in front of Chicken Delight across the street. But as they walk away a different man walks up. They walk behind an apartment building, down an alley between houses to a latched gate. Within a year she was addicted to crack cocaine. The First Nations woman said she began selling herself to men who wanted to sleep with a child. I had to find everything on my own.
It was really hard on the streets. I was eating day-by-day. CFS kids can be seen all over downtown Winnipeg. Some are seen stumbling, intoxicated from whatever drug or drink they were able to find.
