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Blogs by Patrick Joesph Schnerch
City of Gardens: Book review
11/19/2009 9:46:16 PM
Genre: Special Interest
Title: City of Gardens: The Other Side of the Fence
Author: Patrick J. Schnerch
Society cannot give up on people for what they did in the past; it is what they do today that counts.
The statistics are staggering. It is a societal disease that many choose to ignore until a face-to-face encounter with the sad reality. The numbers have no face, no personality; the numbers are just that, numbers. There is Ray, who was raised by a single mom and tried to ease her despair by earning money through crime. He is not homeless; but his life of crime and his dependence on alcohol forces him to change addresses frequently. Then there is Doug, who was kicked out of his family home at a young age and quickly became a juvenile delinquent. At 63, his dependence on alcohol has forced him to a life primarily on the streets. There is also Renée, who is a product of a social system gone sour. As a First Nations child in a Catholic foster home, she was regularly sexually abused by a family whose so-called Christian values had promised to protect and nurture her. Now, she dulls the pain of her past memories through drugs and alcohol. These are just some of the faces of the over 1500 homeless and unstably housed people in the tourist haven known as the City of Gardens. And the numbers continue to climb at a phenomenal rate of 30%!
Victoria’s problem is monumental. Its warm weather makes life on the streets more endurable than in many other cities across the country. The city prides itself in its beautiful scenery, picturesque gardens, unique gift shops and cozy little tearooms. Its pristine, ‘more English than the English’, stiff upper lip prefers to look the other way at the sight that now dominates the city core. The other side of the fence is not so rosy. The preference of the majority of Victoria’s population is to ignore the problem of the rising number of street people in the hopes that it might just disappear. It is the same across the country; it is like genocide of our society. What one refuses to see and accept as fact can, and is, just as easily ignored! But we cannot ignore this problem forever.
Patrick J. Schnerch’s ‘City of Gardens: The Other Side of the Fence’ is a blunt statement of society’s forgotten soul. It is a thorough sociological study of the twenty-first century’s most ignored problem. An active member of the Victoria Human Exchange Society, Schnerch is an advocate for society’s forgotten and neglected population. The author can speak honestly on this subject, as many of the people in his studies are facing the same battles of mental illness that has haunted his own life. Schnerch has written many articles on these troubling topics. His first book, The Peaceful Warrior: Memoirs of a Damaged Mind and Soul, is a revealing look into the life of a troubled mind. Schnerch is also the author of the crime novel, Adrian.
‘City of Gardens: The Other Side of the Fence’ is a thorough and insightful study of a serious problem that plagues every major city in North America. ‘City of Gardens: The Other Side of the Fence’ is highly recommended by: Emily-Jane Hills Orford, Allbooks Reviews.
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More Blogs by Patrick Joesph Schnerch
• Book Rights for Sale - Wednesday, October 27, 2010
• Book Review / The Peaceful Warrior - Wednesday, September 22, 2010
• Book review / City of Gardens: The Other Side of the Fence - Tuesday, September 21, 2010
• Now you know - Sunday, September 19, 2010
• Facts that contribute to social degeneration - Monday, September 06, 2010
• Not enough - Monday, September 06, 2010
• Book Network - Saturday, September 04, 2010
• The Other Side of the Fence - Tuesday, December 22, 2009
• City of Gardens: Book review - Thursday, November 19, 2009
• City of Gardens: Victoria's Dirty Little Secret - Wednesday, November 18, 2009
• Link Exchange - Wednesday, November 04, 2009
• The Invisible Society / Edit - Sunday, October 25, 2009
• The Invisible Society / Excerpt - Tuesday, October 06, 2009
• The Invisible Society / October 19, 2009 - Monday, September 28, 2009
• New book / AWSOME!!! - Sunday, September 13, 2009
• Life is Good! - Tuesday, September 01, 2009
• Forum and Chat - Monday, August 24, 2009
• I Double Dog Gone Dare You to Read This! - Friday, August 21, 2009
• The Motive Behind West Coast Literary Productions - Wednesday, July 22, 2009
• Bipolar Babe / Inspiration - Monday, July 20, 2009
• Andrea Paquette / Bipolar Babe - Saturday, July 11, 2009
• The Invisible Society Interviews - Saturday, July 11, 2009
• Bipolar Babe - Saturday, July 04, 2009
• Marketing "The City of Gardens Collection" - Saturday, June 27, 2009
• Field Work / Research / Victoria, BC - Wednesday, June 24, 2009
• The City of Gardens Collection is Making its Mark - Friday, June 12, 2009
• Business is business... - Thursday, June 11, 2009
• Mental illness / Addiction/ Homelessness/ Victoria BC - Tuesday, June 02, 2009
• Book Series Going Political - Monday, June 01, 2009
• Book Research / The Invisible Society - Friday, May 29, 2009
• Book Research - Friday, May 22, 2009
• Mental illness, addiction and homelessness (Victoria, BC) - Friday, May 15, 2009
• Social Deterioration - Monday, May 11, 2009
• Show Time - Thursday, April 30, 2009
• The Forgotton, Lost and Neglected - Wednesday, April 22, 2009
• Faith In Action - Tuesday, April 21, 2009
• 2009 - 2014 - Sunday, April 19, 2009
• Marketing City of Gardens - Thursday, April 16, 2009
• Freedom Fighters Inc. - Monday, April 06, 2009
• Let There be Light / City of Gardens - Saturday, April 04, 2009
• Allbooks Review City of Gardens - Saturday, April 04, 2009
• Human Nature - Thursday, March 26, 2009
• The City of Gardens Collection / Publicity Campaign - Monday, March 23, 2009
• Breaking the Silence - Saturday, March 21, 2009
• The Invisible Society - Victoria, BC - Monday, March 16, 2009
• City of Gardens: The Invisible Society - Wednesday, March 11, 2009
• Book Review / Melissa Levine - Saturday, March 07, 2009
• Phase II / Publicity Campain - Friday, March 06, 2009
• Book Relase Up-date - Monday, March 02, 2009
• I Believe in Love! - Thursday, February 26, 2009
• Special Request for Book From Mayor's Office - Thursday, February 26, 2009
• Book Release / VHES Fundraiser - Wednesday, February 25, 2009
• The Key to Success! - Tuesday, February 17, 2009
• City of Gardens Sparking Interest From the Media - Monday, February 16, 2009
• Victoria Human Exchange Society (VHES) - Wednesday, February 11, 2009
• Schnerch / March 1st, 2009 - Friday, February 06, 2009
• City of Gardens on the Fast Track - Saturday, January 31, 2009
• City of Gardens is Generating a Lot of Interest in Greater Victoria. - Tuesday, January 27, 2009
• All or Nothing! - Thursday, January 15, 2009
• City of Gardens / VHES / The Facts - Sunday, January 11, 2009
• January / February 500 Book Drive - Friday, January 02, 2009
• Mental illness, Addiction and Homelessness. - Monday, December 29, 2008
• Communtity Support / Local and Beyond - Tuesday, December 23, 2008
• B-POTSC 2009-2014 - Thursday, December 18, 2008
• Welcome Readers and Authors - Wednesday, December 17, 2008
• Book Series Designed for Charity - Tuesday, December 16, 2008
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