Vendor recognized with the inaugural 2023 Angel Gates Memorial Award at Megaphone’s annual breakfast fundraiser
Yvonne Mark
Writer
On Nov. 28 at its annual fundraising breakfast event, Megaphone unveiled a new award honouring the late Angel Gates, a powerful Haida storyteller and Downtown Eastside advocate who died in 2022. Longtime vendor and writer Yvonne Mark (Nisga’a-Gitxsan) is the first recipient of the award, and shares some thoughts about her life’s journey below.
Looking back on my life just shy of 18 years ago, I would have never imagined the awesome turn of events that would occur.
It was my beautiful daughter Melanie’s 30th birthday and I was a 50-year-old, messed-up, homeless alcoholic/drug addict without a pot to pee in or a hope in hell — or so I thought. Pardon my bluntness here.
All I could do was cry and that I did. At first, I didn’t weep, but as I prayed to my Creator to please, please, please help me, the floodgates opened and I couldn’t stop crying.
I’m sharing this as I know that some of us tend to bottle up our pain, too afraid or ashamed to reveal it. I didn’t know how to pray and certainly didn’t want my addicted friends to witness this “tough cookie” actually praying. So, I walked away from Carnegie Community Centre, just kitty corner, and in the pouring rain, humbled myself to ask for help.
Pray Yvonne, said my inner voice. It can’t hurt.
Throughout my entire life, I’ve always believed that crying out and asking for help was a true sign of weakness, and this old party animal, East End strong was way too proud to do anything of that sort. But I did, and everything changed.
If anyone can relate to my little passage of what it was like, what happened and what it’s like now, I’m living proof that sobriety rocks. I literally could have won an Oscar for my acting… appearing so happy, joyous and free while I was on the dark road. On the contrary, it was the exact opposite. I was a hurting unit to say the least. Look at me now world! This ain’t bragging by any means, simply sharing my feelings as I’ve just celebrated 18 years of wonderful sobriety.
Yvonne Mark
Writer
Yvonne Mark (Nisga’a-Gitxsan) is a Megaphone vendor and member of The Shift peer newsroom. She has taken part in many creative writing and journalism workshops through Megaphone, and was featured in the 2021 Voices of the Street podcast. She is an outspoken advocate for the Downtown Eastside.
Rooted in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, we're committed to amplifying voices that are overlooked by mainstream media. We’re actively growing our team of storytellers and journalists to serve our community.
More about our Peer Newsroom“Why "The Shift?" So the framework of Megaphone magazine can “shift” to being a more inclusive street paper, empowering those with lived and living experience to tell the stories that matter the most to them and their communities.”
Paula Carlson Editorial and Program Director
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