Meaning of Home

I was born in downtown Vancouver. For the first few months of my life I lived in a run-down house, I don't remember it too much, but I know I thought of it as a house, not a home. After, I moved into a different house. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a play area for me. It was my home for 4-5 years. Home to me means somewhere I feel welcome, a place I can disappear into my thought in, a place I feel safe and a place I can thrive, a home is where I see my friends and family. Then I moved to north Vancouver, and I really found my home. Moving to north Vancouver was hard. Even though in Downtown there were people doing drugs and homeless people covering the streets but that was my home, I got used to it, and honestly, the homeless never smoked around kids like me, they always talked to me, and they were super friendly. What I have here in north van is more than I ever had in downtown. One time, the mailman told my mom that it was unsafe for him to deliver our packages because there was to many needles on our front porch. My mom called someone to come check it out, and there were 50 needles. Stuff like that happened all the time, I have seen people pass out on the street, doing drugs, and sleeping on the sidewalks, I like to say I've seen it all. In downtown I had a lot of friends, in my Montessori/ preschool I was friends with everyone, and now to leave all of them behind is sad. Don't get me wrong I sometimes see them at events or just in general, like at a grocery store but it's different from seeing them every day. Of course, I have found new friends here and they are great! Ive made loads of people, and I have fun seeing new people every day. My good friends make me feel a sense of home, comfort, and safety, I know I can be myself with them without judgement. The biggest change for me was not seeing people on the street, at all! It is fantastic how most people do not suffer through not having enough money because there are programs and communities that help you now, like Habitat For Humanity! My home is here, I love it here. When me and my parents go to downtown now, I see less homeless, less people doing drugs, less people injecting needles into them. There still are homeless people, but it is not as bad. Especially China Town, that was where a lot of homeless people were sleeping, but now it has become a tourist attraction for people that live in other places, which to me is interesting because there are much more clean, nice places in downtown then China Town, but that's just what my mom told me. Honestly home to me just means somewhere other people I love and care for are. I hope all the people that were living on the streets when i lived in downtown are okay and not harmed. I think what Habitat For Humanity is doing a really good this for people, and I bet some of the homeless people in downtown came to those type of communities to get help. My home is here now, where there are bears and cayotes, but in each other's warmth we will always feel secure.