I remember coming to Vancouver for the first time in my 20s. It was 1993 and I was in the city to film for the show “North of 60.”

I had to play a street hustler in this scene at Pigeon Park. There were a lot of people living in tents; it was the first time I had seen the problems of homelessness and addiction out in the open like that.

I remember how friends also took me to Gastown, with nice restaurants and places where you could buy fancy clothes, but then they would say, “Let me show you the Downtown Eastside” — it was almost like an attraction to them. Just a block over from Gastown, it was like a disaster zone. I couldn’t have imagined a place like it.

Coming back to the city again now for more filming, it brings back memories. Vancouver is one of the most beautiful destinations you can experience. Its kindness is overwhelming. Walking this city, I’ve noticed the respect for culture that exists here. I want to help out, because the problems in this community aren’t going away.

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed sharing my Anishinaabe roots with everyone who has been with me in the sweatlodge held on Tsleil-Waututh. I extend my gratitude to Tsleil-Wauttuth, Squamish and Musqueam, whose ancestors have welcomed us with open arms and continue to do so today. A healthy heart and mind mixed with good thoughts can do a lot of good.

That brings me to the cause to which I am currently dedicating my energy, under the guidance of the Vancouver Native Health Society.

Over the years, VNHS has been serving the homeless and providing knowledge to help the addiction issues that centre around downtown East Hastings.

The Aboriginal Land Trust is developing an Indigenous-led mixed-use development, focused on serving Vancouver’s Urban Indigenous community in the Downtown Eastside, in partnership with Lu’ma Native Housing Society and VNHS.

It is planned to be located at 52 East Hastings St., and there will be a healing centre in the building as well as supportive housing. The project is also receiving support from the provincial government through the Building BC: Indigenous Housing Fund. There will be more information available soon about how you can support the project.

It’s meant to create a welcoming and supportive environment for Indigenous people and to support culture and ceremonial practices for healing and daily life, blending traditional and western medicine to help people heal and flourish.

The land area currently known as the Downtown Eastside was an important meeting place, source of food and location of spiritual significance to the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.

Native and Native-adaptive plantings and productive food and medicinal gardens will be integrated within a dynamic landscape program that references this historic site. My hope is to bring everyone together and to share each other’s knowledge and compassion.

A holistic approach also helps me in my other calling: Acting. Vancouver is blessed to be Canada’s biggest production centre in the film industry, making it No. 2 in North America after Hollywood.

As a resident, I plan to take my experience and extend it to training.

I’ve been helping a friend who offers free acting classes at the Greasy Bannock Theatre in Vancouver. They’ve asked me to direct the students as they perform different scenes and guide them with techniques I’ve learned over the years.

The one thing that I want them to establish as an actor is the recognition of self. Understand who you are, what your thoughts are before you speak.

Every word should lead with an emotion. If you as a person don’t know your history or emotions how can you even consider the idea of portraying someone else’s?

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

Growing up I was able to discover who I am through performance. How to express the trauma in my life. Losing my parents at eight years old. Their deaths were two months apart and left a burning desire to emote. I’ve had the pleasure and the pain to search those feelings on stage, film and TV.

Now I want to give back. I want to give back the love that I receive from an audience that appreciates me to this day. I’m currently seeking funding for my next stage in performance as a director.

I feel I have reached the next phase in my life and I want to share it with Vancouver.

Adam Beach is an award-winning Canadian actor who is currently featured in the television show “Nancy Drew.”The Star Vancouver invited local people to step in as guest editors each Friday and have their say on an issue that’s important to them. Next week, Jennifer McCarron, CEO Atomic Cartoons and Thunderbird Entertainment, writes on the importance of female representation in the arts. Read the full guest editor series here

Read more about: