Erin Christie

Morning Star Staff

鈥淚n a different time and place, we could have been friends.鈥�

He was articulate and well-spoken. He was great at self-reflection. He liked watching the Vancouver Canucks. And more often than not, he lived at the Howard House Men鈥檚 Shelter.

鈥淗e had been coming to our shelter on and off for a few years, and we hit it off right away,鈥� Steve Soglo, manager of shelter services at the , told the crowd gathered in Polson Park Thursday afternoon to honour people whose deaths were linked to homelessness in 2017.

Thursday鈥檚 service remembered 15 men and women.

鈥淚n a different time and place, we could have been friends鈥� this (was a) guy, who was my age who struggled in life,鈥� he added.

After not seeing him for nearly a year, Soglo said he began to wonder what happened to his would-be friend鈥攊f he had achieved his goals, or if life had gotten better for him. Then one day Soglo鈥檚 coworker showed him the man鈥檚 name in the obituaries.

鈥淭his guy in his 40s, who I had hoped so much for, was gone. And then you wonder how it happened.鈥�

Chuck Harper, a chaplain at First Baptist Church, and the organizer of the annual service, says people like himself and Soglo rarely, if ever, find the answer.

鈥淭here are usually rumours, but because of privacy issues, no one but the person鈥檚 family is given any information,鈥� he explained before sharing a similar story of his own.

鈥淢y friend died behind a gas station鈥� his body was found behind a dumpster, and I don鈥檛 know why or how. And even worse, there was no obituary, no memorial that I鈥檓 aware of鈥攏othing. Nothing was said. There was more in the news about a car accident that had happened that day than about him. That really affected me.鈥�

Harper said he has experienced too many of these 鈥渦nder-reported鈥� deaths over the course of his nearly 30 years working with some of the city鈥檚 most vulnerable citizens as a pastor and frontline worker.

鈥淥ne of our guys had fallen down the stairs at Gateway (Shelter) and that was the straw that broke the camel鈥檚 back. I needed to do something,鈥� he said, referring to the moment he decided to spearhead the memorial in 2014.

鈥淭here were 15 deaths that year鈥擨 had all I could stands and I couldn鈥檛 stands no more.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not about camps鈥�. It鈥檚 not about bums. It鈥檚 about men and women who are dying and we need to do more to stop it.鈥�

Popeye reference aside, Harper said the number concerns him, but the causes are even more alarming and speak emphatically to the harsh realities of poverty and the dangers of living on the street.

In his research, Harper said he learned that the No. 1 cause of death among the homeless population is compromised health, which includes death related to overdose, exposure and malnutrition. The second leading cause of death is cancer.

鈥淭here are as many reasons for being homeless as there are homeless,鈥� Vernon City Coun. Juliette Cunningham said during her turn at the podium Thursday afternoon. 鈥淚t鈥檚 (homelessness) a very divisive issue and it鈥檚 becoming a partisan issue. But it doesn鈥檛 matter which political party you support, we need to look at this from a human perspective.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 not about camps or people in camps. It鈥檚 not about bums. It鈥檚 about men and women who are dying and we need to do more to stop it,鈥� Harper added.

Having panhandled on the streets of Vernon when he was 16 after being kicked out of the house for his destructive behaviour, Harper said he knows first-hand what kind of complications some of his 鈥済uys and gals鈥� on the streets are facing.

鈥淚 was an alcoholic by the time I was 22. I was drunk and blacking out, and I realized I needed to make a change. I鈥檓 married with five kids and nine grandchildren now, but if it wasn鈥檛 for people reaching out to me and helping me and my brokenness and holding me accountable, I would have been dead or in jail many years ago,鈥� he noted.

鈥淣ot everyone is so lucky, and I do my best to reach out and help these people, like people helped me so that they don鈥檛 end up dead behind a dumpster like my friend. People get angry about the camps and some of the things that go on at the camps and I understand that, but it鈥檚 important to remember these are not nameless, faceless, bad people鈥� that they鈥檙e all individuals. They all have a story.鈥�