Grief, anger at Saint John vigil following fire at homeless encampment
Speakers call for action from municipal and provincial governments
Saint Johners lit their phones and held them high on a bitingly cold Tuesday night vigil in King's Square for a man who was fatally injured in a weekend fire at a homeless encampment.
The vigil, called Shine a Light on Homelessness, was organized by the non-profit group StreetTeamSJ. Co-founder Ivan McCullough, a friend of fire victim Evan McArthur, said he hoped the vigil would do what its name suggested.
"We want people to know that the problem is real, not just a few people who we see outside," McCullough said.
"They matter. They're human beings. They have aspirations, they have goals. And right now some of those aspirations, goals may be crushed because they're sitting in a tent, they don't have enough to eat, they're freezing cold."
With a winter storm hitting the province Wednesday, McCullough said the event for him was one of anger, grief and hope for those who will be out in the cold.
"We hope they can get to the shelter, but some people just won't go. And that's for a variety of reasons. We hope for the best for them, for their next day," he said.
"We try to get to them as soon as we can, and then there's always that thought in the back of your mind. Who won't make it? Who else do I have to be sad for?"
Derrick May, a veteran who runs Operation Feed SJ said the vigil was personal for him.
"I have a daughter that lives in an encampment down in Sackville, and she's choosing to be there," he said. "Evan could be my kid. So at the end of the day, I empathize with his mom."
With his daughter in mind, and a sign bearing his name, May says McArthur deserved to be represented.
"We often dehumanize people that are living in tents and we walk by them everyday, and I just wanted to put a face to what's going on here in Saint John," he said.
A warm shower, a chance
StreetTeamSJ volunteer Holly Richards says she's tired.
"I'm tired of talking. I'm tired of working groups. I'm tired of committees. I'm tired of studying the problem. I'm tired of political red tape," Richard said to the crowded square.
"I'm tired of watching the results of inaction. Let's put into action the solutions we have already come up with."
Richards, who interacts with homeless individuals regularly on her outreach shifts, said she asks people, "What if you could have anything tomorrow?" Their answer: garbage removal.
"Some other things we heard … a safe place to have a warm shower, running water. I talked to somebody who's been on the housing list for four years. They just want a chance."
She had a message for the municipal and provincial politicians who attended Tuesday's night's vigil.
"We are letting our brothers and sisters sleep outside in summer tents in the dead of winter. This is a crisis and it's intolerable and it's immoral how Saint John hasn't declared a state of emergency yet," she said.
The St. Stephen municipality declared a state of emergency over homelessness at the beginning of December. A man in that community was found dead outside in the cold.
The declaration was terminated days later by Public Safety Minister Kris Austin, who said the municipality's mayor did not describe "anything approaching" a local emergency within the meaning of the Emergency Measures Act.
When asked if a similar declaration would be made in Saint John, Mayor Donna Reardon was uncertain.
"At the end of the day, I don't know. I mean, how can I work with the province to get what we need," Reardon said.
"I know that that state of emergency comes out of frustration from a municipality that doesn't have the resources and doesn't have what it needs to try to protect people and save people and keep people safe. So like, what's the path you take to get to where you need to go.
"We're down here in the trenches trying to deal with this. It's not really in our lane. We don't have the funds for it, but we have these tragic situations happening all around us."
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