Family and friends honour 63 lives lost to homelessness in 2023
Matthew Trevithick | CBC News | Posted: December 21, 2023 12:29 PM | Last Updated: December 21, 2023
Ark Aid Street Mission's executive director says the number is likely much higher
The tragic cost of London, Ont.'s homelessness and addictions crisis was front and centre at a downtown church Wednesday evening as dozens gathered to remember those who have died.
As of Sunday, homelessness has killed at least 63 people in London, the London Homeless Coalition and Ark Aid Street Mission estimate. The two organizations behind the memorial gathering say 260 people have died since 2020.
"Those are known and identified people who have died. They're people who are connected to services and their death is linked to homelessness," said Sarah Campbell, Ark Aid's executive director.
"I believe that there's many more in our community who have died, where we don't identify it as linked to homelessness, but are in fact a result of their lived experience of being unhoused."
Each death is a life cut short — people who lived unknown to most Londoners, but not to those who loved them. Few eyes in the church were dry as the names of the 63 who died were read aloud. Many in attendance had themselves had people dear to them taken by homelessness.
Among them was Nicole Fairbanks, who lost her uncle. Acoustic guitar in hand, she performed several songs for the service, including Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash. "Everybody at Ark Aid Mission that knew my uncle knew him as Cowboy, so I should probably play a country song," she said.
Listening two rows back was Rosemary McLean Van Gelderen. Asked to speak during the service, she recounted the simple Christmas gifts her father would give to a few men in the community and her daughter's own struggles with homelessness, addiction and mental health.
Van Gelderen said her daughter became homeless in July 2022 and is now at home recovering from a fentanyl addiction. Living an hour outside London, there is a "strong pull" to return to the city and the street community, she said.
"That's going to be hard to overcome. I'd like to see her go into a program, but she's not really for that...I'm helping her through detox right now, and we're being supported by Exeter CMHA," she said.
Van Gelderen is offering support herself, co-leading a weekly Tuesday support group with Ark Aid's chaplain, Rev. Michael Bechard, for those who know someone struggling with addiction.
"There is a large church community in London that serves the poor, but the church needs to do more and our community needs to do more. They need to recognize that these are someone's mother, father, daughter, son, sibling, and that they need our compassion."
At the end of the service, congregants left tea lights next to a flower bouquet and a photo of Olivia Clark. The 31-year-old died in April after the makeshift tent she was using caught fire on the sidewalk in front of Ark Aid as she and others burned hand sanitizer to keep warm.
City officials estimated in November that approx 2,000 people were living unhoused in London, with several hundred expected to stay in outdoor encampments due to a lack of shelter space.
Ark Aid is operating 120 overnight shelter spaces for the city's cold weather response to homeless. Roughly half are up and running, with 65 set for mid-January at Bishop Cronyn Memorial Church. Fifteen came online on Monday at CMHA Coffee House.
The winter spaces are an interim measure as the city's larger response to homeless system is ramped up. The plan is to open 10 to 15 hubs providing basic needs and stable housing support.
City officials told CBC News last week that one hub with respite beds was opened at the start of December by Youth Opportunities Unlimited, while 69 highly supportive housing units had opened. The city has planned to open 100 by the end of the year, and 600 in three years.
The city has said it also plans to continue operating two service depots through the winter. Four service depots opened this summer to help those living in encampments, handing out supplies for basic needs.