ICYMI
'There hasn’t really been a lot of closure': Memorial for lives lost to homelessness tonight
As homelessness continues to rise around the region, a memorial to honour the lives lost to it takes place in downtown Chatham Monday evening.
The hope is the vigil will become a monthly memorial beginning this spring.
“This problem is everybody’s problem. It’s getting worse,” says Chatham Hope Haven general manager Loree Bailey. “I would be remiss to say we are winning this battle because we’re not, but it doesn’t mean that we stop fighting the battle.”
Bailey says the inaugural vigil was inspired after the death of a regular Hope Haven visitor during the holiday season. Since then, officials say several more deaths within the homeless community have occurred.
“When I think about all the people that I’ve known who have experienced homelessness, a couple hundred people? I can right off the top of my head, count ten that have died in the last very short while,” Bailey adds. “There hasn’t really been a lot of closure. That’s a huge number. One is too many but I’m overcome with sadness.”
The vigil falls on the heels of Chatham-Kent budget deliberations where health officials are asking the municipality for a one-time $500,000 funding promise to bring a ten-bed residential withdrawal management unit at the Chatham hospital.
Chatham-Kent councillor Amy Finn anticipates discussion later this week.
“We have to try something to see if we can make a difference and help,” Finn says those seeking help are often sent to London, Sarnia or Windsor, saying homelessness continues to climb across Chatham-Kent. “Rent prices have been going through the roof, people are becoming homeless, it could be anybody within the next couple months that they’re found in the same situation.”
Monday’s Affirmation of hope memorial service starts at 6 p.m. behind the Hope Haven shelter.
“We are wanting to be mindful of COVID. We also want to make sure that people have space,” Bailey says. “We’re going to have a little music tonight. It’s going to look different every month, but for this month this is the first one and we’ll just grow from here.”
Memorial to be held at Hope Haven on Wellington Street in Chatham, Ont., on Monday, Jan. 31, 2022. (Source Hope Haven)
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