Erin Christie

Morning Star Staff

91裸聊视频淚n a different time and place, we could have been friends.91裸聊视频�

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 Men91裸聊视频檚 Shelter.

91裸聊视频淗e had been coming to our shelter on and off for a few years, and we hit it off right away,91裸聊视频� 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.

Thursday91裸聊视频檚 service remembered 15 men and women.

91裸聊视频淚n a different time and place, we could have been friends91裸聊视频� this (was a) guy, who was my age who struggled in life,91裸聊视频� he added.

After not seeing him for nearly a year, Soglo said he began to wonder what happened to his would-be friend91裸聊视频攊f he had achieved his goals, or if life had gotten better for him. Then one day Soglo91裸聊视频檚 coworker showed him the man91裸聊视频檚 name in the obituaries.

91裸聊视频淭his guy in his 40s, who I had hoped so much for, was gone. And then you wonder how it happened.91裸聊视频�

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.

91裸聊视频淭here are usually rumours, but because of privacy issues, no one but the person91裸聊视频檚 family is given any information,91裸聊视频� he explained before sharing a similar story of his own.

91裸聊视频淢y friend died behind a gas station91裸聊视频� his body was found behind a dumpster, and I don91裸聊视频檛 know why or how. And even worse, there was no obituary, no memorial that I91裸聊视频檓 aware of91裸聊视频攏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.91裸聊视频�

Harper said he has experienced too many of these 91裸聊视频渦nder-reported91裸聊视频� deaths over the course of his nearly 30 years working with some of the city91裸聊视频檚 most vulnerable citizens as a pastor and frontline worker.

91裸聊视频淥ne of our guys had fallen down the stairs at Gateway (Shelter) and that was the straw that broke the camel91裸聊视频檚 back. I needed to do something,91裸聊视频� he said, referring to the moment he decided to spearhead the memorial in 2014.

91裸聊视频淭here were 15 deaths that year91裸聊视频擨 had all I could stands and I couldn91裸聊视频檛 stands no more.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not about camps91裸聊视频�. It91裸聊视频檚 not about bums. It91裸聊视频檚 about men and women who are dying and we need to do more to stop it.91裸聊视频�

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.

91裸聊视频淭here are as many reasons for being homeless as there are homeless,91裸聊视频� Vernon City Coun. Juliette Cunningham said during her turn at the podium Thursday afternoon. 91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 (homelessness) a very divisive issue and it91裸聊视频檚 becoming a partisan issue. But it doesn91裸聊视频檛 matter which political party you support, we need to look at this from a human perspective.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 not about camps or people in camps. It91裸聊视频檚 not about bums. It91裸聊视频檚 about men and women who are dying and we need to do more to stop it,91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频済uys and gals91裸聊视频� on the streets are facing.

91裸聊视频淚 was an alcoholic by the time I was 22. I was drunk and blacking out, and I realized I needed to make a change. I91裸聊视频檓 married with five kids and nine grandchildren now, but if it wasn91裸聊视频檛 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,91裸聊视频� he noted.

91裸聊视频淣ot everyone is so lucky, and I do my best to reach out and help these people, like people helped me so that they don91裸聊视频檛 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 it91裸聊视频檚 important to remember these are not nameless, faceless, bad people91裸聊视频� that they91裸聊视频檙e all individuals. They all have a story.91裸聊视频�