In death, honouring lives full of strife
Website aims to commemorate people who died due to poverty, addiction and homelessness
The flickering online candles are meant as a lasting and accessible tribute to hundreds of men and women who have died on Toronto’s streets, or as a result of homelessness.
They are posted with names pulled from a memorial outside the Church of the Holy Trinity, where advocates and community members gather the second Tuesday of every month to remember people who have died prematurely from addiction, undiagnosed or untreated mental and physical health issues, exposure to the elements, violence and general neglect.
In the midst of a housing and homelessness crisis, with Toronto Public Health reporting that two people die each week in winter, the website is one modern tool community members hope will help the public understand the scale of the loss.
“Homeless deaths are so often overlooked,” said Rayna Slobodian, a volunteer with the Toronto Homeless Memorial. “People need to know about this. They need to know these people’s stories and understand these are people.”
Slobodian came up with the website, with a goal of carving out a small online space, or place for a community to grieve if there was no grave, or the grave was inaccessible.
“These are people who have died because of systemic failure and the website is another avenue to highlight that,” she said.
At last count the memorial had more than 900 names. On Tuesday, one of the names added will be Dean Lisowick, a frequent guest of the Scott Mission and one of the men police believe was murdered by a suspected serial killer.
Services are held at noon and often include speeches or poetry. On Tuesday, playwright and actor Walter Borden will perform a portion of the storm scene from King Lear, where the king finds himself homeless after being driven away by two of his daughters. The 900 names date back to 1985. Over 2017, volunteers added 54, mostly provided through word of mouth. Slobodian said they know their numbers are low, or do not represent the full scope of the loss.
Earlier this year, as part of a new tally system, Toronto Public Health confirmed at least 94 people died in 2017 as a result of homelessness.
The 2018 count will include two deaths in January: a resident of Seaton House died during a severe flu outbreak and a 68-year-old man died inside the Maxwell Meighen Centre on Sherbourne St.
On the memorial, much like the physical sign, some people are identified as Jane Doe or John Doe, the moniker the city uses when reporting on the deaths of shelter residents.
Slobodian said if family members object to a name being published they would respect their wishes.
Over Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, more than 5,840 people used the city’s emergency shelter system and about 740 used 24/7 drop-ins and warming centres, including 66 at one site of the Out of the Cold program, a volunteer-led initiative in faith centres.
In late January, the number of people using winter-relief programs topped 870. Unlike city shelters, the drop-ins do not have strict rules around space or the number of showers or toilets, or curfews. People can come and go as they please.
Advocates, activists and health experts have been taking stock of the conditions and publicizing their findings, as part of a broader conversation taking place at city hall around the need for better shortterm supports and more long-term housing.
Health-care providers visited seven winter drop-ins and described an “alarming” lack of space and access to toilets and showers, compared to the standards for city shelters.
One of the newest and largest sites set up for 200 people is the Better Living Centre, operated by multi- service agency Fred Victor. On Tuesday night, 115 people sought shelter from the cold, sleeping mostly on cots, with their possessions beside them.
Fred Victor’s executive director Mark Aston said the space is far from ideal, but serves as a safe, low-barrier environment where people have access to cots, showers, toilets, meals, nursing and housing workers — who have helped people find homes. The city needs more co-ordinated services to find housing for people, particularly those who have experienced homelessness, he said.
“If we just go about building shelters, we will be building shelters indefinitely. We can build 10,000 shelter beds, but it won’t be enough unless we start addressing the housing issue more effectively,” Aston said.
The city has pledged to fund 1,000 new shelter beds over three years, a number advocates say falls far short of what is needed.
The budget for the city’s shelter, support and housing administration division has not increased in 10 years and has gone down, when adjusted for inflation. In January, city council directed city staff to provide a break- down on need and program funding, from all levels of government.
Mayor John Tory, speaking on the council floor, said the shelter issue was “the most difficult and complex issue” he has faced and stressed the creation of new beds mustn’t “take our attention off the longer-term bigger issue, which is the absolute lack of affordable and supportive housing.”
The church memorial was built in 2001, through the vision of the late, long-time advocate Bonnie Briggs. Prior to it being built, activists would rally at city hall, said street nurse Cathy Crowe, but the volume of deaths soon made marching impractical. Crowe wants Toronto Public Health data to be made public, except for names. Information on Indigenous peoples is being tracked, but won’t be released because the person’s status couldn’t always be confirmed.
“My gut is there are too many Indigenous names on there and it reflects what front-line workers are seeing,” Crowe said.
Aversion of the list is already on the church’s website. Slobodian hopes the newer page, a work in progress, will eventually include photos and memories from loved ones.
One of the 54 people added in 2017 was Pierre Gregoire. The 28-year-old died of a suspected overdose last February. Hours before his death he was welcomed and fed at a 24/7 drop-in and left after being told there was no room to lie down and sleep.
Rev. Maggie Helwig, in charge at Saint Stephen-in-the-Fields, described Gregoire as a charming young man and a familiar face in the Queen St. W. area.
“Every year there will be one to five people that I know pretty well who will die on the streets or in shelters,” Helwig said. “It is consistent year over year.” George Knee is one man she knew well, though his name doesn’t appear on the memorial.
“He was just a lovely, lovely older man. He had been homeless in Toronto for a very, very long time,” she said.
The death at Maxwell Meighen was discovered the same day as the last memorial service. Police confirmed paramedics were called and a man was found without vital signs.
Maxwell Meighen can house up to 400 men and is one of four Toronto shelters run by the Salvation Army, which also operates a drop-in centre for women in Parkdale.
Spokesperson Maj. John Murray said Salvation Army policy is not to confirm details about guests, but said generally if staff is notified somebody may have died, the first call is to 911. It then becomes a matter for the police, he said, who would contact the family.
“We do find these situations, when they do happen, can be very difficult for clients and equally difficult for our staff,” Murray said.
Rev. Helwig said after the death at Maxwell Meighen, a man who frequents the church told her he was worried about what would happen when he died. Helwig told him to write a note and leave it in his room, instructing anybody who finds him to call her. She hoped, she told him, that he would outlive her.
“Every year there will be one to five people that I know pretty well who will die on the streets or in shelters.” REV. MAGGIE HELWIG CHURCH OF SAINT STEPHEN-IN-THE-FIELDS