Homeless advocates call for ‘death review panel’
Fatality numbers up sharply in recent years, magazine’s investigation finds
Advocates from B.C.’s homeless magazine are calling for a provincial “death review panel” after homeless deaths more than doubled in recent years.
Dying in the Streets, released by Megaphone magazine Wednesday, looked into the cases of 70 homeless people who died in 2015, up from 45 in 2014 and 27 in 2013. The report is based largely on data released by the B.C. Coroners Service in February.
Jessica Hannon, executive director at Megaphone, said she was not surprised by the numbers, but was left feeling frustrated and sad.
“I’ve attended so many funerals and memorials, and written so many obituaries in my time at Megaphone,” Hannon said. “It shouldn’t happen like this.”
Among the report’s key findings are that 34 of the 70 homeless people who died in 2015 had succumbed to alcohol or drug poisoning and about 30 per cent were between 40 and 49 years old, well below B.C.’s average life expectancy of 82 years. Almost 90 per cent of those who died were men.
About 57 per cent of deaths were from accidental causes, compared with an average of about 17 per cent in the general population. Homeless people are also twice as likely to die by homicide or suicide, Hannon said.
The highest number of homeless deaths occurred in the B.C. Coroners Service’s Fraser region, where 30 people died, compared with 16 in its Metro region, which includes Vancouver.
Hannon said that with the current overdose crisis only growing more deadly, she’s afraid to see what the 2016 data will reveal.
Megaphone is calling on the provincial government to conduct a “death review panel” into homeless deaths so that it can develop recommendations to reduce such deaths in the future. The publication is also calling for funding for the B.C. Coroners Service to report on homeless deaths as well as the implementation of a poverty-reduction strategy. The report has been sent to the leaders of the B.C. NDP, Liberal and Green parties, Hannon said.
Other keys to stemming the death toll would be increasing the stock of affordable housing, access to harm-reduction supplies and addictions treatment, plus empathy from the public to help cut through the stigma that prevents some homeless people from seeking help, Hannon said.
David, who requested his last name be protected, is among those advocating for empathy after his 57-year-old brother Michael, a Megaphone vendor, was found dead in a Commercial Drive alleyway during last December’s cold snap.
Michael was an “Everyman” who had worked in the movie industry, had a son and had been married before he became homeless and died, David said.
The brothers had drifted apart when David moved to the U.S. and hadn’t spoken in the five years preceding Michael’s death.
David said his attitude toward homelessness shifted after he attended his brother’s funeral service, where he met some of the “hidden angels” — volunteers, church workers and Megaphone vendors — who helped his brother before he died.
David said he has “great faith” in Megaphone’s work, as well as its report and recommendations. But he believes the data fails to reflect the true suffering of B.C.’s homeless people and of those who love them.
“Behind those numbers are very real, human people — brothers and sisters — and they all have a story,” David said. “They didn’t want to be there,” he added.
Preliminary numbers from the 2017 Metro Vancouver homeless count released last month show that 3,605 people in the region were identified as homeless this year, a sharp 30 per cent increase from the previous count of 2,777 in 2014. Between 2011 and 2014, the number rose only five per cent.