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The 6th Annual Memorial for Homeless Persons was held on January 22, 2011 at Boyle Street Community Services. It was a solemn event that honoured the lives of 57 individuals who passed away as a direct or indirect result of homelessness in the Edmonton area. The event not only highlighted the tragic circumstances that had befallen on those without a home, but also reminded us that there is more we share in common with each other than we tend to think.
Photograph by: Brian J. Gavriloff, edmontonjournal.com
From a researcher’s point of view, you get a generalized idea of the factors that lead to premature mortality among the homeless population – medical complications and chronic illness, violence and homicide, unintentional injuries, substance misuse, exposure to the elements, and suicides related to past traumatic experiences or mental health issues. Its indirect effects are well recognized. For example, alcohol abuse can lead to dissociation from meaningful ties to social support or the depletion of human capital needed for labour market success, which increases the risk of homelessness and its associated mortality risks. Being homeless can also have a direct effect on premature death. In studies comparing impoverished populations who share similarities with homeless groups, increased mortality rates varied according to the diagnosis. Persons with drug abuse, circulatory, and respiratory disorders were at higher risk of dying from their conditions if they were homeless than if they were not. As such, homelessness should not only be understood as simply a misfortune that affect people with low-income or experience drastic change in their lives, but also as a real and serious threat that can lead to death. While there are strident measures to ensure the security and safety of Canadians who work day-to-day or travel abroad, it is lamentable that the same kind of urgency is not applied to those who are homeless to prevent their deaths from happening.
From a humanists’ perspective, the homeless memorial puts a face and personality into the numbers. On one hand, it was heartbreaking to see people line up to light the candles to commemorate the loved ones they lost to homelessness. For those who do not have physical or economic security, death of their loved ones only compounded the misery. On the other hand, it was comforting to grieve as a community. There were guests at the service from all walks of walk to remember those who died from tragic circumstances. Grief has no boundaries – it transcends culture, ethnicity, nationality, and class. It is a trait common to all, an emotion that is shared by each person in all neighborhoods.
Gary Moostoos, who offered a remembrance prayer, revealed that the word homeless is not defined in his Cree language. Certainly, those who passed away were people without property, but they were not without community. Boyle Street Community Services was their home; it was where they had friends and family to go to everyday. Thus, it is unsurprising to hear stories of people who are recently housed having a difficult time adjusting because they are disconnected from their community of friends. This is not to suggest that we relax efforts to build affordable housing across Edmonton, but rather we need to make a concerted to have all hearts and neighborhoods be equally as welcoming to the newly housed.
Grief should not be the only characteristic that binds us. By searching out our shared experiences, we have a responsibility to help those in urgent need so that such loss of life does not happen in the first place. To honour each of the 57 that passed away this year as a consequence of homelessness, we must continually strive towards eradicating the conditions that led to their untimely deaths.
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Thursday, 17 May 2012 
The ESPC is a member of the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness (ECOHH). ECOHH sent out a three question survey related to housing security to each political party competing in the 2012 Alberta election. So far, the Progressive Conservatives (PC), the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Alberta Party responded to ECOHH's questions. Below are their respective answers.
