THUNDER BAY - When vulnerable members of the community are lost, it can leave family, friends, and those who provide care with a even greater sense of loss because there is not always an opportunity to say goodbye.
“How we die matters and even the vulnerably housed and homeless people need to be acknowledged and they have significant loss here,” said Cherie Kok, executive director with Hospice Northwest.
On Thursday, Hospice Northwest and Thunder Bay Shelter House hosted a ceremony to honour the memory of the many people who have passed away this past year.
“It was an opportunity for us to come together as a community, the people who live at the Shelter, staff, and community members to make them feel supported and that their lives matter,” Kok said.
The ceremony included Indigenous drum songs and prayers and included Shelter House staff and clients, community partners, the Ontario Provincial Police, and Superior North EMS.
Michelle Jordan, executive director with Thunder Bay Shelter House, said a ceremony is usually held every year because vulnerable members of the community can lose a lot of people and don’t always have an opportunity to properly grieve or say goodbye.
“This is a way for the residents and clients to pay their respects and say goodbye,” she said.
“It’s really important because they have a difficult time dealing with grief and they typically lose a lot of people,” Jordan continued. “Sometimes they lose a family member or a couple of friends within a year, sometimes more. And there’s really no outlet for them to kind of get rid of that or to celebrate their life or anything like that. Typically they don’t go to funerals, so this is just a way for them to do that.”
This is the first year Hospice Northwest helped host the ceremony, but it has been partnering with Thunder Bay Shelter House this past year to provide palliative care training to staff.
According to Kok, Hospice Northwest has already trained more than 60 staff and volunteers at Shelter House in how to support vulnerable community members with palliative issues.
“It’s been really good,” Kok said. “It’s a really good partnership. Hospice Northwest and Shelter House will continue to work together and Hospice Northwest will continue to support the great work they do.”
More than 30 people participated in the ceremony on Thursday and Kok said Hospice Northwest will continue to support Shelter House and its clients deal with such a difficult time in a person’s life as a way to create healing for individuals and the community.
“I think it’s important to see the tears and the laughter and people feeling uplifted today is definitely a sign that it needs to happen again,” Kok said.
