THUNDER BAY – The vulnerably housed often get lost in the shuffle, forgotten by a society focused on their own day-to-day struggles.
Often, when they die, they don’t even have a memorial service, a chance for friends and family members to pay their final respects.
Sometimes it’s a lack of money, other times they simple die alone.
On Wednesday, Hospice Northwest gathered members of the vulnerably housed community and their friends and family at Paterson Park, hosting a memorial service to honour the memory of 49 people who died in the past year while living on the street, in a shelter or without a place to call their own.
“We’re honouring those who have passed away in the past year who may be structurally or vulnerably housed, living in shelters. Some of them live on the streets and we’re honouring them and recognizing their loss,” said Cherie Kok, executive director at Hospice Northwest.
It was also a chance for families to grieve the loss of their loved ones.
It’s hard enough not to have a place to live, Kok added, without having to face the end of one’s life without many of the supports readily available to those outside the homeless population.
“It’s a real struggle for these folks. We work with some of them on their grief and bereavement and we have a working group in the city that works with some of them for their health care. It’s tough to have an illness and be structurally and vulnerably housed,” Kok said.
Kok added at Hospice Northwest, they believe that how one dies matters.
“Everyone matters when they die, so it’s really important that we honour everyone. They might not have had the opportunity to have had a memorial service or any kind of service. This is the one time of year we can take pause and remember them as well,” she said.
