Tears were shed and empathy emanated from the Barrie City Hall Rotunda on Friday.
Emotions ran high at this morning's Barrie Homeless Memorial Service. For the second year running, the area’s homeless came together with service providers, local dignitaries and advocates to mourn the people who have died while homeless in the city over the past year.
As Dec. 21 is the longest night of the year, it has been declared nationally as Homelessness Memorial Day.
People who are currently experiencing homelessness, and one who has been recently housed both shared their stories.
“I always ask myself, why would the Lord put me through this? I truly believe it was to be here right now doing what I’m doing in front of you, and letting me know there is another way out, and it doesn’t always have to be this hard,” Mark Lloyd said before playing a song he wrote about his faith.
“I hope this can help somebody, somehow, someway,” he said.
Lloyd said he’s battled with alcoholism and addiction since he was 12 years old.
“It took me down some rough roads – homelessness being one of them,” he said. “Wherever I went, homelessness was always there.”
“Alcohol and drugs took everything from me. It took my dignity, my pride, my self-worth, my children and my family,” he added.
Lloyd credits his faith for helping him to turn his life around. He is now housed and has partial custody of his kids.
Brian and Lori, a homeless couple who have used the David Busby Centre, told their story about living off and on in the Milligan’s Pond area of Barrie. The two are credited with starting The Rock, a memorial to those who have died while homeless in the community. (To read our story about The Rock, click here.)
“In April this year, we lost our daughter to an addiction,” said Lori, before reading a poem she wrote as a tribute to those who have died from homelessness.
“There are some guys living out in the bush right now. It’s sad,” Brian said, through tears.
Brian said there are 82 names on The Rock, with about 30 more to go on this year.
“My daughter, Krystal, my God, I miss her,” he said.
The David Busby Centre served about 400 people last year in their emergency group lodging program.
Jennifer van Gennip, co-chair of the Barrie chapter of the Simcoe County Alliance to End Homelessness (SCATEH), said the choice was made last year to start the annual service.
“We decided as a chapter that it was necessary for a few reasons. We’re losing so many people, and there aren’t a lot of opportunities to stop and acknowledge that,” she said.
According to Amy Pritzker, co-chair of the Barrie chapter of SCATEH and bereavement co-ordinator for Hospice Simcoe, people who experience homelessness have a shorter average life span.
“It’s 39 to 47 (years old),” she said. “That’s because of a variety of factors, including access to health care, not having housing or not having food.
“A lot of people end up experiencing homelessness because of losses they’ve experienced in their own life, and trauma,” Pritzker added. “This is a chance for them to honour their community members.”
A quilt was on display at the ceremony, prepared by local community agencies with the names of individuals who have died in the past year while homeless in Barrie. During a moment of silence, attendees of the service walked up the quilt to add more names that had been missed.
Mayor Jeff Lehman addressed the group.
“I feel sorrow for those we’ve lost. We are the most prosperous, but still there are so many names on this quilt. We can help before we fall,” he said. “There are so many of you here that see the problem and know we can do better.
"It isn’t enough to just build services," Lehman added. "We need to address the reasons this is happening in the first place.”
