Memorial service for those who died on London streets to be held at City Hall

Organizers of a service today at City Hall to memorialize homeless people who have died on London's streets hope the gathering will be a wake-up call to politicians. 

"These are people who have names, they have stories, their lives had value," said Carrie Butt, who has worked directly with people experiencing homelessness in London for more than a decade.

"The city continues to put all these promises out there and city councillors are sitting around and arguing about what services should go where and who should fund them, and people are still dying. They're still passing away unhoused." 

Front-line workers estimate more than 60 people living on the streets died last year, and 400 since 2020.  "City hall can and must do better," said Gary Turner, who has lived in a tiny Conestoga Hut for almost two years. 

Turner organized Monday's 'remembrance and realization" ceremony at City Hall, hoping to push politicians out of what he calls complacency. "We have options to help people but our city council wants to argue about money. City councillors have a habit of forgetting that people are dying while they are talking." 

Some of those who die become known — in 2022, Jessica Beacham was found dead in the Thames River right before she was supposed to take possession of her own apartment. In 2023, Olivia Clark died after a fire in a makeshift tent on a sidewalk in Old East Village. 

But the vast majority aren't publicly known. More and more, there's a sense on the street that politicians are trying to figure out what to do with a $25 million donation from an anonymous donor and how to set up hubs that will house wrap-around services, all while people continue to suffer, Butt said. 

"We're mad that the city continues to put out these promises and then doesn't go anywhere with them. Where are the hubs? It's just continuously heartbreaking to see this sense of hopelessness among our vulnerable population. There are less and less places for them to turn for for support," she said. 

Five hubs were supposed to be operational by the end of 2023, each offering 35 beds as well as basic needs such as bathrooms and showers, laundry and support staff to work with people to develop a plan to get into a permanent place to live. 

Instead, two hubs are open, one for Indigenous people with about 25 beds and one for young people with six beds. The $25 million fund is administer by the London Community Foundation and has raised an additional $4.1 million from Londoners, matched dollar for dollar by the anonymous donor. About $4 million has been spent on the two existing hubs. 

Meanwhile, funding for agencies that operate emergency drop-in spaces during the winter, including Ark Aid Mission, SafeSpace and London Cares will run out at the end of the month, although an Ark Aid Mission shelter has had its funding renewed until the end of July. 

"This is an emergency situation and it's province-wide and country-wide," said Butt. "The cost of living has gone up, the cost of food, the cost of rent. More and more people are unable to survive." 

Those who used to be able to afford a room in a rooming house have now been priced out, she said. Rooms that used to rent for $300 a month now go for at least $800, she said. "People would use their entire cheque for rent and then access food banks and soup kitchens and meal programs to survive, and now all of those resources are overwhelmed," she said. 

Both Butt and Turner have lost friends in the last year who have died on London streets. "The people that I have known for most of my life are really struggling and many are passing away," Turner said. "The more people hear about how much apartments cost, the more hopelessness there is. If people who aren't on the street are struggling, how much worse off are those who have nothing?"