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Homelessness

6th annual edmonton homeless memorial service.

I attended the 6th Annual Edmonton Homeless Memorial Service at Boyle Street Community Services on the afternoon of Saturday, January 22, 2011. During the service, hosted by Catholic School District Trustee John Acheson, friends and family of the 57 Edmontonians who died of causes related to homelessness in 2010 were invited to light a candle in their memory.

It was a somber event and an important reminder that no matter how secure our lives may be socially, materially, or financially, many of our fellow Edmontonians are not so lucky.

Here are a few of the photos I took at the memorial services. You can find more on Flickr.

57 candles were lit in memory of the 57 Edmontonians who died of causes related to homelessness in 2010.
Friends and family were invited to light a candle in memory of the 57 Edmontonians who died of causes related to homelessness in 2010.


2 replies on “6th annual edmonton homeless memorial service.”

Are we done playing the violins yet?

You lefties don’t want to admit it, but we have to Bring back the Sanitariums that you so called progressives closed.

Most homeless people are mentally ill, and your big government social programs can spend all the money they want, but they can’t fix the mentally ill.

I play the piano.

There are many reasons why people and become homeless and yes, mental illness is one of them. One of the results of the funding cuts to social services and mental and public health services in the 1990s is the increase in mentally ill population on our city streets. Providing appropriately funded and accessible mental health services would probably be a good start in providing the kind of support that many mentally ill homeless people need.

Through funding by the Province of Alberta and the City of Edmonton, social agencies and non-profit organizations like Homeward Trust and the Jasper Place Health and Wellness Centre have been able to help provide housing for thousands of homeless Edmontonians through the Housing-First approach.

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