Four hundred and twenty-one

Angel butterflies on the sashes
worn by volunteers at today's 
Homeless Memorial Service

At the Homeless Memorial Service organized by the Edmonton Coalition on Housing and Homelessness today, four hundred and twenty-one people who died of causes related to homelessness in 2023 were remembered, grieved, and honoured. 

The city medical examiner's report to city council listed the shocking number of 302 people who died with "no fixed address" last year, but this even more horrific number includes people who lived on the streets for years and whose health failed because of the effects of homelessness even though they may have been housed at the time of their death. 

Effie, who I met last July, was one of them. Effie, a beautiful butterfly like the Painted Lady butterflies released today in honour of the many people we have lost to the effects of homelessness.

My spirit is with everyone who attended the service to remember someone special today. My grieving heart tells me that we are all one family, and that we need to do whatever it takes so that no one, 
no one, 
no one is homeless.

It's time for change.