Memorial site remembers homeless people who have died
Moncton has lost 21 members of the homeless community so far this year.
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A growing downtown memorial to members of Moncton’s homeless community who have died is giving friends and loved ones a place to mourn.
Sabrina Robichaud said she began working on the memorial in April after the deaths of three people who were living on the streets. It includes a tombstone painted on the side of a fence near Harvest House that displays more than 160 names, with photos and messages from visitors.
Robichaud said the youngest person listed was just 18 years old when they died.
“There’s some people getting closure with this,” she said. “I’ve had mothers come here and sign for their children.”
Along with family members, Robichaud said the site is giving others experiencing homelessness the opportunity to say goodbye to friends. She said people living on Moncton streets have become like a family but they aren’t always able to attend funerals or visit gravesites.
“[This is a place where] we can actually give our love, our thoughts and goodbyes,” she said.
Last year, 55 homeless people died in Moncton. Marc Belliveau, co-chair of the Greater Moncton Homelessness Steering Committee and the executive director of Harvest House Atlantic, said the city is already quickly approaching half that number, less than five months into 2024.
As of Wednesday, he said 21 unhoused people in Moncton have died so far this year. He said more than half of those deaths were caused by overdoses.
Robichaud said it’s difficult to overcome addiction when you’re homeless.
“A lot of us want to get clean but we can’t clean on the streets. It’s the hardest struggle. It’s possible but being around our friends, or being around the environment, or the surroundings out here, it’s hard to stay clean,” she said.
Robichaud believes affordable housing is the most important resource New Brunswick could invest in to help break the cycle.
It’s been nearly two years since Robichaud became homeless following a breakup. She said she’s been unable to find an affordable apartment for herself.
Finding a place after living on the streets is even more difficult she said because you then face housing discrimination.
“Trying to find a place in Moncton is the most difficult thing between the affordability, to have the amount that we have to find a place is not what we get for welfare,” she said.
“We can barely find a room and then we have to find a room where we don’t get judged.”
She said landlords will ask for a reference from their last landlord or question their background.
“Being off the streets, they hem and haw because other individuals would have probably made them not want to [rent to us]. They put the judgment on everyone else,” she said.
Belliveau agreed with Robichaud that housing affordable housing is a major part of the solution.
He said multiple organizations offer housing, including Harvest House, but the province is behind on the number of units needed.
“We need to get caught up and even just get to net zero where we have enough units to get everybody that’s in shelters right now out of shelters or people that are on the streets of the street,” he said.
Belliveau said the solution goes beyond putting a roof over someone’s head. He said wrap-around services are needed to keep people housed.
“We can house as many people as we want, but if we don’t have the right wrap-around services, if we don’t have caseworkers, counsellors, (occupational therapists), and medical personnel that can help support them once they are housed then all we’re doing are housing people who unfortunately many times will lose that housing and will end up back in the shelter system,” he said.
Belliveau said having people go in and out of housing can be almost more traumatic for them,
“Then they go, ‘I had it and I lost it’ and it’s really hard on their self-esteem,” he said.
Sustainable housing models are something Harvest House is looking at. Belliveau said their caseworkers are doing everything from changing dressings on wounds for residents to teaching them how to properly put out their garbage.
“We want to make sure people can maintain their tenancy,” he said.
He said there needs to be money put into organizations that are supporting people within the units.
“I think we have the right players at the table and I think now it’s time we make some pretty heavy investments,” he said.
The provincial Department of Social Development did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.
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