SPOKANE, Wash. — At least 200 people experiencing homelessness have died in Spokane this year.
“I’ve been at CHAS for six years, and it’s more names than we’ve had in my time working here,” said Shelby Lambdin, Health Equity Director at CHAS Health.
CHAS honored the lives of these people Thursday morning, in an annual memorial dedicated to spreading awareness and empathy for those living on the streets.
For some in attendance, it was very painful to see names on that list that they recognized.
“I’ve known a few of the people who have died over the years,” said John Tyler Ensminger who has been battling homelessness for the better part of 20 years. “It’s an emotional thing.”
Ensminger was one of the dozens in attendance paying his respects. Each person who died had their name attached to a nearby chain-link fence, and read aloud at the service.
There is not one cause behind each of these deaths, but Ensminger said fentanyl is certainly a contributing factor.
“They do this drug, every time they do it they know it’s like playing Russian Roulette. They’re playing with their lives,” he said. “I myself have lost maybe a half a dozen friends.”
Another man shared his struggles with survival on the streets.
“I overdosed and if it wasn’t for my friend that’s still on the street, I would be dead today,” he said.
He said a random act of compassion helped turn his life around.
“Four guys handed me a bag of cheeseburgers,” he said as his eyes began to water. “They knew me, but I didn’t know them. I thought about my situation. There are others who care about you, you just don’t know who they are.”
His message of empathy echoed by Lambdin.
“There are so many factors that lead to people experiencing homelessness,” she said. “We need to address the problems of homeless people and what led them to where they are in their circumstances, not the problem of people being homeless.”
Lambdin says to show compassion to this community which is so much more than their housing status.
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