Stories of suffering and hope emerge at discussion of homelessness

Andrew Lupton · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 15, 2025 7:29 AM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

In taking a hard look astatine London's struggles with addiction, intelligence wellness and homelessness, Nigel Stuckey's documentary film Atrocity pulls fewer punches.

Among the unhoused radical helium interviews is simply a antheral who reveals for the camera crippling burns and tegument infections, the effect of surviving outside.

In different interrogation that a information defender tries to end, a couple successful Victoria Park explicate their inability to flight fentanyl addiction. Another antheral struggling with addiction explains the challenges of supporting a $400-a-day wont done petty crime, including shoplifting. 

The interviews enactment quality faces to the grim toll the combined crises of opioid addiction, missing intelligence wellness supports and a deficiency of affordable lodging are having connected downtown London. 

About 200 radical attended Monday's screening astatine The Palace Theatre successful London's Old East Village, a neighbourhood deed peculiarly hard by addiction and lodging scarcity. 

After the screening Stuckey, on with metropolis councillors Sam Trosow and Susan Stevenson and Chantelle McDonald of London Cares took portion successful a sheet treatment astir the movie and the troubling world it raises. 

Last wintertime was 'inhumane'

Stuckey had immoderate of the strongest comments. He was peculiarly horrified astatine what helium witnessed successful January erstwhile overnight temperatures dipped to -20 C and the city, nether unit from work agencies, opened an exigency structure astatine the Carling Heights Optimist Centre.

"What happened past wintertime was deplorable," said Stuckey, who anterior to making Atrocity spent years arsenic a constabulary serviceman successful London. "It can't hap again. It was inhumane." 

Some spoke of the ongoing challenges astatine Watson Park, the homeless encampment that was the country of a occurrence and explosions past week. Some metropolis councillors accidental the encampment should beryllium removed, but with fewer wide answers astir wherever to relocate its displaced residents.

Also featured successful the movie and joining the sheet treatment was Lauralea Collins. During her interrogation successful the film  Stuckey captures Collins lone a fewer months into a play of sobriety and speaking astir the fearfulness of surviving successful a tent. 

Since then, Collins has managed to find a way to surviving housed and drug-free.

"It took maine a batch of self-will, and self-care," she said successful an interrogation with CBC News aft the sheet treatment wrapped up.

It was a meeting with idiosyncratic moving for St. Joe's Cafe, which operates drop-in meals for radical successful need, that helped constituent her successful the close direction, Collins said. She's present moving arsenic a adjacent enactment worker. Although nary longer surviving outside, she's trying to assistance those who inactive do.

"In the wintertime I had six individuals travel and enactment with maine successful my two-bedroom flat conscionable truthful they could enactment lukewarm with their animals," she said. 

The metropolis needs to bash much to reverse a occupation "that isn't getting better, it's getting worse," Trosow said. 

Stevenson derided the city's response, which she said isn't backing capable imperishable overnight beds. 

"Something is intelligibly not moving successful the city," she said. 

For his part, Stuckey said he's not done turning his camera onto the Londoners left desperate arsenic they look addiction, intelligence wellness challenges a deficiency of lodging oregon each three. 

He plans to absorption his adjacent movie connected Cheryl Sheldon, a London who died past twelvemonth successful what constabulary person described arsenic an intimate spouse killing. Sheldon was turned distant from 1 London structure the time she was recovered severely injured successful her apartment.