Douglas MacLellan

A person holding a candle, photo of a young man, and a woman sitting down during a memorial

Natalie Hodge reflects at a memorial for Greg Leis, her son, who passed away of a drug overdose two weeks ago, in the main floor common room of UA, a former university student dormitory. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. 02 December 2021. UA is an interim project operated by the Working Centre of Kitchener, a community based nonprofit venture, in partnership with the Region of Waterloo, a government body. Both organisations are responding to the rapid increase in homelessness in the region. UA can house up to eighty individuals and has six to eight people on staff for each of the three daily shifts. Most but not all of the residents have drug addictions and mental health concerns. Some individuals have moved to other supported housing while many of the current residents have been living at UA for a year. Natalie has given permission for the photo to be used. Greg died on the day I started this segment of the project and the memorial was on my second last day. His death was a constant source of discussion in those two weeks as he was well liked. Natalie told me she was prepared for this eventually as Greg had been a serious drug user for some time. She is a nurse. I was greatly moved by this service for a person I had never met.

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Natalie Hodge reflects at a memorial for Greg Leis, her son, who passed away of a drug overdose two weeks ago, in the main floor common room of UA, a former university student dormitory. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. 02 December 2021. UA is an interim project operated by the Working Centre of Kitchener, a community based nonprofit venture, in partnership with the Region of Waterloo, a government body. Both organisations are responding to the rapid increase in homelessness in the region. UA can house up to eighty individuals and has six to eight people on staff for each of the three daily shifts. Most but not all of the residents have drug addictions and mental health concerns. Some individuals have moved to other supported housing while many of the current residents have been living at UA for a year. Natalie has given permission for the photo to be used. Greg died on the day I started this segment of the project and the memorial was on my second last day. His death was a constant source of discussion in those two weeks as he was well liked. Natalie told me she was prepared for this eventually as Greg had been a serious drug user for some time. She is a nurse. I was greatly moved by this service for a person I had never met.