In 2021, I joined the Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser after noticing a rise in Cranbrook’s visible homelessness. I couldn’t have predicted how the toxic drug crisis would reshape my community over the next five years. The doorways where I saw community members settling for the night are now empty. The tents behind McDonald’s are gone.

But this isn’t progress.

Instead I notice vandalism, theft, and disorder through Cranbrook's residential, recreational, and commercial areas as marginalized members of my community are being pushed deeper into the woods. Out of sight. I believe the disappearance of “visible homelessness” reflects not an improved situation, but a worsening one: it feels like apathy is settling into my community.

Maybe this mild winter mirrors the thawing support for members of my community experiencing homelessness. But the loss of stable housing multiplies vulnerabilities and that’s exactly why the work that Community Connections does is so critical for Cranbrook.

I’m proud to walk again on the Coldest Night of the Year, supporting a cause that matters to me.