“In April of 2019 I flew out to Edmonton to try and find my brother who was homeless.“ That’s how a thank you email started to David Kerr at Detox this summer.  The email was from a woman in Prince Edward Island who hadn’t heard from her brother for 5 years. The brother struggled with PTSD; the sister struggled to stay connected. She was the constant in his life. “We were a family of 14 but I was the one he kept in touch with. I would get those calls from him on those cold nights that he was freezing. My heart broke each time.” 

This spring, a friend in Edmonton contacted her with a chilling message: “If the family didn’t do something soon my brother would be dead by Christmas.” She flew into Edmonton at 1 a.m. on a Tuesday morning in April. She was up at 5:30 checking every shelter until 8 p.m. every day that week. “I don't think I could have ever prepared myself for what I witnessed. Walking around all the tables asking people if they knew him - had they seen him. And to hear comments like "I wish someone loved me enough to come find me."

Finally, she spoke to David at GSS Detox. He remembered giving her brother clothing.  After the brother didn’t turn up at shelters the next week, David suggested reporting him missing. The timing was right. At the police station she learned her brother would be in court on Monday. She only got a 20 second on- camera viewing but that was a start. In a phone call she could tell him she’d be back to take him home. On May 9th she picked her brother up from jail and they flew home to PEI.

Things haven’t gone smoothly. “He has PTSD. He is changed forever. And he never talks much. Sometimes it’s months before he comes out of the house. I have purchased an old car for him. And at times he disappears for a day or so. But God willing he comes back and will be with us for a while yet. Today he is alive. He has a home. He has food. When he is home he is safe.”

Friends helped her pick up her brother and fund the trip to Alberta but that first connection with David was key: “Thank you, David, from the bottom of my heart for helping me find my brother. For taking the time to even speak with me.”

She ends the email saying she prays daily for her brother and “would go to the ends of the earth for him” which she pretty much did this spring. May we all—clients and staff—have someone in our lives who cares that much.