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There are growing fears that more homeless people will be found dead on the streets following the discovery of a body down King Street at the weekend.

Conrad Rogers, 58, was found early Sunday morning. His friends say he had been living rough for about ten years and had been suffering with chest pains.

Now Lionel Cann, a community services worker for the Salvation Army, says he knows of at least three other men who are "seriously sick" who are reluctant to seek medical help.

"I wouldn't be surprised if any one of those men were found dead - I half expect it," he said.

The men present a difficult dilemma for the authorities. If they won't accept help or go to the hospital, then what's to be done with them?

Mr. Cann has his own theory. He says there is a desperate need for some kind of medical outreach work where trained professionals can assess the health of the homeless.

Mr. Cann has been working with the Salvation Army for nine years. He runs the mobile soup kitchen five nights a week in Hamilton and knows the city's homeless better than almost anyone. He says there are about 50 people in the city who use the kitchen; about 20 are long-term homeless. He monitors them the best he can, but he still feels inadequate.

He said: "One guy was telling me he felt sick and he had pains in his chest, that he couldn't walk and had difficulty breathing. I called an ambulance but when it got there he refused to get in. He didn't want to go to hospital and became quite abusive. These are the kind of situations I find myself in."

Growing problem?

A lot of street people have addictions or mental problems, which can make check-ups even more challenging.

Mr. Cann said: "One guy went to the hospital with a complaint, he got all cleaned up but the complaint has returned. Alcoholism is the primary cause of his ailment. It's a real dilemma."

He continued: "My big fear is that we are going to see more and more of these people dying on the street. I'm just waiting for this guy to be found. The dilemma for the community is how do we help these people?"

Mr. Rogers, whose funeral notice has yet to appear in the newspaper, is not the only homeless man to be found dead recently. Earlier this month the decomposed body of an elderly man, who is believed to have been living rough, was found on Glebe Road in Pembroke. Police still haven't named him or given the cause of death.

Mr. Cann said: "One solution is to have a mobile medical unit that would go around and assess these people - there's got to be someone who cares enough to help."

Mr. Cann already goes beyond the call of duty to help the homeless, but he's not equipped to provide medical advice or assistance. "There needs to be a specific person," he said.

A community nurse has travelled on the soup wagon but it is not a regular event. Mr. Cann says the woman already has a heavy caseload dealing with the 'homeless' who were moved to the old Sonesta Hotel on the South Shore from Club Med, an abandoned hotel in St. George's.

The death of Mr. Rogers at the weekend underscores the need for year-round action.

Mr. Cann said: "It bothers me this idea that homeless people are less than other people. At Christmas everybody does their best so they can feel good about eating their turkeys, but these guys are on the street every day and we don't even notice them. We remove benches from the sidewalk so they can't sit down; they sit on milk cartons now outside City Hall."

There is also the future to consider. With the economy booming and hundreds more foreign workers coming to the island every year, it's likely to become even more difficult to hold onto a home. "The number of homeless is going to increase," Mr. Cann predicts.

In the meantime he goes about his daily duties knowing that it could be the last time he sees some people.

"I hadn't seen one guy for about a month and half, he used to sleep in Pembroke Graveyard, so I went looking for him and someone told me he'd died. There was nothing in the paper or anything. All of sudden they are gone. It's like they never existed."

We asked the government on Wednesday to explain what kind of help is available to the homeless but we hadn't received a response by press time.[[In-content Ad]]

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