When Rev. Chuck Harper, aka Chaplain Chuck of the North Okanagan Community Chaplaincy, hosted Vernon's first Homeless Memorial 11 years ago, he knew 13 of the 14 people who had died on Vernon's streets that year. 

Last week, as he hosted the 11th annual Homeless Memorial in Polson Park, Harper was unable to say exactly how many unhoused people have died in Vernon this year, but said from personal experience that the situation appears grim.

"Personally, I've been involved in more memorial services this year than ever before," Harper told a crowd of more than 50 people which included local dignitaries, members of the public, and staff from social service organizations such as Turning Points and the Upper Room Mission that work to serve the local homeless population.

One of those memorials was for a close friend of Harper. 

"Him and I journeyed together, and I've taken that one hard."

Harper said he's been working with "hurt and broken people" for over 40 years. In 2013 he worked with the city to create a memorial for the marginalized, and a plaque honouring the lives lost to homelessness was placed on a rock in Polson Park the next year. 

For this year's memorial, that rock was moved to a different location in the park so as to be accessible amid the city's ongoing work to naturalize Vernon Creek, which has closed a portion of Polson Park. 

Harper stood before the rock and lamented the need to be gathered there on a sunny October afternoon. 

"There should be no need for a homeless memorial," he said, adding not enough is being done to address the toxic drug crisis that is behind many of the deaths that necessitate such a memorial. 

"People are dying from overdoses at an alarming rate, and it's just plain wrong. The first responders that have to deal with this stuff, the coroner, all the frontline workers, our guys and gals, we're all maxed out," he said. 

While Harper painted a "grim picture," by his own admission, the ceremony offered some real hope, as Terry Lyn Murray took the mic and told her story of recovery from homelessness and drug addiction. 

She described her "absolute rock bottom," when she was on the streets, crying in pain, her feet cut and bleeding and unable to walk. Through her tears she saw her daughter who had come to help her and got her into a shelter. 

Murray had spent 40 years on the streets, addicted to "anything and everything."

She said she was once asked by a police officer why she used drugs.

"My reply was, you would too if you had to live out there doing what I did and trying to live."

The crowd erupted in cheers and applause when Murray announced that on Dec. 4 she'll have been "clean and serene" for seven years. 

"I've become a totally different human than I was before. I have peace, safety, trust, love, friends and family, and dignity," she said. 

Rachael Zubick, coordinator of the City of Vernon's Community Safety Office, read out a pair of remembrances from people who had lost loved ones, and Jon Buller performed songs with his guitar during the ceremony.

In a Homeless Memorial tradition, people were invited at the end of the ceremony to place a carnation at the memorial rock in honour of those who have lost their lives. A long line of people formed to do so.