A local vigil for those lost to substance use disorder was marked at the Memorial Wall Thursday, despite cold temperatures and snow.
When the Memorial Wall was put in place at the request of Save Our Young Adults in 2021, names of people lost began to be marked on the many stars on the front of the wall. Years later, all 105 of the stars on the front of the monument have been filled and now names are starting to be marked on the back as well.
About 35 people attended the vigil on Thursday evening, held after 13 new names were added to the stars on the wall.
SOYA founder Connie Raynor-Elliott told the crowd it is her dream to close the organization because it will no longer be needed once the opioid crisis is over.
"My heart goes out to each and every one of you. Our loved ones are always with us and we need to stand together because everybody that's on this wall — their lives matter," she said.
"They are our children, our husbands, our wives, our cousins, our friends, our nieces, our nephews."
The vigil almost didn't begin because the Memorial Wall and the sidewalk leading up to it had not been cleared of snow. SOYA volunteers began clearing the snow from the monument while Ward 1 Coun. Sonny Spina went inside the Ronald A. Irwin Civic Centre to retrieve two shovels to clear a path.
Spina attended the vigil in place of Mayor Matthew Shoemaker, who was unable to be there. Spina, who has attended past events, said he would have been there even if the mayor had not asked him to go.
In his remarks, Spina noted the dedicated community members that helped make the area passable for people seeking to grieve at the memorial.
"It wasn't one person that cleared this area, it was an absolute army of people who showed up to help her," Spina said.
"That is what we can do. For those who struggle with mental health and addictions, we wait and wait until they say 'I need help' and when they're ready, an army of people is there to help."
In her remarks, Raynor-Eliott spoke about the need for a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) Hub in the city.
The provincial government is planning to open a limited number of sites in the future and the City of Sault Ste. Marie has been making its case for one through advocacy and a letter-writing campaign to the Ministry of Health.
"We all need to advocate for that HART Hub. It's is going to help us and we all need to open up our hearts and our eyes and keep fighting for this," Raynor Elliott said.