Celebration of Life 2019

Yesterday I attended a ‘Celebration of Life’ gathering at De dwa da dehs nye s Aboriginal Health Centre in Hamilton. KMHC tenant little Debbie lost her son due to unfortunate circumstances and I wanted to personally offer my condolences. I can’t imagine the loss of a child no matter how old they are. I’ve known little Debbie for 10 years and we are members of the same First Nation's band.

I’ve never visited De dwa da dehs nye s Aboriginal Health Centre before, thankfully I didn’t get lost.

When I arrived I was greeted by little Debbie I gave her my condolence card and she invited me to help myself to the buffet table in the next room. Oh My Gosh! One good thing about our culture when it comes to a gathering the food is abundant. Marilyn Wright a very nice woman was the server at the buffet table she used to be a UNH board member and is currently a case worker for aboriginal mothers dealing with addiction.

After filling up a plate I went to the community room and sat with my former KMHC tenants and friends Teresa, Bernadene, Sandra and Linda, Dwayne and his woman and others. All of us were concerned how little Debbie is coping with her loss. Eventually she got up and gave a nice speech thanking everybody for attending, then later she joined us at our table and shared the events that lead to the loss of her son. I was impressed with her tenacity.

After doing a little socializing it was time to leave, I was offered to help myself to the buffet leftovers to take home, which I gladly accepted. :) Before leaving I approached little Debbie and gave her a hug and invited her to join us at Super Crawl in September. Legendary singer and aboriginal activist Buffy Saint-Marie will be performing.

June is Aboriginal month so please attend the Pow Wow celebrations in your area. Tell them Tony sent you. :)

Comments

Poor Working Environment

My unit is located near the KMHC office, along with a friendly wave or hello I see the junior staff going about their business in a cheerful manner with the exception of one employee. You would think KMHC has a pleasant working environment but that is not the case. March 2016 is when Urban Native Homes head office was forced to move from their former spacious location to the cramp basement level of KMHC. There were approx. 8-10 staff members at the time. Then the Urban Native Homes financial scandal broke out and soon after the current UNH acting director’s illicit past became public knowledge, everyone was worried will they have a job. Fearful meetings going on in the community room, the rumor mill was in full rotation while I just stood back and observed the panic. Check your search engine it states this building location is Urban Native Homes head office yet that is not correct. There is no real head office, the organization has s...

The Passing of Dean King

There's not many original KMHC tenants left that I know, last week I got word tenant Dean King passed away, we were not related and I remember when he moved in the building we got along well, we hung out often and he shared stories about his life and family. Eventually I notice he wasn't the sharpest pencil in the drawer and I started drifting away thus ended our friendship. Dean didn't have the usual addictions most male aboriginals endure he didn't drink or do drugs the problem was his mental state which I believe began after an auto accident years before. After I moved out of KMHC I'd often see him standing in line at the food bank in Gore Park in downtown Hamilton or hanging out with street friend Galina in Jackson Square food court. He didn't have many friends and other KMHC tenants just tolerated and accepted his strange behavior. He'd walk the streets looking disheveled and lost. When I received the news Dean died I didn't feel sad I felt surpri...

Sandy Holland

On February 27th 2025 I heard the passing of tenant Elder Sandy Holland. I knew she was in bad health and said to her friend she's ready to go. I met her years ago when she moved to KMHC she seem a bit daffy yet in a nice way, never spoke mean about others but had strong opinions about UNH staff. We would meet at UNH dinner functions and meetings and always offered me hug. She never got personal sharing her life stories with me which I can respect. RIP

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