It’s coming upon the three-year anniversary of the passing of my dearest friend — Street Sense Media vendor and poet Alice Carter. I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere and endless gratitude to Street Sense for all they did to help Alice.
Street Sense staff showed kindness to Alice. They made her feel welcome and loved, two things that she desperately needed, yet that she all too often found in short supply in this cruel city. For a city that touts having some of the strongest human rights laws aimed at protecting transgender and homeless individuals and those with mental illness, I find it horrifying how badly Alice was treated by so many people in so many situations. Alice was particularly fond of Colleen Cosgrove and was fairly devastated when Colleen departed the Street Sense staff. I wonder if Colleen knows how much she meant to Alice.
Selling the paper gave Alice, as it does I presume all vendors, a sense of purpose and dignity. And Alice was always thrilled to see her poetry in print. That truly meant a lot to her. Street Sense was a metaphorical home for Alice. And even more than that, Street Sense provided a literal home for Alice.
Alice had, through Pathways to Housing, obtained her very own one-bedroom apartment. Unfortunately, she lost that apartment and after having been back to homelessness for several months Street Sense got her into a single-room occupancy with her own private bathroom. She was so happy to have regained housing. And it’s both heartening and disheartening to reflect on how great it was that Alice spent the last few months of her life knowing she had a place to stay. Yet as much as it meant to her there remained a void, a void she continued to look to the streets to fill. She was lonely. And that was the unfilled void that, in my opinion, lead to her foregoing a warm bed to roam the streets on an exceptionally cold December day and night. She braved the bitter cold in search of human interaction. She was also in search of a release from her emotional and psychological pain, in which her loneliness played a significant part.
Street Sense did its part in trying to save Alice’s life. Unfortunately, Alice wasn’t able to do her part. I will go to my grave believing that the staff at the emergency room were not up to doing their part to save Alice. I think saving the life of a poor trans addict just wasn’t a priority for them. I believe had Alice been taken to another hospital, she’d have survived, as she had on so many occasions under similar or worse circumstances.
And though it’s repetitious, I just want to close out with one more big thank you to Street Sense for all they did for my friend Alice and for so many others.
