Street Outreach
to Stabilization
Trent Harper, known best by his peers as Irish, has been homeless for over four years. Eight months ago, Street Outreach
and Stabilization (SOS) Coordinator Michele Harshenin met him in front of the Uptown Bottle Depot – a primary outreach
area for connecting with people who live on the street and may not access programs or services.
Irish, 47, was one of those individuals. He had been bottle picking for
the last year-and-a-half, and chose
to rough sleep (sleep outside) almost
year-round.
Irish grew up as the eldest of three
siblings, had a love for music and
played bass guitar and drums in a band.
As a young child, he recalls his concave
chest bringing on much ridicule and
teasing from other kids.
Although a tad rough on the outside
and a bit of a fighter when he needs
to be, those who know him know his
heart is soft. And it shows as he reflects
6
on his relationship with his late grandmother.
“I miss her,” he says, as tears well in
his eyes.
Before becoming homeless, Irish
was a commercial painter. He admits
openly that an alcohol addiction and
former drug-related habits, along with
a diagnosis of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) left him unable
to hold a job, and eventually, he lost
everything.
It wasn’t until he met Michele, that he
decided to open himself up to support.
“She asked me if it’d be OK to have a
Canadian Mental Health Association – Calgary Region
conversation, and I said, ‘OK, I can do
that,’” Irish explains. “The first time she
talked to me, she was really good with
me, and it helped me get some release
– stress release and emotional release,
so I was grateful for that…It just progressed from there.”
Irish began meeting Michele on a
regular basis, and they built what they
can both attest to as a mutually beneficial friendship.
Larry Fedun, Manager of the SOS
program, says it’s building a truly
trusting relationship with individuals that
is the most important step in working