Soloss In Encampments

Dear Soloss friends, 

Hello! We’ve got exciting news for this year!

In partnership with the City of Edmonton, this summer we will be focused on creating the conditions for healing in encampment spaces.

Community care in encampments

Agency, respect, and purpose. Over 70 conversations with folks sleeping rough surfaced what mattered most — and what stands in the way. Jenn chose to use her winter survival skills, sleeping outdoors through freezing weather, because it was on her terms. So did Renee. Camping put some control back in her hands. No, sleeping outside wasn’t some utopian ideal. But, for many, it was a way to try to gain back something they had lost: some agency, some respect, some purpose. And yet, the losses kept piling up. Loss of friends and relatives. Loss of safety and belongings. Each time their tents were found, they risked losing their home and their community. Mostly these losses went unrecognized, the grief that ensues, unacknowledged. When we don’t have space to mourn and opportunities to heal, we can carry the pain, the hurt, the heaviness, the anger, and the fear with us. It can thwart our wellbeing. That’s when the spark for Soloss emerged. How might we enable grief & loss to be a source of connection & healing?Over the past two years, we’ve developed & tested Soloss with folks living in supported housing, frontline workers, and more. Now, Soloss is returning to one of the places where the idea first emerged: encampments.

So what would that look like?

Soloss is closer to a mutual aid model than a program or service. Our aim is to create the conditions for loving community care.

We offer robust training & support to everyday Edmontonians with experiences of grief, loss & healing so they can hold space for fellow community members going through tough times, drawing on their own artistic practices as tools for expression and release. We call these people, Losstenders. We imagine Losstenders spending time in encampments, getting to know campers, and offering an alternative to talk therapy: a more informal exchange with no professionals or expectations. Campers who choose to take part will be able to select a Losstender they would like to spend time with, and/or a group ritual they would like to engage with. They may meet a few times or only once, in a space we set-up together. We call these participants, Sharers.

In collaboration, Losstenders and Sharers create something to represent their time together - a dance, a painting, a song, an object, etc.As fall approaches we will plan some sort of event or installation to share back stories and products, with permission, and open up space for public conversations about the human experience of loss. Loss is a big part of the human condition. In fact, it's what makes all of us vulnerable.

Can grief & loss function as a bridge connecting Edmontonians across lines of difference? Let's learn!