Candice Csaky arrived at 919 Pandora Ave., clutching a picture frame close to her, then gently laying it on a purple covered table that greeted guests at a small courtyard garden at Our Place Society.
It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning, Aug. 31 - with a perfect blue, cloudless sky. Two purple balloons tied to a couple of flower vases swayed gently in the late morning breeze.
Together with her younger sister, Tammy Trausch, they set a vase of flowers beside the picture of a handsome man and his daughter.
The man was their brother, Chris Schwede.
"It's been two years and a few days since I lost my brother right in front of the ministry building in his tent on Pandora Street," said Csaky, with tears in her eyes. "My brother was known as a street hero down here. He helped to save a lot of lives. Just after he died somebody came to me and told me how he had been getting attacked by somebody with a machete on the street and my brother, how like he always was, dropped everything and jumped up and saved his life."
Decreasing number of unregulated drug deaths in 2024, so far
The latest report from B.C. Coroners Service shows there were 192 unregulated drug deaths in July 2024, or about 6.2 deaths per day. That's 15 per cent less from the same period in 2023, with 226 deaths.
A total of 1,365 people have died due to unregulated drug use in 2024, fewer than the 1,505 deaths during the same period last year.
The report also showed majority of those dying were aged 30 to 59, mostly men.
The townships experiencing the highest number of unregulated drug deaths in 2024 are Vancouver, Surrey and Greater Victoria, the report stated.
Fentanyl was the number one cause of unregulated drug deaths in 2023-2024, followed by cocaine, methamphetamine, bromazolam and hydromorphone.
'I had no idea'
Csaky shared she didn't know her brother had a crack or cocaine addiction for 30 years, until a couple of months before he died.
"He hid it from our entire family. He was what his friends call a weekend warrior," she said. "He worked all week. Held down a very good job and would party all weekend. It breaks my heart to see that most of my brother's friends that he had down here at the time, have now also passed."
Along with her brother and his friends are photos of hundreds of others, many of whom are people in the street community, pinned to a memorial wall which was the centrepiece in Saturday's International Overdose Awareness Day memorial at Our Place.
A memorial wall in a garden of love
Like Csaky, some brought framed photos of their loved ones and plants for the gardens unveiled in a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Victoria MP Laurel Collins and Victoria-Beacon Hill and Minister of Children and Family Development, Grace Lore.
"We created these gardens in memory of those we've lost. We welcome the butterflies and the beautiful lavender flowers and sage that will grow here," said Amber Olmstead, Our Place community centre site supervisor.
"We'd like for people to come and sit around the gardens for a moment of peace and comfort."
For former Our Place community member, Devon Dixon, being at the memorial was heartbreaking.
"Thirty-one people that I knew personally. One that's up on the wall is pretty recent. About a month ago they found her dead in her tent. She was one of my best friends," Dixon said. "I also have a family member up there. Just this morning, a friend of mine OD'd. It's tough. I hope for the future that there's not gonna be more, but there just seems to be more."
There's a heartbreaking story in each of the pictures on the memorial wall; a poignant reminder the toxic drug crisis is taking many lives from every walk of life.
Since her brother's death, Csaky has thought about what the best solution might be, but says all she can come up with is a kind plea to be more accepting.
"We can try to learn how to understand how our family members and our loved ones get caught up in addiction instead of judging them," she said. "We can offer a place of love, a safe space for them to come when they're ready to ask for help."
For information on the risks and signs of an overdose, how to respond to an overdose and where to find naloxone, go to stopoverdose.gov.bc.ca.
You can also call the Opioid Treatment access line to speak with a doctor, nurse or healthcare worker who can prescribe same day opioid treatment medication at 1-833-804-8111. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. across B.C.
