Q&A: Edward Aucoin hoped for a fresh start in Moncton but ended up homeless

Edward Aucoin, 49, came to Moncton two years ago looking for a fresh start after he was laid off by a call centre in New Glasgow, N.S. 

Unfortunately, his hopes of going back to school have not worked out. Since December, he has been living at the emergency shelter at the Humanity Project in Moncton.

Aucoin suffers from bipolar disorder and needs medication daily. He spoke to the CBC's Vanessa Blanch about what brought him to the shelter.

How did you end up living here?

Well, sometimes you run out of money, run out of space, lose your job. I ran into all three.

What did you do in New Glasgow when you lived there?

Well, actually I was in a big call centre back in my hometown and they decided to pick up and walk out, like they do, and I came to Moncton to start over actually. As soon as I got here, I ran into some thieves and ran into some problem with getting my stuff stolen.

You came here hoping to find work in a call centre in Moncton? 

Well actually no. I came to Moncton to spread my wings and get into something different, I was actually going to go back to school just before my wallet got stolen and everything got stolen. 

What has that meant, you losing your wallet?

IDs, money, that's your life. If you don't have your IDs, you don't make money. It's just that simple. And to get them back, it's just entirely impossible for someone who has no money. But you run into people like Charlie [Burrell, founder and president of the Humanity Project] and it's like, he's not going to give you the whole amount, but maybe he'll give you half the amount that you need, so that you can get the other half from another non-profit.

What difference has that made for you Ed — to get your ID back?

It's meant that I can go back to work. I can get the right medication for something I have been battling for a long time. I can do the things that I need to do to put myself back on my feet. Not just lay me out in another shelter, where they'll just do the same things with me. It's a learning experience, life. If I can learn life here I can make it out there, but if you teach me nothing, all you do is shove food in front of my face, a bed, and then tell me to get out, you know you're not doing much for me.

What do will you do when the Humanity Project's emergency shelter closes at the end of March?

[Burrell's] been working towards getting me a place to live. And, not just a place to live, a place that I'll be happy in. I had frostbitten feet and [Burrell] took me to the emergency room and got me through it, got me through not losing my feet. 

Listen to Edward Aucoin talk about his struggles of living in an emergency shelter in Moncton

Tell me about your frostbite?

The shelters don't keep you all day, so you have to move … you have to get in the cold. The disease I have, it makes me sweat a lot. And that sweat would freeze into the sock and cause my feet to freeze and then I try to get my socks changed, but people would kick me out of their bathrooms. You know, that's the street.

It's gone, it's healed — it still hurts but they put antibiotics in me at the hospital. We had to wait 16 hours in the hospital and I guarantee I could not do that by myself. Charlie and his mother came with me. I was treated like family and it's not just me … it's like his big extended family.

What do you need the most?

To know that the Humanity [Project] isn't going to shut down. Charlie isn't a millionaire. They are not going to be able to keep this place going without help.

If there was one piece of advice you could give to a premier or a minister, a government person?

We don't end up on the street just because we run out of money. Some of us have other, bigger issues. And to have a place where you know that somebody cares, there's a difference.

CBC New Brunswick is hosting Seeking Shelter: A community conversation about homelessness.

The event will be held on March 12 at 7 p.m. at the Peter McKee Community Food Centre in Moncton.

CBC's Vanessa Blanch will be hosting a panel discussion on the current housing crisis in New Brunswick.