Local Community Advertising
The father of the 16-year-old boy knifed on the streets of Kelowna last week says we need to do more. More for street people in general, and for youth in particular. Robyn Beauregard spoke with KelownaNow about what happened to his son Eli and offers his thoughts about homelessness in general and what we need to do to address it.
Eli Beauregard was the victim of a stabbing last Thursday and died a few days later in hospital. The RCMP took a suspect into custody but later released them while the investigation continues.
The boy's father has spent a few days since talking to street people in Kelowna. "There's a lot of other teenagers out there that are in similar situations," he said. "They need more funding. They need more programs for the teens."
He said the death of his son has resonated with many of the people he has spoken with. "A lot of them were saying 'I want to be out of this. I don't want to be here.'"
Beauregard is aware that Kelowna residents are divided on how best to deal with the problem of homelessness. He believes that the strategy of getting people into housing and then dealing with the underlying issues is the right one.
"I think it's something that has to happen," he said. "Even if it damages some people's views of their community. Because if nothing is done about it. Things like this will keep happening and that will damage the community tenfold."
Still, he doesn't envision any quick fix for the problem.
"I think it might be something that never goes away completely," he added, "but we can do more."
He said it was Eli's choice to be out on his own. But he wants people to know that doesn't mean he didn't have a family that loved him.
He last spoke to his son a week prior to the stabbing. "He was happy," said Beauregard.
"All those people that I saw out there yesterday. They all have families out there somewhere who are probably wondering where they are and if they're safe."
Beauregard has not shied away from the public attention on the death of his son, because he said that's what Eli would have wanted. "Every person that shows interest. and thoughts and prayers and messages on Facebook and for our family is priceless. Because Eli was the kind of kid, he was really outgoing. that's what he would have wanted, totally."
There are vigils planned for Saturday night at 9 p.m. at the Skatepark in Penticton, and Sunday night at the sails in Kelowna. He said everyone is welcome.
"Anybody that has teens that want to talk about their feelings about it. I will be there. I will be ready to speak to anybody that would like to talk. And I hope that by doing this we can bring the community more together and hopefully this won't happen again."
Local Community Advertising