A memorial in the heart of Williams Lake, B.C., pays tribute to homeless, addicted people

In a park just outside city hall, along one of the main routes through Williams Lake, B.C., sits a memorial to Cheryl Folden, a woman described as a former drug dealer who died after a lifetime of struggling with addiction, abuse and homelessness in the province's Cariboo region.

Her life is captured in an obituary, first published in the local newspaper and now blown up and printed on a bench, along with her photo, biography, and a series of QR codes linking to agencies that support vulnerable people throughout B.C.

It's called "Cheryl's Bench: Empathy in Action" or just the Cheryl Folden Memorial Bench, and was spearheaded by Stuart Westie, a retired teacher who got to know Folden after speaking to her while she was living on the streets along his regular bike route.

He offered her a place to live in his spare room and got to know her more over the course of eight months before she died on Jan. 8, 2024, after experiencing abdominal pain. She was 57.

"So many of those people that are on the street are really good people and they've just had a horrible life," Westie said in an interview with CBC Daybreak Kamloops host Shelley Joyce in May, just before the bench was unveiled.

He said he was touched by Folden's thoughtfulness and intelligence despite a difficult upbringing which, as she told him, included sexual abuse and being rendered homeless by the age of 17, turning to drugs and drug dealing, complicated by struggles with mental health.

"I'm really tired of the attitude that we treat the homeless and addicted and abused people with," he said.

"They don't understand that these people didn't choose to be who they are."

Westie wrote an obituary for Folden, published in the Williams Lake Tribune newspaper, which promptly struck a chord in the community for its raw portrayal of who she was, both good and bad, as well as the wider point it made about the struggles many people in the community face.

"People like Cheryl never had a chance," it reads. "She was toothless, with red-dyed hair. We should never look at people like that 'appear' to be, but why they are like that. What was done to them, and what did we not do to protect them?" its closing paragraphs read.

"All she needed was love, respect and good guidance, something she just couldn't find."

The lines sparked a conversation in the community and beyond, with Folden's story making its way to city council and being shared by the local MLA, among others.

Seeking to build on that outpouring of empathy, Westie turned his attention to a permanent memorial, which resulted in the creation of the bench in Herb Gardner Park, just down the hill from city hall leading into downtown.

Westie said he was overwhelmed by the support he received for the project, and somewhat in shock that he managed to build such a prominent memorial so close to the town centre.

"It's a monument right in the middle of town that says, 'Hey, look at who we are,'" he said.

Speaking to CBC News again in December, Westie said he'd heard from all manner of people who were touched by the bench, including parents who bring their kids there to other people who are unhoused and addicted who've told him they are touched by message it shares.

He's hopeful Folden's memory is helping create a more empathetic community, but says he still regrets he wasn't able to help her more when she was alive.

"I should have loved her more."