She suffered, homeless, on the streets of Vancouver. And when she burned to death a year ago, British Columbians were shocked that it could happen here.
Now, video footage has emerged of one of the last times anyone saw the homeless woman known as 'Tracey' alive.
"It was snowing, and she wasn't wearing any shoes on her feet," said Kirsty Matthews, the filmmaker who shot the footage from the First United Church on Hastings Street last December.
Tracey -- whose real name is Dawn Amanda Bergman -- can be seen putting blankets on a shopping cart and chatting with other people. She has no shoes. Her feet are red from the cold.
Only hours later she lit a candle to keep warm. The candle set her blankets alight, and she burned to death.
Matthews' film is called Homelessness and the Human Predicament, and it was first seen at an East Vancouver film festival earlier this month.
"I thought it was really tragic and I was shocked," Matthews told CTV News. "I was thinking how oblivious she was that this would be her last night alive. It's quite a gut feeling to process that."
Since Tracey's death, hundreds of shelter spaces have opened up on the Downtown Eastside.
City Councillor Kerry Jang says the city hasn't forgotten Tracey. The city will open four new shelters in Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant, Grandview Woodlands, and Downtown South.
Jang admits they could be doing more.
"We do need more shelter spaces. We have 1600 people on the street that we know of but we're limited in time and resources," he said.
Matthews hopes that people learn about the homeless from watching her film.
"My hope is that the tragedy of Tracey's death will be a catalyst to inspire people to... come beyond their differences, reach out, and share each others' humanity," she said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward
