'You are somebody': Woman hands out care packages in Downtown Eastside as tribute to her late mother

Vancouver -

This November 8th will bring mix of emotions for Chelsea Brent.

“I’m excited, but I’m also sad,” she told CTV News Vancouver from her home in Agassiz. “It’s a very difficult thing to do, but it’s also very powerful and happy.”

Brent is preparing to mark the third anniversary of the tragic death of her mother, Tracey Gundersen. With the help of donations, she has put together 360 care packages she’ll be handing out Monday on the Downtown Eastside where her mother used to live. The bundles contain essentials and care items including a toothbrush, toothpaste, snacks, and socks, and also a handwritten card with a message.

“A lot of the cards just focus on the fact that you do matter, you do belong, you are loved, you are enough,” she said. “Really the biggest message is ‘You matter, you are somebody.’”

It’s part of an initiative Brent started called the Somebody’s Someone Project, inspired by her mother.

“My mom and I thankfully did have a good relationship, for what it was, and what it could be in her addiction,” she said. “She told me that she didn’t belong in my world, and that she would never get clean, and she would die down there. And that’s never left me.”

The 56 year-old passed away in 2018, after calling 911 to report she was bleeding profusely. A review into her death found 35 minutes passed before first responders reached her inside her building, after paramedics had trouble gaining access. The review also made 14 recommendations for change, including dispatching the fire department where there is any sign of a building access delay.

“I think the outside world isolates these people, the marginalized, (those with) mental health (issues), the addicted,” Brent said. “I don’t think we do it intentionally, but we don’t understand it and we don’t understand them, and we don’t understand their stories. But they’re all human beings and they’re all people.”

Brent said her mother was fun-loving, sweet, and well-known in her community, and would always stop to say hi to people on the street.

“Everyone loved her. She was known as mom to many people,” Brent said. “She was a friend to so many.”

Brent first handed out cards and care packages for the project in 2019.

“I saw many, many people tear up,” she recalled. “That’s the biggest goal for me, is that I can provide connection, I can provide even a moment of hope for them.”

While the pandemic put her efforts on hold in 2020, this year, she was able to raise $3,600 in less than two months to go towards the care packages, which surpassed her original goal.

Brent said the Vancouver Fire department also provided a donation, and will be helping out on Monday with a training van to transport the packages. A couple of firefighters will also be helping Brent hand out the bundles and cards.

This year’s project also comes after another family tragedy. Brent lost her brother to an overdose in the spring.

“It was a sudden loss in March, “ she said. “It made me want to reach out more, because people are hurting ... and they need support, and they need love.”

Brent said even a simple act, like saying hello, can have an impact.

“Just saying ‘Hey, how are you, I hope you’re doing ok,’ can mean a lot,” she said. “Maybe they’re feeling hopeless, and for that moment, they have some hope.”

Brent is hoping to continue the project each year, and one day would like to share the stories of people she encounters.

Each card she will hand out on Monday also has another message, on the back, a dedication that reads “in memory of my beautiful mother.”