The homeless and vulnerable people in Sudbury are being targeted by people who throw eggs, among other objects, from a vehicle at night, Sudbury.com has learned.
In addition to several community descriptions of the issue, the Go-Give Project has registered two incident reports of the phenomenon.
The Go-Give Project has two specific incident reports from December, and one of their outreach team members has personally witnessed it, in addition to hearing about it from clients. Sudbury.com then spoke with members of the vulnerable community to learn if the issue was ongoing.
In speaking with six members of the vulnerable community in downtown Sudbury on March 15, Sudbury.com learned all were familiar with eggs being thrown at members of their community, as well as insults and expletives; one woman, known to Sudbury.com, showed a bruise on her foot she said came from being hit by an egg approximately two days ago.
The woman said it began late last year.
Another woman, who did not wish to give her name, but is also known to Sudbury.com, said at first, a truck would drive down Medina Lane, the roadway that runs between Memorial Park and St. Andrews Place, and would honk the horn loudly, calling those in the park names including “bums,” and “junkies,” among other insults.
That escalated in December, she said, when a few objects were thrown, though she could not identify what they were. They were tossed from a vehicle.
She said that someone began throwing eggs from a vehicle just before Christmas, and that has continued.
When asked about these reports, Greater Sudbury Police stated in an email that “we have not received reports referencing vulnerable community members being egged.”
When asked why they did not report the incidents to police, one of the six vulnerable people Sudbury.com spoke with said they would “never talk to the cops” and another said they feared they wouldn’t be believed.
The first reports from the Go-Give project are from last year.
Evie Ali, executive director of Go Give, shared that their organization received an incident report on Dec. 21, when their outreach workers were told that someone had been throwing eggs from their vehicle near Zigs Bar, across from where several people without housing tend to gather at night.
At the time, they reported to Go-Give that it had happened more than once before.
Then, on Dec. 28, it happened again, reports Go-Give.
Their incident report details someone seen throwing eggs from a black truck while Go-Give was doing outreach rounds.
One of the Go-Give Project’s outreach workers, Mike (who preferred to omit his last name) witnessed an egg thrown from a vehicle, and has also heard of other incidents.
He said the people he spoke with weren’t angry, more hopeless and “distraught.”
He told Sudbury.com Go-Give was serving community members on Elgin Street when the incident happened.
Mike said he heard the impact of an object hitting a client’s makeshift structure, and asked what it was.
The client then lifted his arms to reveal his chest, showing that he had “eggs splattered all over him.” The man was sad and hurt, said the outreach worker.
“He said ‘I don't understand why people do this to us, we don't do anything to anybody,” Mike recalls. “‘We're just trying to survive’.”
Other community members told him it happens “once or twice a week.”
As to why there are no police reports, Mike said it is likely a result of an “unwritten code” in the vulnerable community.
“They often have bad experiences (with police), and will likely stay clear if possible,” he said.
Mike said that he can’t see why anyone would do this, particularly to a population that is already feeling judged and “othered” in their community.
“I see people in the community that are carpenters, that are tradesmen, welders, musicians, professionals, there's a lot of skilled people who are just down on their luck, they've made some bad choices, or, they’re a victim of circumstance,” he said. “There's so much stigma attached to these people, already, it's just unfair they have to bear this, too.”
Jenny Lamothe covers vulnerable and marginalized communities for Sudbury.com.