No Fixed Address: The White Cart Memorial
No Fixed Address: The White Cart Memorial is a powerful and intimate documentary that sheds light on a deeply overlooked aspect of the homelessness crisis: people’s grief following the death of someone they care about. Through the voices and stories of individuals living with unstable housing, the film explores what it means to grieve without a house, and how loss echoes through a community already struggling to survive.
Centered around the creation and meaning of the White Cart Memorial—a grassroots, mobile tribute to unhoused lives lost—the film weaves together research, personal lived experience testimonies, community organization reflections, and future action plans for the city of Kelowna in British Columbia, Canada. This film captures the emotional and logistical challenges of grieving in public spaces.
This film is both a tribute and a call to action. A tribute to those who died without shelter and to those who continue to grieve without the support, safety, or stability they deserve. It calls on communities, institutions, and society at large to confront how we ignore the grief of unhoused individuals and how simple acts of compassion and remembrance can be transformative.
Dedicated to the memories of all unhoused lives lost—and those who carry their grief forward—No Fixed Address: The White Cart Memorial urges us to rethink how we hold space for mourning in public, and how we can come together to build more compassionate, inclusive systems of care. Because only through community can we create safer places to grieve, to heal, and to remember.
VIEW THE TRAILER (1:36)
Film length: 45:07
Producers/Directors
- Joshua Black, PhD – Bereavement Initiative Manager, BC Centre for Palliative Care (BCCPC)
- Stephanie Laing, PhD(c), MSW, RSW – Director of Operations, Kelowna Homelessness Research Centre (KHRC)
Filmography by Paul Cotton Films
This film has been funded in part by a contribution from Health Canada, Health Care Policy and Strategies Program through the Pan-Canadian Palliative Care Research Collaborative Seed Funding program, the University of British Columbia Okanagan Eminence program, and BC Centre for Palliative Care. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of those who funded the project.
To learn more about bereavement in the context of homelessness, take a look at our resources:
1. Toolkit for creating memorials
Our Memorial Toolkit [coming soon!] empowers organizations and communities to honour and remember individuals experiencing homelessness who have passed away. This toolkit includes step-by-step guides for organizing memorial events, and ideas for respectful tributes. We hope this can help you in creating your own memorial event.
2. Free E-Course about Bereavement in the Context of Homelessness.
This free e-learning course is titled Navigating Grief and Bereavement in the Context of Homelessness: A Guide for Community Support Workers. It will have four modules that will focus on:
- Understanding the Basics of Grief
- Understanding the Homelessness Experience
- Grief after Loss in the Context of Homelessness
- Caring for Yourself and Supporting Grief in the Workplace.
This course aims to improve grief and bereavement knowledge and support skills for community support workers who serve those who are experiencing homelessness. We hope this can improve community support workers’ abilities to provide grief support to their clients who are experiencing homelessness, as many people with lived experience state they use their staff and volunteers for grief support.
The course is hosted on the Homelessness Learning Hub for learners across Canada and the rest of the world, and the course will soon be available on the Provincial Health Services Learning Hub for healthcare providers in BC. Sign up for the BCCPC’s CentrePoint newsletter to be notified when the module is available.
The BCCPC and the Victoria Cool Aid Society have been awarded a REACH 2023 Award by Michael Smith Health Research BC for this project.
3. Research Page on Bereavement in the Context of Homelessness
View more information on the completed projects, projects in progress, and upcoming projects about bereavement in the context of homelessness.
4. Grief and Bereavement Resource Sheet
This resource sheet provides general grief resources, considerations for grief in the workplace, and a few grief helplines and support programs in Canada.
Where to Watch No Fixed Address: The White Cart Memorial
No Fixed Address: The White Cart Memorial is being screened in communities across British Columbia and beyond. Each screening is an opportunity to come together, learn, and reflect on the impacts of grief, loss, and homelessness—and to imagine more compassionate ways of supporting one another.
Below you’ll find a list of upcoming screenings and events in BC. Many include panel discussions with local organizations, frontline workers, and community members, creating space for conversation and connection.
Upcoming Screenings
- Victoria – Cinecenta – February 19 from 1:00pm to 4:00pm | Registration link
- Chilliwack – The’í:tselíya – Health & Community Centre – February 26 from 1:00pm to 3:30pm | Registration link
- Campbell River – Campbell River Community Centre – March 5, 2026 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm | Registration link
- Vancouver – Carnegie Community Centre (401 Main St.) – March 6, 2026 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm | No registration required (drop-in)
- More screenings are coming in 2026! Stay tuned to CentrePoint for details.
Past Screenings
- Kelowna – Mary Irwin Theatre – October 15, 2025 from 1:30pm – 4:00pm
- Port Alberni – Alberni Valley Rescue Squad Hall – October 20, 2025 from 1:00pm – 3:00pm
- Nanaimo – Vancouver Island Conference Centre – October 22, 2025 from 700pm-8:30pm
- Kelowna – Mary Irwin Theatre – November 7, 2025 from 6:00pm – 8:30pm
- Vancouver – Sandman Hotel (180 W Georgia St) – November 13, 2025 from 6:00pm – 8:30pm
Host a Screening
If your organization or community would like to host a screening of the film, please contact us. We welcome opportunities to share the documentary as a catalyst for dialogue, learning, and healing.
Watch Online
If you can’t attend in person, the film will also be available to watch online in June 2026. Keep an eye on this page for the virtual launch or sign up for the BCCPC’s CentrePoint newsletter to be notified when the film is available.
If you would like to connect with us to discuss the work or to inquire about hosting a screening of the documentary, please send us an email.
Joshua Black, PhD
Bereavement Initiative Manager, BC Centre for Palliative Care
jblack@bc-cpc.ca
www.bc-cpc.ca
Stephanie Laing, PhD(c), MSW, RSW
Director of Operations, Kelowna Homelessness Research Centre
stephanie.laing@ubc.ca
www.khrc.ok.ubc.ca
