A week ago, Glenn Edgeworth was living in his trailer on the side of Goldstream Avenue, uncertain of his future after an order arrived from the City of Langford to move on.
The 61-year-old had been living along the busy roadway for more than a year, enduring the constant buzz of traffic, regular visits from bylaw officers and occasional dirty looks from nearby residents who have been complaining about noise and garbage from the row of campers who have been parking there for years.
Then came a tap on his trailer door.
It was a stranger, a Good Samaritan with an offer he couldn’t refuse.
Edgeworth said the man had been following media coverage of his plight and asked if he wanted a place to park.
“My first response was how much? And he said: ‘Nothing — I don’t need money, but you need a place to stay.’ ”
Today, Edgeworth can hear ravens squawking in the treetops and watch deer graze from his trailer in an undisclosed forested location in the capital region, where he’s feeling a sense of calm he hasn’t felt in years.
“I’m grinning ear to ear … it’s just amazing,” said Edgeworth, who admits to feeling “overwhelmed” by the random act of kindness.
“This just gives me so much relief … it takes so much pressure off.”
The offer from the landowner, who wants to remain anonymous, included free electricity and a water hookup, allowing Edgeworth to fully stock his refrigerator with fresh produce and “gallons of milk” and fill his freezer with other food so he doesn’t have to make daily runs to the grocery store.
A functioning fridge and freezer was something he didn’t have along Goldstream Avenue.
Edgeworth was also able to extend his trailer walls and hang many family photos, including pictures of his adult daughter.
Edgeworth, who is living with Stage 4 prostate cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and emphysema, survives on a disability cheque and helps to care for his mother, Sherri, a View Royal resident who is 84.
The new location allows him to unhook his trailer without having to worry about it being impounded, so he can make more regular visits to help his mother, who was admitted this week to hospital. He’s now able to drive every day to the hospital to help feed and provide care for her.
Edgeworth’s two cats — Jack and Ollie — are also able to venture outside for the first time in years, and are exploring the area around his new location on leashes.
Edgeworth said he is thankful for the outpouring of support he received after his story went public, which included an offer to park his trailer in a Langford driveway for a month.
He is trying to reach out to other members of the RV community who were displaced on Goldstream Avenue to see if he can help in any way.
“There’s a lot of people out there living the van life that could really use some sort of stability and they deserve it,” said Edgeworth.
He said he was able to contact the media because he’s “chatty and sociable,” but others in his predicament are often not comfortable about speaking up or reaching out.
“Most of them are really good people … they’re just stuck in a situation that they don’t have any control over. They just need a break,” said Edgeworth.
The City of Langford said evicting the roadside campers by June 30 was necessary for what it called “remediation work” on the 400- and 500-blocks of Goldstream Avenue. The city has told the campers they won’t be welcomed back.
Langford said it needed to balance compassion for those who need housing with public health and safety. It called on the province to work with social services and affordable-housing providers to find places for the displaced campers to live.
The campers were gone this week, although it wasn’t immediately clear how many had reached out to Langford for help.
The city suggested other locations for recreational vehicles, including Goldstream Provincial Park campground, the Capital Regional District’s Island View Beach campground and the private campground Fort Victoria.
The city said staff are also willing to assist in making connections with housing service partners to help people transition to more sustainable housing.
