Sudbury 'Out of the Cold' program waiting for greenlight

Its unclear whether the 'Out of the Cold' program for Sudbury's homeless people will continue this year, which has some Salvation army workers concerned in the wake of Vincent Harper's video-taped death.

• Video showing Vincent Harper dead in a Sudbury parking lot shocks family

Last February, the city funded a pilot of the program, run by the Salvation Army.

City council only has a few more meetings before the municipal election to discuss the possibility of continuing the project.

Sabrina Jones-Monette, a residential worker for the Salvation Army, would like to see more funding for homeless services.

These people are generally good people that have experienced either excessive levels of trauma or just fell on hard times, she said. And they deserve just as much respect as anybody else.

They were words echoed by the father of a recently deceased homeless man in the area.

Vincent Harper, 55, was found dead in a Sudbury parking lot last week but adding to the sad event was the filming of Harpers body by a local man who was walking by on his way to Ribfest with his camera recording.

The man, Marcel St-Jean, uploaded the video where he is shown telling others to call 911, to Youtube.

Since then Harpers father in Toronto, Vern Haroer, said that the video was an invasion and that his son had struggled with alcohol and drug abuse for decades, eventually becoming homeless. Harper said his son deserved better than to be filmed as he lay dying.

"He was a good person. He just got lost on the way, he said, adding that his son was more than the person portrayed in those images.

The incident hit home to Jones-Monette who has seen many people fall into similar circumstances.

The Salvation Army in Sudbury says it has continued interest in running the out of the cold program but will have to meet with council before the election to talk about continuing the project.