Latest news with #Helten
Global News
17-05-2025
- Global News
‘Ashtrey Alley': Push to rename Vancouver's 1st legal graffiti wall after DTES advocate
A motion to rename the city of Vancouver's first legal graffiti wall in honour of Downtown Eastside (DTES) advocate and artist Trey Helten will be considered by council at the Standing Committee meeting on May 21. Helten, who spearheaded council's May 2021 approval of the city's inaugural painting wall in the back lane of 133 West Pender Street, died suddenly on April 22 at the age of 42. In his motion titled 'Honouring Trey Helten: Renaming 'Ashtrey Alley'', COPE Coun. Sean Orr said DTES community members are already informally calling the alley between Hastings and Pender which connects Cambie and Abbott Street 'Ashtrey Alley' in memory of Helten, whose nickname was 'Ashtrey'. 'Trey Helten was a beloved harm reduction advocate in the Downtown Eastside who was known for his tireless work to help others, fight stigma against drug users, and who saved hundreds of lives,' reads Orr's motion. Story continues below advertisement Helten, who battled addiction before spending several years in recovery, is credited with saving hundreds of lives during his time managing the Overdose Prevention Society (OPS). Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy As an artist, Helten used his gift of graffiti to build bridges with Chinatown and memorialize those who lost their lives to toxic drugs. 1:53 Popular artist dedicates mural to senior attacked in DTES In collaboration with his art partner, street artist Jamie Hardy, a.k.a 'Smokey Devil', Helten painted several murals to help beautify Chinatown, and honour individuals who disappeared, were murdered or died in the DTES. Orr noted that graffiti walls support artistic expression and provide a sanctioned location for street artists to potentially foster a culture that discourages disrespectful or nuisance graffiti. 'As dedicated spaces, they can also serve as a place for street artists to meet, build community, and can provide opportunities for mentorship,' states Orr's motion. Story continues below advertisement If approved, Orr's motion would direct staff to report back on the most expeditious way to name the sanctioned graffiti alley 'Ashtrey Alley' in memory of Helten and his contributions to the community. Hardy was one of the first street artists to break ground in the West Pender Street alley when it officially opened in August 2022.
Hamilton Spectator
03-05-2025
- Health
- Hamilton Spectator
‘Nobody can ever replace Trey'
It's hard to imagine how the Downtown Eastside will function without the steady force for good that was Trey (Ashtrey) Helten. What's not hard to see is how deeply he was loved — by the community he served, his partner and their son, his dog Zelda, his former employer Sarah Blyth at the Overdose Prevention Society (OPS), his good friend Smokey D, and by the many, many people he helped in the latter part of his short life of 42 years. When Helten failed to show up to a training at OPS on the morning of Tuesday, April 22, Blyth and a colleague went to his Strathcona home and found him unresponsive. At the time of this writing, the cause of death is unknown. Since his passing, an outpouring of love and remembrance has flooded social media and the Downtown Eastside streets he served with such integrity. Murals have begun to appear in his honour, and there is a growing movement to name one of the neighbourhood laneways — Ashtrey Alley. Helten was publicly up front that his early years were characterized by addiction; he didn't mind being called an addict, he once said on Garth Mullins' Crackdown podcast. In his recovery, he built relationships with hundreds of people and, as manager of the OPS, saved the lives of hundreds more. Blyth, who is the organization's executive director, has given many interviews since Helten's passing. For CBC Radio's Early Edition and As It Happens, Blyth recalls Helten's fierce dedication to the people he was helping. Over and above his tireless work at OPS, he was willing to drive people to appointments, detox and Narcotics Anonymous meetings. He took people to lunch or for coffee at the Ovaltine Cafe. He was passionate about doing everything he could in aid of a person's safety, recovery and comfort. In an interview with Megaphone, Blyth once said: 'I can't find words to describe what a unique person Trey is.' Helten began working at OPS in 2018. Megaphone featured Helten on the cover in September 2023, along with his dog, Zelda. Zelda — part pit bull, mastiff and king corso — like Helten could expertly detect drug overdoses. As with many extraordinary pets in the Downtown Eastside, Zelda reflected qualities of her human: intuition, compassion, intelligence and love. In the CBC As It Happens interview, Blyth acknowledged that Helten sometimes tried too hard, to the detriment of his own self-care. At one point, he relapsed into his addiction and needed to step away from his job as manager of OPS. But as his partner, Amanda Jane Rose — who is expecting Helten's second child — said on Facebook, 'Trey NEVER gave up on his recovery.' 'Trey believed that recovery was always possible. It doesn't matter if it takes you one try or one hundred. Keep coming back, keep coming back, keep coming back.' Before Christmas, Helten gave a naloxone training session to photojournalist Amy Romer, who then worked with him to write a 'Naloxone 101' for Megaphone magazine, published just last month in the April issue — in time for the nine-year anniversary of the toxic drug overdose crisis being declared a B.C. public health emergency. Helten's dedication never stopped. 'Nobody can ever replace Trey,' said Rose. 'Not in this community, not in the hearts of so many people and certainly not in my life. He was the most unique, wonderful person in the world. To me, he was perfect.' Trey Helten tributes: A tribute to Helten can be found in the latest episode of the Crackdown podcast. There will be an all day memorial in Helen's honour on Saturday, May 10 in the parking lot of the now-demolished Balmoral Hotel (100-block East Hastings Street), from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Artist Smokey D has created a memorial piece near OPS.
CBC
24-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
Trey Helten, advocate for drug users in Vancouver, dead at 42
Trey Helten, a prominent advocate for drug users and those experiencing homelessness in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, has died at the age of 42, according to friends and colleagues. Sarah Blyth, a friend of Helten's and the executive director of the Overdose Prevention Society (OPS), where he worked, said his life mission was to help people. "There was really no one like him and I don't think there will ever be another person like him," Blyth said Thursday morning on CBC's The Early Edition. She said Helten started working with the OPS in 2017 as a volunteer and worked his way up the organization, eventually becoming the general manager of the overdose prevention site. "He came in and just said, 'I want to be part of the solution, I want to help people,'" said Blyth. Helten went above and beyond to help those struggling around him, said Blyth, driving people places, visiting people at the hospital, and even housing and feeding people in his own home. "Coming from the perspective of a person with lived experience, who had at one point been homeless and had at one point been a drug user, he came with a lot of empathy and understanding," she said. Helten would host Narcotics Anonymous meetings often, according to Blyth, who said the gatherings grew in attendance. She said she hopes he will be an inspiration to people, especially those who are struggling with addiction: "I think he would just say, 'Keep trying.'" Advocacy work Deb Bailey, member of Moms Stop the Harm, said Helten fought for causes he believed in, often speaking on proposals at city hall and advocating to officials on behalf of those struggling with addiction. "His resolve and strength was really quite amazing," said Bailey. She said Helten was approachable and always willing to help, often working with members of Moms Stop the Harm when it was needed. He would also do NARCAN demonstrations at Adler University, where she was a professor. "I feel really devastated by his loss and it's kind of hard to believe it," Bailey said. "He was an inspiration to a lot of people."
