The Coffin Guy

The Toronto Star recently published an article about Hans Scholze, a homeless man who is famous for living under the Gardiner Expressway East. Scholze is notably different than most homeless people because of the coffin-like plywood box he called home. Refusing charity or a warm place to live, the “coffin guy” would move his mobile home to another block if police officers or other dwellers bothered him. Scholze moved around 2000, when the Gardiner was coming down, to the port lands near Commissioner St. But for the last two years, there have not been any confirmed sightings of the coffin guy who was once a visual footprint of the city’s homeless issues.

Despite the descriptions of Scholze being mentally unstable (see the article link for more details), he provides a good example of a person who finds comfort in a space that most would regard as unsafe, cold, and unsuitable as a home. I think many people would disregard Scholze’s “home” as one, although it provided the necessities he needed, even if the bare minimum. It was his shelter from the cold, a place for his belongings, and there was heat from a Coleman stove. Scholze had a better home than most people living on sidewalks or doorways of Toronto’s buildings.

When he moved to the port lands, Scholze became the poster boy for the city’s homeless as he clearly displayed the harsh reality of Toronto. The article mentions that there is no official body that keeps records of who is homeless. Plainly stated, Toronto does not care about who is living on the street because it is not considered a taxable space. So if it’s not taxable to the government, then the home does not exist. And if the city does not acknowledge the home, in essence they are not acknowledging the homeless person’s existence.

By: Justine Tieri


http://www.thestar.com/article/304331