James Hyde has been homeless on the streets of Calgary for more than 20 years.
The 67-year-old has become a very notable character at the intersection of 32 Avenue and 36 Street N.E. He flips his hat and tells jokes, hoping drivers will stop and share some spare change.
But over the last couple weeks, Hyde was missing from his usual post, and people started to worry. His friend, Pete de Jong posted a message about Hyde’s recent health issues hospitalization on Facebook and the response was something nobody could have expected.
“I thought I would inform them he’s alive, he’s okay, just in hospital,” de Jong said.
“After I posted it, there was almost 1,000 comments and 143,000 views of it. It truly went viral and I was shocked by it.”
People sent Hyde care packages and homemade cards wishing him well.
The generosity moved him to tears.
“I’m getting all sentimental,” Hyde said.
“It’s overwhelming. I sit here crying about it as I read all these things.
“I don’t know how to respond to all of them and it just exploded, I never expected this.”
The support he feels now makes him feel a lot less alone.
“Sometimes people are afraid to come up to a person on the street,” Hyde said. “We do look dishevelled or rough around the edges, but we’re all human beings.”
One of those people who saw the humanity in him detailed one of the interactions on the Facebook post. Susan Gwynn recalled him singing happy birthday to her after a brief interaction outside a restaurant.
“We shared battered mushrooms on the sidewalk because you meet people where you’re at. He is the best person that meets people where they’re at,” Gwynn said.
“Despite his circumstances, he gets joy out of making others happy and he’s charming and the best northeast ambassador we could ever have.”
“We may not be blood, but we are definItely family,” Gwynn said.
There’s a plan in the works to find Hyde housing when he gets discharged. Community members are hoping he finds a home in the same neighbourhood.
“He’s got to get into an apartment, he’s been on the streets for 20-plus years. It’s been long enough,” de Jong said.
Hyde is anxious to get better and go back to the intersection to see all those people who miss him, and to get back to entertaining for people driving by.
“If I had a million dollars, I’d still be out there doing that,” Hyde said.