On Thursday and Friday of this week, volunteers and staff of Operation Come Home braved the cold to raise awareness and funds to support people in Ottawa.
Each year more than 1400 young people experience homelessness in our City. None of them are homeless by choice, but instead are forced into it because of poverty, mental health challenges, or to avoid abuse. When Ottawa experiences extreme cold, as we did on Friday, our youth experience serious risks to their safety.
To show respect for their challenges and to highlight the difficulties youth face, we hosted a sleepout project on Bank Street. Starting at 2pm on Thursday, we gave out food, held signs, and rallied to raise awareness of homelessness.
This was the first time we held this event since the pandemic started, and hosting it now was a very different experience than what we had done before. In the lead-up to the event, we considered the impression we would make on our fellow residents and neighbours in Centretown.
After the convoy, organizations like ours have to think carefully how we hold these events downtown. The convoy occupation of 2022 caused a lot of hardship for our staff and our clients, and lingering traces of last year’s chaos and bigotry are top of mind for us and those we serve.
Ultimately we decided to proceed as we always have and not let the convoy prevent us from hosting our event our way. We made cardboard signs, prepared our playlists, and readied the wooden pallets, sleeping bags and other materials we would use to sleep through the night.
In the end we did not need to worry as much. The 24 Hours event this year was a tremendous success. Over the course of the day, more than 1000 residents came to visit. People made gifts to support our youth. Local television and radio stations covered the event, which sparked conversations on air about how we as a community are supporting people through the extreme cold. We shared meals with our clients and others experiencing homelessness, which was made even better when local businesses like Dominoes, Starbucks and Bridgehead brought us more food and coffee to keep going.
Thank you to our neighbours and friends in Centretown for supporting us, and for your goodwill throughout the day given the noise we were making on Bank Street.
Thank you to the Royal Oak for providing us with space to sleep, and for helping us throughout the night. We are especially grateful for the hot chocolate and tea you brought us at midnight. That was wonderful.
Thank you to everyone that stopped by to say hello. Many of you told us that we were crazy for staying out all night. You also told us how strongly you feel about the need for more action to end homelessness. Your conviction for the cause kept us going. Your donations will help us continue to provide hot meals and a warm space for our youth in the coming months.
Thank you as well to our young clients who joined us to help spread the word. It makes a tremendous difference when people see first-hand those that are affected by issues like homelessness. Thank you for sharing your stories and for facing the cold alongside us.
Most of all, thank you to our volunteers. Friends from Chandos Construction, Youturn, and United Way East Ontario joined us for 24 hours. It was wonderful spending time with you and working together to support our youth.
Thank you all for making this year a success. Though the headlines all spoke about the extreme cold, our lasting impression of this years’ sleepout will be memories of the warmth and compassion that so many people have for those in need in Ottawa.