Night 1 Complete!
5 Days has officially started at Queen’s University! 10 volunteers gathered at 5:30 pm to kick off a week of raising awareness of the housing crisis in Canada and of youth homelessness. Yesterday we revealed some pretty exciting news when we announced our guest sleeper – Bo the golden retriever! Bo was a hit, and lots of people came over to give him cuddles before donating!
Jason, the executive director at the Kingston Youth Shelter paid us a visit around 7:00 pm to see how the campaign was going. He filled us in on how repairs are going at the Kingston Youth Shelter, and how unfortunately, because of unforeseen structural complications, it’ll still be a little while until the KYS is back to its normal capacity. Everyone is still waiting to hear about what insurance will cover, but in the possible case that coverage is denied, the 5 Days donations will go towards replacing the lost furniture and mattresses of the women’s dormitory.
Catching up with Jason was awesome, but he was far from our only visitor! Many students stopped by on their way to study, and we were able to raise over $80 in walk-by donations! Highlights included an executive from Lost Paws, who was so enamored by Bo she posted his picture in a popular Queen’s Facebook group, a PhD student who had participated in 5 Days during his undergrad degree at McGill, and a student who had biked from home to visit after seeing the campaign online! I think I speak for all of last night’s sleepers when I say it was definitely a successful start. We all slept well, and are looking forward to a new day of campaigning!
Here’s our daily, “Did you know?”: Homelessness is divided into four different degrees of homelessness and housing insecurity, including: 1) Unsheltered, or absolutely homeless and living on the streets or in places not intended for human habitation; 2) Emergency Sheltered, including those staying in overnight shelters for people who are homeless, as well as shelters for those impacted by family violence; 3) Provisionally Accommodated, referring to those whose accommodation is temporary or lacks security of tenure, and finally, 4) At Risk of Homelessness, referring to people who are not homeless, but whose current economic and/or housing situation is precarious or does not meet public health and safety standards. In 2007, the UN called homelessness in Canada a “national emergency,” and called on the federal government to commit to long-term funding and embark on large-scale construction of social housing.
♦ Adrienne Fanjoy