It takes a surprising amount of strength and resilience to survive being homeless in Bradford during the winter.
That was one of several lessons WOW Living executive director Jodi Greenstreet and volunteer Rosi Martin learned after spending 24 hours living outdoors on Feb. 14 and 15, to gain a better understanding and help raise awareness of the challenges faced by people experiencing homelessness.
“It was tough," Martin said. "Without question it was probably the hardest 24 hours I’ve ever experienced."
That involved setting up a tent at the Bradford Community Church at Line 9 and Yonge Street at 4:30 p.m. on Feb. 14 before making their way into town for the evening. In order to ensure a vehicle would be ready at the end of the experience at 5 p.m. on Saturday, the pair drove from the church to the Bradford West Gwillimbury Public Library, a luxury they admitted most people experiencing homelessness just don’t have.
The pair stayed at the library until it closed at 8 p.m. and then walked the roughly three kilometres to the No Frills plaza at Yonge Street and Line 8, where they caught a lift for the last kilometre or so to the church as snow accumulation had left no safe place to walk.
Only a few hours into the experience, Greenstreet said gaps became apparent in the available services in town.
She pointed to the transit schedule, which has the last bus leaving the library around 6 p.m., even though the library — one of the town’s designating warming centres — remains open until 8 p.m. Meanwhile, the only overnight warming centre in town — operated by WOW Living at town’s 177 Church St. hub — doesn’t open until 9 p.m.
That means making a choice between catching the bus and waiting outside in the cold or staying warm for longer in the library, but then needing to walk through the weather.
The situation becomes worse on weekends when the library closes at 5 p.m., or holidays when the library is closed.
Fortunately, Greenstreet said volunteers were able to keep the warming centre at the hub open all day on the recent Family Day holiday.
Once back at the church, Greenstreet and Martin spent the night sleeping in the tent, or at least trying to sleep.
Despite having access to a tent, cot and cold-weather sleeping bag, Martin said the cold made things difficult to the point where her water bottle and granola bars froze solid.
“The cold overnight, for me physically, that was the hardest part,” Greenstreet said, explaining her sleep that night was broken at best. “It was so cold.”
The weather forecast projected the overnight low would feel like -17 C that night and has been colder since.
That helped Greenstreet understand why blankets are “like gold” in WOW Living’s Hand Up Clothing Room, where she said they never seem to have enough for the demand.
The struggles weren’t limited to the night though, and the pair discovered more difficulties after dawn.
In the morning, they were able to catch another lift to the No Frills plaza from which they walked to Tim Hortons for breakfast, by which time Martin was so cold and tired, she said it was the “best coffee of my life.”
While she was also grateful to be able to enjoy a hot beverage, for Greenstreet it drove home a point she’s heard before.
“It’s really expensive to be homeless,” she said.
Without a refrigerator or pantry, people can’t go to the grocery store and buy multiple days worth of food to prepare themselves, so they rely heavily on purchasing prepared foods. Some meals are also provided to them by support organizations, many of whom are operating on a “shoestring budget,” and rely on fillers like rice, pasta and potatoes to feed people, without as many fresh ingredients as would be preferred, according to Greenstreet.
Following that small breakfast, the pair ventured back out into the cold and trekked to WOW Living’s Out of the Cold Cafe at the hub. There, they were able to see the services provided from a new perspective, and were especially grateful for the warm meals freshly cooked in the cafe kitchen.
After the cafe closed at 2 p.m., the pair made their way back to the four corners to catch a bus to the leisure centre, where they were able to stay warm and gather their thoughts for the last few hours of the experience, before taking the car back to the church.
“Just filling the day was exhausting,” Martin said.
She explained that carrying clothes and other items everywhere she went was tiring and even when the pair found places to rest briefly, Martin never really felt as though she could relax, because they were constantly thinking and planning what would be available and where they would need to go next.
“I can understand how mental health can be a real challenge when you’re faced with that stress all the time,” she said.
Knowing the experience would be over by the end of Saturday helped Greenstreet to make it through, but for those without any idea of how long they could remain homeless, she said she “can’t imagine” what it must be like.
Greenstreet said she was comforted by just how many people reached out to offer assistance, including rides, gift cards and meals — even though the pair felt the need to decline help.
“That’s the way I want to love our friends here (at WOW Living),” Greenstreet said, because “for a lot of our people, they don’t necessarily have that support system.”
Still exhausted from the experience, once the pair returned to the church they remembered they had the now-daunting task of tearing down and packing up their tent, something they “couldn’t fathom” doing in that moment.
For Martin her biggest takeaway from the experience was a renewed sense of respect for people experiencing homelessness.
“They are strong, resilient, resourceful people,” she said.
Both agreed that the stigma and stereotypes around homelessness are unfair and unhelpful, especially the idea that people should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
“There are circumstances when life hits and what do you do?” Greenstreet said. “Don’t assume ... It’s just so ignorant.”
In addition to treating others with respect, the pair hope people will remember that “when you’re on the street, your choices are limited.”
For anyone who wants to help, particularly effective items to donate to the Hand Up Clothing Room include: hand and foot warmers, good quality boots, winter socks, camping backpacks carabiners and USB power banks.
WOW Living is always looking for more volunteers, especially for the overnight warming centre, and anyone interested can email [email protected].
The organization has also partnered with United Way Simcoe Muskoka, for which Martin is the event director, for the annual Coldest Night of the Year walk and fundraising campaign, with proceeds going to support WOW Living’s Groundwork program.
For more information or to register online, visit cnoy.org/bradford.
WOW Living is a registered charity that aims to provide people living in poverty with the tools and resources they need to strengthen stability and increase resiliency.
For more information, visit wow-living.ca.