1.) My partner and I have begun to put together care packages. We went to Walmart and bought essential items people experiencing homelessness would need. We decided to create two large care packages, one for a man and one for a woman. I was in charge of the female one, and I packed deodorant, sanitary items, toothbrushes, toothpaste, socks, water bottles, and tiny goodies.
2.) Some of our successes were raising funds to purchase these things. We saved money for this action project together over the course of a few months because we wanted to make sure we had enough to build care packages. Another success was keeping in touch with Kristi and discussing potential ideas with her. It is always crucial to communicate with one another, and we are ensuring that we do so by texting via iMessage.
3.) A challenge we’ve had is traveling to downtown Vancouver because it’s a little far away and my partner and I don’t have our driving licenses, so we always have to ask someone to drive us there. We are solving this difficulty by considering a new area where there is a high level of homelessness too. As a result, we may be able to commute there more quickly and visit more frequently.
4.) Our next step is to change the direction we’re heading. We chose downtown Port Coquitlam over downtown Vancouver since it is closer. This month, we aim to travel a few times over the weekend to distribute the care packages we’ve produced and to make additional connections with other homeless people so we can learn their stories.
Hi Mahdiya! It makes me truly happy when I see people making a difference and wow! What you and your partner are doing is very admirable and I think it really shows that you care. Even though you may only be helping a couple of people, that small help likely means the world to them. Making a difference like that is phenomenal and I also find it quite interesting that you are interested in hearing their stories. Too often do we see people pre-judging individuals experiencing homelessness, ignoring the fact that homelessness, just like poverty, is not a permanent state or something that someone chose to experience. Mental illness, trauma, death, and a myriad of different issues could have lead them to the state that they are in now, and simply being labelled as a “lazy, good-for-nothing homeless person” is very damaging and helps no one. Listening to their life stories and truly understanding what they have gone through is a great way to shed biases that have likely been formed due to stereotypes. Great work!