The Citizen, 2018-03-08, Page 10PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2018.
Out of the Cold a great resource says Stanley
Filling a need
The Huron Out of the Cold program to help the county's homeless has proven to be a great
resource, but the trick is to encourage people to use it when they're in need. (Lisa B. Pot photo)
Continued from page 7
Lakeside has embraced the
opportunity to serve the homeless.
"You know, in the past, we
sponsored a family of 14 who were
refugees from Kenya. We learned
that in their small space at the
refugee camp, they cared for 40
other people," said Ballagh-
Steeper. "Our thinking was if they
could do that, surely we could
open our church doors for a few
homeless people in Huron
County."
The County of Huron has
provided enough funding to cover
the costs of hiring overnight staff
for the emergency shelter. Evening
and overnight volunteers are
required to join the paid overnight
staff because one person isn't
enough to supervise.
Ruth Fisher, an 82 -year-old
retired teacher and committed
volunteer, is one of those
volunteers.
"I just feel that everyone
deserves a warm place in the
winter," said Fisher. "Canada is a
place of bounty. To be homeless in
our country of plenty is just hard to
fathom."
Being a night owl who doesn't
get tired until the wee hours,
Fisher thought being an overnight
volunteer was a good opportunity
for her to help. "There's not a lot
of physical work. I'm there to
support the staff, make food when
the homeless come in and when
they go out."
She admits to being surprised at
the number of homeless at first.
However, as she learned more, she
realized just how difficult it is for
some to make ends meet.
Recently, she had an interesting
experience when a healthy, strong
man who she described as being
well-spoken came in for one night
when he was locked out of his
house.
"He was very cold. I warmed up
my scarf on the radiator and
wrapped it around his neck. It was
so stiff from the cold he could
hardly move it," recalls Fisher. It
wasn't long before Fisher, a former
elementary school teacher in
Wellington County, realized he
was a former student.
He was willing to share some of
his story, but other homeless
guests are not quite as forthcoming
when asked how they ended up
homeless, said Fisher. "You just
listen and try to be supportive."
Volunteerism at the homeless
shelter is as valuable to her as it is
to the homeless, she says, after her
husband died several years ago.
"For people like me, who are
alone with no family nearby, it
would be easy to become
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A great cause
Monique Baan, right, the designer of the International
Plowing Match's website, chose to donate $1,000 of the
match proceeds to the Huron County 4-H Association, an
organization near and dear to her heart. Accepting the
donation is 4-H representative Darrell Bergsma. (Denny Scott
photo)
withdrawn. This gives me a chance
to get out, help and is a way
someone older like me can give
back to Huron County."
Ballagh-Steeper says volunteer-
ism was a big worry going into the
pilot project. Would enough
people step up?
The homeless shelter currently
has between 20 and 30 regular
volunteers for the hospitality shift
(evening) and about 20 committed
to overnight. More volunteers are
needed for the overnight shifts.
They don't require any more
donations of clothing or health
care items; Huron County
residents have been very generous.
Volunteers are trained how to
mitigate potential issues. "There
has been yelling, yes," said
Ballagh-Steeper. "Humans are
humans. Group them into a
confined space and there will be
some who don't get along."
If things were to get out of
control, the OPP station isn't far
away. The police "know we are
here" and have brought guests in.
Thankfully, there hasn't been a
need to call them to defuse a
dangerous situation. However, the
homeless are no more violent than
any other segment of the
population said Greer. Likewise,
some are adept at making the most
of opportunities than others.
"From what I have gleaned,
Goderich residents tend to be very
generous to the homeless they
encounter," said Ballagh-Steeper.
She's had homeless come in
saying, "It's been a good day."
Then they'll show off free boots or
talk about the number of free
coffees and/or meals residents
bought them during the day.
There are other community
members who have expressed
concern that the homeless shelter
is busing homeless into Huron
County. "That is not true," said
Hickman Since Goderich is the
only town in the county with an
emergency shelter, homeless come
in from other towns, but not from
outside the county.
When asked what the
community can do besides buy
coffee for the homeless, Ballagh-
Steeper suggested that awareness
and action are required.
"Church congregations are
getting smaller and volunteers are
getting older... the community
needs to figure this out," she said.
If rural Ontario needs more
services so that the homeless with
mental illness can be more stable,
then communities need to bring
these issues to the table at election
time, Ballagh-Steeper said.
Personally, she would like to see
a designated homeless facility with
a hybrid of emergency crash beds
and transition housing comple-
mented by intensive case
management.
Martin isn't sure a permanent
shelter would be used during the
summer months. His thinking,
from decades of experience
working with the homeless, is that
the community needs to think
predominantly about care during
the winter months. "We've taken
care of the winter issues for nights.
But the homeless aren't just
homeless at night. Where can they
hang out during the day?"
He suggests the county look at
ways to offer daytime
programming. "We need to figure
out how to step this up "
Education is also important.
Stanley said the police have been
made aware of the homeless issue
via last year's "The Push for
Change" campaign, which saw Joe
Roberts, former homeless youth,
push a shopping cart 9,000
kilometres across Canada.
The campaign focused on
homelessness among youth.
Through community events, such
as hockey challenges, community
meals, sleep -outs and clothing
collections, tens of thousands of
people heard about the impact of
homelessness on youth, families,
stakeholders and communities.
Police officers also have access
to a calender of local services to
which they can direct the homeless
as well.
"On a human level, officers are
known to hand out pairs of boots
or sweaters they aren't using," said
Stanley. "We're very thankful for
Huron Out of the Cold. It's a great
resource and we encourage the
homeless to use it."
Stanley also reminds community
members of the Ontario 211
service. The 211 telephone service
(2-1-1) and website provide a
gateway to community, social,
non -clinical health and related
government services. Available 24
hours a day, seven days a week, in
over 150 languages, 211 helps
callers navigate the complex
network of human services.
All the business owners,
community leaders and shelter
volunteers interviewed agree that
homelessness is a huge issue with
few guaranteed successful
strategies to help alleviate the
problem. This winter, at least,
there is a place for the homeless to
get out of the cold and get
connected with help, should they
choose it.
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