One Homeless Night - November 1st

Each year I try to do something a bit different in youth ministry. Something to challenge us as young people as we engage in the world we live in. 

Some years ago, we participated in Ottawa Innercity Ministry's ONE HOMELESS NIGHT program.  I felt it was time to do this again, and this time I decided it would be nice to invite other CRC's in our classis to come out as well. 

So, on Friday, November 1st, we gathered at a church downtown with 6 other churches
 and about 50 people and settled in. 

Janika decided to get into the mood rather quickly...

resting on the floor. 

We had a small contingent this time (due to sports events going on this weekend which I didn't know about) so it was a good thing we had other churches come.  Here's Miranda relaxing, Mel on her phone, and Kevin....sleeping.  : )

Once everyone arrived, and handed in their donations (each young person was asked to raise $50 or more for OIM) we sat down for a time of orientation. 

Moira was our host for the night. 

She works for OIM and does OHN events a lot. 

She was a wonderful host and explained things well. 

Here's the group listening intently.  

We had to do an exercise in groups - writing out what we might put on a piece of cardboard to get people's attention as we asked for money for food. 

Here's what Janika came up with.  

After our orientation time, we were sent out into the downtown core for about 3 hours to walk the streets, as homeless people would.  We formed different groups and were sent out in 10 minute intervals. 

Here's Joe from Williamsburg dressed and ready to go. 

I should mention that we could only carry with us whatever would fit into a backpack, nothing more.  Here's Jacob, parent to Janika, ready to go with LOTS of stuff.  

We were given an envelope before we left and told to open it about 15 minutes into our walk.  It had a map of the downtown, so we wouldn't get lost,
 and the following letter:

Imagine this. . .

Your name is Alex.

You grew up in a small town on the East Coast.

Your home never felt like a safe place.

Your step-father started abusing you as a child.

You told your mom, and even teachers, but no one believed you.

At age 14, you decided you couldn’t take it anymore. You left home and started staying on friends couches. As the years went by, staying on a different couch every night gets tiring and it starts to get hard to keep up in school,
 so you eventually drop out.

Your friend tells you to come to Ottawa where you can live with him. 

You’re 18 now and you think “Finally! A fresh start in a new city!”

You spend the last of your money on a bus ticket for Ottawa.

When you arrive in Ottawa, your friend lets you stay for one week
 and then says you have to pay rent, or get out.

With no way of paying rent, you pack up your bag and leave.

This is a real story from a real person.

Try to put yourself in Alex’s shoes.

That sure set the tone for the night. 

We were also allowed to bring along about $2, but no more.  That would be our spending money for the night. 
I decided not to bring any $ and see how I would do. 
It just so happened that that night, McDonald's was giving out free small coffee's, which Mel and I took advantage of, and so did many others. 

Sparks Street was very quiet on this cool
 (not really too cold) night.  

We walked to Parliament Hill and got warm around the flame.  

Here we are absorbing the heat.  

We walked and walked...but periodically rested.  
We were only allowed to rest for 10 minutes at at time, to simulate homeless people being moved on from public places; something that happens often in our city. 

We eventually ended up in the McDonald's downtown...and met up with others from our larger group.  Here's Dan from Dixon's Corners with his free coffee. 

Kevin counts up his small funds to see if he has enough for something on the menu. 

Low and behold....a value meal double cheeseburger. 
Fills the stomach, but a diet like this all the time would not be very healthy.  Unfortunately for may homeless people, fast food is cheap, even if unhealthy. 

We had to be back to the church by 11:45 pm.  
If we were late, we would be locked out for the night...something that has happened
 in other OHN events I think.  
I was hoping it wouldn't happen to us. 

Resting outside for a bit. 

The last group to arrive....
my youth...figures.

Our sleeping arrangements for the night was the floor of the church hall.  Guys on one side, girls on the other. 

Some came prepared with air mattresses...some, like me, did not. I didn't even take a sleeping bag, just a blanket.  

People getting ready to sleep.  

Kevin all snuggly.

Rueben too.

I slept with my blanket and coat to keep me warm, with no mattress and some clothes inside my backpack for a pillow. I didn't sleep well.  My hips are bony, and I like to sleep on my side....but was forced to sleep on my back. 
AND Joe, as you see here waking up, snores!!!!

We were awakened at 6:00 am...I think...or around there. Not a very ceremonial thing....just an alarm...time to get up, pack up, and get out the door.
   Out to face another day.
  
 I had toyed with the idea of parking my van about a kilometre away and making us walk to it, just to give us the feeling of having to face this day walking again as a homeless person....but I didn't.
  Would have been interesting though.  

Instead, we went to the Elgin Street Diner and had some breakast...something that probably wouldn't have happened for many sleeping in shelters that night. 

We gathered and chatted about the night,
 and tried to stay awake.  

Miranda had a huge breakfast...

...and so did Kevin and I.

I'd never heard of this diner, but apparently it's open 24 hours and has great food...  

...as you can see here. 

After breakfast it was time to go home.

Below is a short reflection from Miranda and another from Jacob and Janika, about their time at OHN.  I found out a bit later that as a group we raised over $1,600 for OIM.
  Not bad.  

It was a great event, giving us just a taste of what goes on for those on the streets of our city.  I hope to do this event again in the spring, and have a few more of our own youth (and maybe others from Calvin) go out and wrestle with the issues of homelessness in Ottawa, and other places. 

One Homeless Night Reflection

               I’m not sure exactly what my expectations were for this event, so I don’t know if it met them or not. There were a few things that I realized, though.

               I think that it would have been a lot more uncomfortable if it wasn’t such good weather. And although I’m partly glad that it was so nice out, it maybe would have been more eye-opening if the weather was bad.

               It also got me thinking that it’s alright when you’re with a bunch of people, but if you were actually living on the streets, you would be a lot more alone and afraid.

               The thing that surprised me most, though, was how we had to keep moving every ten minutes, so that we got almost no rest. Even the little comfort of being able to sit somewhere and rest for the night is taken away from you because people just don’t want homeless people hanging around. And all the good places to rest are either blocked off or dangerous because they’re so out of the way.

               We didn’t experience even close to what it’s really like to be homeless, but I did learn some things and I’m glad I did it.

Miranda

Janika: It felt really weird to be stared at while walking in the downtown.

Jacob:  I certainly noticed the curious looks.  Part of me wondered if it was because an adult male & two 12 year-olds were wandering with backpacks at 11pm on a Friday night.  But, it did make me think: would I get the same looks if I were truly homeless, or would most people just look past or through me?

Janika: This one teenager or young adult said to me, "Stay in school kid."

Jacob:  I agree ... stay in school, sweetie  :-D

Janika: The sleep was kinda awkward because it was a hard floor. 

Janika: The ladies who were running the event said that if we slept at a real homeless shelter, our stuff would probably have been stolen while we were asleep, because the other people in the shelter would have been so desperate for things.

Jacob: Janika's comment reflects on the feeling of vulnerability which affected us through the night, both on the street and our "shelter for the night".  Out on the street, we were instructed to keep moving and not stay in the same place for more than 10 minutes (since the homeless are quickly told to move along by stores, police, etc.).  That constant motion, followed by lack of good rest through the night was an eye-opening experience. I had never realized that something as basic as just "feeling rested" was something that could be taken for granted.

Janika: When I was at the Quickie store on Bank St. spending my $2, and a man was trying to buy a pop and a bag of chips and the man at the cash said he didn't have enough money. The man in front of me said, "Oh shucks, I'm short." That statement made me feel bad for him.

Jacob: That type of a sympathetic response is something I'm glad the experience of the night produced.  Another thing I was glad it produced (via orientation at the start) was an understanding of the varied causes of homelessness and, as a result, how sensitive and varied the responses of those who seek to serve the homeless need to be.