GRASSROOTS EMERGENCY WINTER HOUSING FUNDRAISER
Donation protected
We are worried that, without immediate action, this winter may be deadly for many of the people this city makes vulnerable because of poverty, homelessness, addiction and other forms of suffering. We need your help to do our best to make sure people have safe places to get out of the cold.
Wiindo Debwe Mosewin and Not One More Death are organizing a fundraiser to provide hotel rooms for those without shelter this winter in Thunder Bay.
Restrictions related to Covid-19 have left many vulnerable, but those without reliable shelter are feeling the effects even more. This is a crisis.
Here are the numbers: There are currently over 500 people living in Thunder Bay without reliable shelter for the winter and there are 5 shelters available in town, with a total of 132 beds. This includes the overflow site. There are currently only 4 isolation beds available for people with Covid-19 symptoms.
The city’s shelters try their best to accommodate who they can but there are many instances where people are turned away, whether it be that capacity has been reached, the individual is intoxicated, because they are accessing shelter after the overflow shelter has closed, or because the person has Covid-19 symptoms like a cough or fever. When people are turned away from the shelter system, they are often sent to the hospital, though the hospital generally closes its doors to people seeking a bed or care at night if they are Indigenous, intoxicated, or both.
Before 2020 and the pandemic, there were longstanding gaps in the shelter system in Thunder Bay. This winter they are even worse. Volunteers working with Wiindo Debwe Mosewin often encounter people who have been turned away from a shelter, haven't had a bed to sleep in for days or weeks, and who are left in the freezing cold without any other options.
Our group believes that the only logical, immediate solution is to provide those in need with hotel rooms for a night. This temporary, warm, private shelter may give someone the boost they need to recharge so that they are well enough to take care of themselves the next day.
Sometimes this shelter can mean the difference between life and death.
Our group realizes this is not a sustainable solution. This is a desperate situation, and we cannot wait for the City Government's solutions. With the money we raise in this campaign we will provide 3 hotel rooms per week for individuals who need it, until the end of April. Funds will also be put towards transportation (taxis and rides) and providing the proper PPE.
Our goal is to reach $7,500. Donations will go directly toward those in need. We are an entirely volunteer organization and nobody gets paid for their work.
Any size donation is welcome. If you would like to offer alternative forms of support, we would accept donations of PPE, gas cards, Tim Hortons Gift Cards, Canadian Tire Gift Cards, coats, hats and mitts, and other things that we can distribute. You can drop those donations off (contactless) at Roots to Harvest on December 27 from 1-5pm or contact [email redacted] and in the title write "DONATION". Thank you.
Wiindo Debwe Mosewin (“walking together in truth”) is an Indigenous-led volunteer street patrol in Thunder Bay, which was formerly known as Bear Clan Thunder Bay. They have been active since 2017.
Not One More Death is a new group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who have come together to demand change in a city where Indigenous, poor and marginalized people are subjected to deadly forms of oppression and inequality.
Wiindo Debwe Mosewin and Not One More Death are organizing a fundraiser to provide hotel rooms for those without shelter this winter in Thunder Bay.
Restrictions related to Covid-19 have left many vulnerable, but those without reliable shelter are feeling the effects even more. This is a crisis.
Here are the numbers: There are currently over 500 people living in Thunder Bay without reliable shelter for the winter and there are 5 shelters available in town, with a total of 132 beds. This includes the overflow site. There are currently only 4 isolation beds available for people with Covid-19 symptoms.
The city’s shelters try their best to accommodate who they can but there are many instances where people are turned away, whether it be that capacity has been reached, the individual is intoxicated, because they are accessing shelter after the overflow shelter has closed, or because the person has Covid-19 symptoms like a cough or fever. When people are turned away from the shelter system, they are often sent to the hospital, though the hospital generally closes its doors to people seeking a bed or care at night if they are Indigenous, intoxicated, or both.
Before 2020 and the pandemic, there were longstanding gaps in the shelter system in Thunder Bay. This winter they are even worse. Volunteers working with Wiindo Debwe Mosewin often encounter people who have been turned away from a shelter, haven't had a bed to sleep in for days or weeks, and who are left in the freezing cold without any other options.
Our group believes that the only logical, immediate solution is to provide those in need with hotel rooms for a night. This temporary, warm, private shelter may give someone the boost they need to recharge so that they are well enough to take care of themselves the next day.
Sometimes this shelter can mean the difference between life and death.
Our group realizes this is not a sustainable solution. This is a desperate situation, and we cannot wait for the City Government's solutions. With the money we raise in this campaign we will provide 3 hotel rooms per week for individuals who need it, until the end of April. Funds will also be put towards transportation (taxis and rides) and providing the proper PPE.
Our goal is to reach $7,500. Donations will go directly toward those in need. We are an entirely volunteer organization and nobody gets paid for their work.
Any size donation is welcome. If you would like to offer alternative forms of support, we would accept donations of PPE, gas cards, Tim Hortons Gift Cards, Canadian Tire Gift Cards, coats, hats and mitts, and other things that we can distribute. You can drop those donations off (contactless) at Roots to Harvest on December 27 from 1-5pm or contact [email redacted] and in the title write "DONATION". Thank you.
Wiindo Debwe Mosewin (“walking together in truth”) is an Indigenous-led volunteer street patrol in Thunder Bay, which was formerly known as Bear Clan Thunder Bay. They have been active since 2017.
Not One More Death is a new group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people who have come together to demand change in a city where Indigenous, poor and marginalized people are subjected to deadly forms of oppression and inequality.
Organizer
Debwe Tbay
Organizer
Thunder Bay, ON