City of Sleeping Bags is a project aimed at raising money to purchase and distribute 100 sleeping bags to the homeless in Toronto.
As frosty weather descends on the city and snow covers the streets, thousands of homeless Torontonians spend their nights hovering over heated grates and shivering in doorways. They are stuck looking for a place to stay because shelters are packed, or their pride keeps them from seeking help.
But a group of Toronto students are hoping to change that by bringing a little warmth to the city’s homeless.
Ryerson University students Katharine Heng and Jane Mathias, along with University of Toronto student Josephine Mathias, have launched City of Sleeping Bags— a project aimed at raising money to purchase and distribute 100 sleeping bags to the homeless.
The idea, the girls say, came one evening when Katharine and Jane spotted a man quivering under just a jacket as they were leaving a business competition they were entered in.
“We thought we should do something to help him, but we didn’t have the money to do anything,” Jane told the Star. The girls put their heads together with Jane’s twin sister, Josephine, and realized that some sleeping bags could really make a difference.
Within 24 hours, they started fundraising for the sleeping bags on crowdfunding website, Indiegogo. So far they have collected about $3,000 in donations. Another $2,000 will give them enough money to purchase 100 portable, waterproof sleeping bags with detachable blankets for cool summer nights.
“We need all the help that we can get and it’s getting cold fast,” said Josephine, noting that Monday’s forecast was calling for a snowstorm. “There are a few homeless people who have died freezing to death this year. We can’t just leave them alone and say, ‘whatever, they are ill.’ We have to at least try to do our part and raise awareness.”
After sleeping bags, the students will turn their efforts to backpacks. The backpacks will be stuffed with hand warmers, gloves, blankets and Tim Hortons giftcards — all items that a homeless couple on the street recently told Josephine they would appreciate.
Cathy Crowe, a street nurse advocating for homeless rights and safety since 1988, said she has been involved with collecting more than 30,000 sleeping bags through various organizations over the last couple of decades.
Though she supports helping the homeless and calls sleeping bags distributed to the homeless “lifesaving,” she warned that “the average life of a sleeping bag is about two to three days on the street, so while this may sound like a really wonderful initiative, it is very much a band-aid solution.”
Crowe said sleeping bags are easily stolen, often not waterproof and sometimes left on the street. She suggested the students partner with community organizations to encourage those who receive their sleeping bags to seek support from shelters and health centres.
With the city’s budget up for review and a federal election on the horizon, Crowe also recommended activists push politicians to support movements for more shelter beds, the opening of additional warming centres during extreme cold weather and affordable housing.
“That is way more valuable in the long-term and it can make a difference for homeless people,” she said. “It’s all about community support.”
As frosty weather descends on the city and snow covers the streets, thousands of homeless Torontonians spend their nights hovering over heated grates and shivering in doorways. They are stuck looking for a place to stay because shelters are packed, or their pride keeps them from seeking help.
But a group of Toronto students are hoping to change that by bringing a little warmth to the city’s homeless.
Ryerson University students Katharine Heng and Jane Mathias, along with University of Toronto student Josephine Mathias, have launched City of Sleeping Bags— a project aimed at raising money to purchase and distribute 100 sleeping bags to the homeless.
The idea, the girls say, came one evening when Katharine and Jane spotted a man quivering under just a jacket as they were leaving a business competition they were entered in.
“We thought we should do something to help him, but we didn’t have the money to do anything,” Jane told the Star. The girls put their heads together with Jane’s twin sister, Josephine, and realized that some sleeping bags could really make a difference.
Within 24 hours, they started fundraising for the sleeping bags on crowdfunding website, Indiegogo. So far they have collected about $3,000 in donations. Another $2,000 will give them enough money to purchase 100 portable, waterproof sleeping bags with detachable blankets for cool summer nights.
“We need all the help that we can get and it’s getting cold fast,” said Josephine, noting that Monday’s forecast was calling for a snowstorm. “There are a few homeless people who have died freezing to death this year. We can’t just leave them alone and say, ‘whatever, they are ill.’ We have to at least try to do our part and raise awareness.”
After sleeping bags, the students will turn their efforts to backpacks. The backpacks will be stuffed with hand warmers, gloves, blankets and Tim Hortons giftcards — all items that a homeless couple on the street recently told Josephine they would appreciate.
Cathy Crowe, a street nurse advocating for homeless rights and safety since 1988, said she has been involved with collecting more than 30,000 sleeping bags through various organizations over the last couple of decades.
Though she supports helping the homeless and calls sleeping bags distributed to the homeless “lifesaving,” she warned that “the average life of a sleeping bag is about two to three days on the street, so while this may sound like a really wonderful initiative, it is very much a band-aid solution.”
Crowe said sleeping bags are easily stolen, often not waterproof and sometimes left on the street. She suggested the students partner with community organizations to encourage those who receive their sleeping bags to seek support from shelters and health centres.
With the city’s budget up for review and a federal election on the horizon, Crowe also recommended activists push politicians to support movements for more shelter beds, the opening of additional warming centres during extreme cold weather and affordable housing.
“That is way more valuable in the long-term and it can make a difference for homeless people,” she said. “It’s all about community support.”