Streets Alive seeking warm clothes for the city’s homeless
With colder temperatures here, Streets Alive Mission is in urgent need of adult-sized gloves, toques, scarfs, winter coats and warm footwear, particularly for men.
Their annual Winter Essentials Donation Drive is in full swing, and any help for those less fortunate would be greatly appreciated.
Last year, the mission provided over 1,069 emergency food hampers, 5,811 full sets of clothes and 860 winter coats but are still struggling to help people they serve in the winter months.
Serving 75 per night, and up to 125 people on hot meal night, Streets Alive brings hope to those who feel they have none.
Some of the programs the mission offers is People In Need (PIN), daily feeding program, and the Trusteeship program. These programs are provided by generous donations of community supports and teams of committed volunteers. No government funding is used for mission programs.
Streets Alive began in 1989, when three women — a saleswoman, a summer city employee and a pastor’s wife — took it upon themselves to be a beacon of light to those in very dark times.
Julie Kissick, director of Streets Alive Mission, says the people who come in are always grateful for the items. Anything people need, they just have to come into the mission, ask and they’ll receive them.
“We have to understand that people like street people, homeless people or the working poor people, they are a part of our community, and as a community we pull together and help each other,” Kissick said.
Providing the basic essentials of life is necessary for everyone regardless of the situation they are in.
“We just need citizens to recognize that people need help, and we don’t judge them. We don’t judge what kind of help they need, we just give them help,” Kissick said.
Among the items needed, the mission is looking for donations of socks, jeans for men, standard leggings for women, and hoodies and vests for layering. The clothing drive will run until next month but the mission will run other drives again if there are specific items needed.