Students gain first-hand experience of homelessness
Camp outside school for a glimpse of life on capital streets
Roused during the night by alarms, horns and swearing, nine Central Middle School students who camped outside of their school woke up Tuesday with a new understanding of homelessness.
Using cardboard, yoga or inflatable mats, the Grade 8 media and social justice students camped outside their 1280 Fort St. school to gain insights into living on the street.
“I woke up a lot and I didn’t get much sleep, maybe four hours,” said Taro Heinl, 13, whose sleeping bag lay on cardboard on the concrete.
Taro concedes he wore layers of clothing and had the comfort of a roof over his head — the school’s entrance — to protect him. Still, even just the lack of sleep “definitely helped my understanding,” he said.
“Even if it wasn’t exactly the same, it was what it may feel like to be out there every day under those conditions,” said Floyd Scott, 13, who was awoken by someone swearing on the street and checks by security guards.
“It was an interesting experience.”
The idea of the urban outing came from a student, said teacher Alan Barwin and, with safety measures agreed upon, it was a go.
The temperature dipped to 4 C with light rain.
“There’s no delusions that this was anything close to reality, but it gave the kids experience of what it’s like to sleep outside,” Barwin said.
“They can extrapolate from that and think what it would be like if they had no place for a warm breakfast or a place to wash up and get clean.”
In preparation, the students studied homelessness and toured Our Place Society, which provides meals, and health and hygiene services to the homeless. The students also talked to Victoria police and walked Victoria’s downtown streets to talk to people living there and “hear their stories,” Barwin said.
One homeless woman camped in a doorway made an impression on the students as she talked about her struggles with mental health and addiction and why shelters hadn’t worked for her, he said. “The kids got a really deep understanding that, for some people, there is no other option.”
The students learned how challenges such alcohol or drug abuse, health challenges, trauma, family conflicts and poverty can lead to a person living on the street.
“I’m hoping it gives the kids an understanding of the broad factors at play and, absolutely, empathy,” Barwin said.
The media and social justice students have also signed up to join 120 other communities in Canada walking in this year’s Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser on Feb. 24.
During this all-ages event, families and individuals walk through the streets of Victoria to raise money for the “hungry, the homeless or those hurting.”
This year, people can support the Mustard Seed Street Church, 625 Queens Ave., which operates Vancouver Island’s largest food bank, or Our Place, 919 Pandora Ave., which serves individuals affected by poverty and homelessness.
The family-friendly sidewalk walks both start and end at their individual locations at 5:15 p.m.
The routes comprise two-, five-, or 10-kilometre distances and close down at 8 p.m. with light warm meals served up until that time. The night also includes music, food, entertainment and prizes.
Information about the event, including online registration, maps and donation amounts, can be found at: cnoy.org/location/victoria and cnoy.org/location/victoria2.