Operation Come Home is gearing up for its annual fundraising and awareness-raising event, the Reality Campaign. But this year the event will run for an entire four weeks instead of just one – from Jan. 24 to Feb. 20. – and will incorporate several new events.
The campaign features a series of activities designed to raise awareness about youth homelessness in Ottawa.
Lynda Franc, director of employment, development and technology at OCH, said the organization thought it was important the event run for a full month.
“Years ago we used to do a month-long reality campaign, and unfortunately we lost the resources for a little bit to be able to dedicate the time and the energy to turning it into this big thing,” Franc said. “But a bunch of us sat down…and we said that we wanted to bring it back.”
Every year, the campaign runs during the coldest month of the year. Franc says this is to emphasize the reality of the situation many homeless youth in the city find themselves in.
“It’s just to highlight the importance and the reality that there are people out there who are sleeping out in this weather,” Franc said on a recent bone-chilling day from the agency’s Gloucester Street headquarters. “There are still some people who are sleeping outside even tonight. I mean we have a frostbite warning and we have kids who are sleeping not in a bed tonight, and that’s not right.”
Since 2004, the campaign has featured the event 24 Hours of Homelessness, during which participants who have a cosy home to sleep in live outside for an entire 24 hours to experience the grim challenge faced daily by hundreds of young people in Ottawa.
This year’s event runs from 2 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 28) until 2 p.m. the following day, and takes place outside the Royal Oak at the corner of Bank and Gloucester streets.
Volunteer Rachel Horsley is participating in the 24 Hours of Homelessness event. The fundraiser will be an especially unique experience for Horsley; on Jan. 29, she will be waking up on the street on her 46th birthday. Horsley, senior manager at the United Way Ottawa branch, is one of the 36 participants taking part in the campaign.
“I think it’s going to be pretty humbling,” Horsley said. “My birthday normally is full of all kinds of luxurious treats. I might go out with friends or to the spa, or have a lovely dinner… So I’m pretty delighted to actually instead of be receiving on my birthday, to be turning it around.”
The second event Horsley is participating in is the 24 Buck Challenge, happening Jan. 31 to Feb. 6. After factoring out the costs of all the expenses youths on government assistance are likely to have, they are left with approximately $24 a week for food. The challenge is for event participants to shop for groceries with $24 and make those supplies last them a week.
Another new event added this year is the Poor Chefs Challenge, where professional cooks from around Ottawa will prepare a dish for a panel of judges made with three ingredients and with a total budget of $3.15 — the approximate daily budget for a street-involved youth.
Guest judges for the event include Michael Maidment, executive director at the Ottawa Food Bank, Mike Bulthuis, executive director at the Alliance to End Homelessness, and Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney.
Bulthuis says he thinks extending the campaign to a month-long event is a great idea for raising awareness about youth homelessness in the city.
“I think it serves as a reminder that the community wants to come together and find ways to have that conversation and to raise awareness, so I look forward to another opportunity to help further our collective work around finding solutions and building a community with the will to make these changes,” says Bulthuis.
The campaign ends with a final event called the Great Vice Battle, which happens Feb. 15-20. Participants are asked to give up one habit or integral part of their lives for a week. Whether the sacrifice is coffee, cellphone or a car, this final event brings to light the lack of luxury items homeless youth have access to.
According to Franc, this year’s fundraising goal is set at $12,000. About $2,500 had already been raised through online donations by mid-January.