5 Days For The Homeless @5daysVancouver (March 11-16th, 2012)
As a faculty member at UBC, I make an effort to support students’ initiatives (regardless of whether any of my current or former students are involved, but even more so when they are). One of the campaigns that touched my heart the most in recent years is 5 Days For The Homeless, which in Vancouver will take place from March 11th trough the 16th.
Five Days for The Homeless was founded as a local initiative by University of Alberta School of Business students. This initiative, after running very successfully for a number of years on the Edmonton campus at the University of Alberta, was taken national in 2008. To date, the campaign has raised over $750,000 for charitable organizations across the country and has spread its message from coast to coast.
The UBC team is fundraising for the Directions Youth Centre, and you can donate here.
Directions Youth Services Centre, operated by Family Services of Greater Vancouver, provides Vancouver’s homeless youth and youth at-risk with a single entry point to access the tools, support, and guidance they so desperately need to go about making healthy, positive changes in their lives. Directions strives to be accessible to all youth, regardless of their circumstances and fosters a culture of respect. Directions Youth Services Centre is working closely with the community to develop solutions to end youth homelessness in Vancouver and to change the community’s perception of street-involved youth.
THE SERVANT’S OF HOPE SOCIETY
The Servants of Hope Society is a faith based men’s recovery house located on the east side of Vancouver. Founded by Sean in 2004 with a vision of men helping men through servitude and the overcoming of addiction. As unconventional as it sounds there has been a very good success rate for the house.
After spending 30 years struggling with addiction, never finding the answers to recovery, living in depravation, hitting bottom after bottom, hopeless and never thinking my life would change, I found faith through the help that I received from strangers and the kind acts that they showed. After 2 years of sobriety I felt that the only way to continue in my sobriety was to give back to others in need. The house has now been open and active for the last 8 years. On April 4 th 2012 I will be clean and sober for ten years
Bringing the message of hope and recovery to the Downtown Eastside. The success of the last 6 years of outreach involved HUNDREDREDS of people getting together with minimal financial and material support. We were still able to feed and meet the needs of over ONE THOUSAND people THIS year. The majority of the people involved with helping this cause had a history of substance abuse and a high percentage of those people came from the Downtown East side
The Servants of Hope is a non profit charity that has been helping the people of Vancouver’s downtown east side for the past 6 years. Alongside hot meals and warm coats they serve up a sense of hope and a chance at a new life. Below is a video link from Christmas 2012 over one hundred people came together to feed the homeless and do outreach we served over one thousand people that night
http://vimeo.com/38616528