SFU Raises Awareness About Youth Homelessness

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Youth Homelessness

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The rate of people without a home in Vancouver, BC has been on a staggering rise ever since the issue first caught the attention of the province in 1994 ( CBC News, 2009).  The number of homeless youth has also been on the constant rise. It has been reported that “youth homelessness [has been] becoming a larger problem by the year in the Lower Mainland, with current estimates of 1,000 youth living on the streets at any given moment” ( Lau, 2009). Now that the 2010 Olympics is lurking right around the corner, the issue of homeless youth has managed to capture the attention of not only the province and various other professional figures but also the ordinary citizens of Vancouver, including the students of Simon Fraser University (SFU).

On February 28, a group of fifty SFU students have spent twenty-four hours on the streets. The goal of their campaign “Sleep for the Streets” was to raise money for the Convenant House and awareness of the youth homelessness. The organizers of this event, senior SFU students Garett Senez and Julian Legazpi, claim that the birth of this idea came after they had achieved success in creating a simulated homeless camp at SFU Burnaby campus.

During the event, fifty volunteer students have spent the entire day and night in the cold streets of Downtown, without any comfort taken for granted in daily lives: food, shelter, and electronic devices. The students only bore simple clothing and a blanket for warmth. With absolutely no form of any income, they completely depended on the kindheartedness of the other people to provide them food or drinks (Lau, 2009).

This organized event has turned out to be quite a success. The “Sleep for the Streets” campaign and the event itself has received quite an in-depth coverage in the press, talk shows, and local news, helping raise awareness of the important issue concerning homeless youth in Vancouver. The volunteers have also managed to collect $5,789.25 to date (NoHome.ca, 2009). All of this money is going to be given to Convenant House, a place that offers support to young people, ages 16 to 24, that have escaped from violence and abuse and those who have been forced to leave their homes (Convenant House, 2009).  

                                               References:

BC lacks clear homeless strategy: AG’s report. (2009, March 5). CBCNews.ca.

      Retrieved March 6, 2009 from http://www.cbc.ca/canada/britishcolumbia/story/

      2009/03/05/bc-homelessness-strategy-auditor-general-report.html.

Convenant House Vancouver. Home page. Retrieved March 9, 2009 from

      http://www.covenanthousebc.org/home.

Lau, Alfie. (2009, February 25). SFU Students spend time on the streets. BurnabyNow.

      Retrieved March 5,2009 from http://www2.canada.com/burnabynow/news/

      story.html?id=a4f65ca7-8412-4779-bb6e-8a8dcf71f096.

Miki. (2008, February 13). Homeless Youth. UrbanMinistry.org. Retrieved March 9,

      2009 from http://www.urbanministry.org/homeless-youth.

NoHome. Home page. Retrieved March 6, 2009 from

      http://www.sfubiz.ca/sma/nohome09/.

The Easy Way Outs. (2008, February 14). UThink. Retrieved March 10, 2009 from

      http://blog.lib.umn.edu/watso425/architecture/.

WalkingHome 2008. Why We Walk page. Retrieved March 10, 2009 form

      http://www.walkinghome.ca/why_we_walk.html.