As a class we have been learning about our homeless population in Winnipeg.  There has been an increase of homeless men and women seen on Main and Chief Peguis Trail.  After studying our Unit, we came up with a plan to help.  We created grooming kits for Siloam Mission and filled them with toiletries.  The project took 2 weeks of students cutting fabric, inserting zippers and filling the bags. On all period day we had the opportunity to take them to Siloam Mission.  The field trip was very humbling and we were educated on why homelessness happens in our city.  There are many levels of reasons why people our homeless in our society but the biggest reason is as a society we suffer from “Broken Heart Poverty”.

Reflection by a grade 12 student:

Spending today learning about Siloam Mission and how they help homeless people opened my eyes to everything else that people need, not just financial support. I’ve always been interested in helping at the shelter and I’ve have donated my Halloween Candy, clothes when we can. Behind the scenes of Siloam was very interesting to me. I was surprised at not only there concern for their immediate needs but also how they really try to give them a better quality of life and things to look forward to. I appreciate how they care to actually put them on the right path and put in an effort to help them feel worthy of a good life again. I learned that not only do they help clothe them they also feed them with over 1500 meals a day. They also give them a place to sleep and they set them up to transition to a better life. I will always remember from this experience was the level of failure that was explained and how this can happen in our society. It really put into perspective for me how everything that may so go wrong in life adds on a much bigger issue for someone that is not connected to a family and have support. Its easy for us to assume they just aren’t trying to do anything good for themselves. Its not that simple. It also stuck with me when we learned that Winnipeg has “broken heart poverty, explaining how it stems from something deeper than just not having money. It stems from broken families or no contact with friends, when we are weak and make bad decisions we are vulnerable if we don’t have people to protect us it gets really tough!