Giving shelter

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This article was published 07/03/2022 (1472 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the sixth consecutive year, a local social justice organization is helping Winnipeggers experiencing homelessness rest a little easier during the coldest months of the year.

Just a Warm Sleep is an emergency warming centre that provides nighttime shelter for up to 30 people from mid-December until the end of March. A program of 1JustCity, Just a Warm Sleep is open to guests from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. every day. It is located at the Oak Table drop-in centre (107 Pulford St.).

About 20 volunteers help keep the program running. Retired social worker Clark Brownlee got involved four years ago, because he is interested in assisting people who are experiencing poverty.

“I said, you know, I’m sitting around, retired, not wanting for anything, living with my dear wife — why don’t I offer to help out?” the 79-year-old River Heights resident recalls.

Rebecca Froese started volunteering at Just a Warm Sleep in September. As a first-year medical student at the University of Manitoba, Froese is required to do volunteer work. The West Broadway resident, who is originally from Steinbach, chose Just a Warm Sleep from a list of 25 options.

“I’ve been living in this area since I moved into the city and it was important for me to be in my home community for volunteering,” says Froese, 32. “I think it’s a really needed service in the city. It feels like we’re providing a really fundamental thing.”

Volunteers lay out sleeping mats, welcome guests and hand out hot meals. They also co-ordinate the showers and laundry machines guests have access to, and help keep the facilities clean.

For Froese, interacting with the guests during intake hours is meaningful.

“One fellow had a sketchbook with him and let me look through it, and we talked about the art he was making,” she says. “It’s just nice to see what people are up to and get to know what people are enthusiastic about.”

Brownlee feels the same way.

“If they’re looking like they might like to chat, I pull up a stool,” he says. “I enjoy talking to people and listening to their stories.

“Most of us don’t have that opportunity to talk to people experiencing homelessness, and that’s why I value that opportunity,” he adds. “These are just people like anybody else. They have the same issues, they feel the same feelings. They are amazingly strong.”

Volunteers are invaluable to Just a Warm Sleep, says Harvey Heather, volunteer co-ordinator at Oak Table.

“Without volunteers, we simply couldn’t serve the guests the way we have over the past couple years,” he says. “We are indebted to our volunteers and our donors as we work to make sure the folks in Winnipeg have what they need to survive and hopefully thrive.”

Brownlee doesn’t consider the two hours he spends at Just a Warm Sleep each week to be anything special.

“People come in, quietly pick up their dinner, go find their mat and sit down,” he says. “By 10 o’clock, I’m headed home. It’s not a big deal, you know?”

If you know a special volunteer, please contact aaron.epp@gmail.com