Coldest Night walk raises awareness in Norfolk
- Jan 28
- 3 min read
Leah Bauer
Advocate Contributor
As the cost of living continues to rise across Canada, more people in Norfolk County are finding themselves struggling with homelessness and food insecurity. This growing reality is what drives the annual Coldest Night of the Year walk, an event that aims to raise awareness and support for the most vulnerable members of the community.
This growth in vulnerable people is something that Dan Avey noted as he discussed this year’s Coldest Night walk on Feb. 28. Avey is a Waterford native and a youth minister who has been working with young people for decades.
“We are in our seventh year of running Coldest Night here in Simcoe. We have seen the issue of the hurting homeless and hungry in this community rise over the last number of years,” said Avey. “Coldest Night is a part of the awareness component helping people to be aware that we have a lot of hurting homeless and hungry in this community.”
Homelessness awareness is a big motivation for why Avey works so hard to organize this event every year. The event is meant to draw people’s attention back to those who are less fortunate in our community. The 2026 walk is on Feb. 28, starting at 4 p.m. See https://cnoy.org/locations/Simcoe for more information on how to participate, donate, or volunteer.
The walk itself is no small feat, but it is an important night, as it starts conversation and raises awareness about housing and food insecurity.
“The walk starts at McDonald's. We will go up to the Superstore, then cross the street and come back down Queensway to Wendy's. After that we will move downtown, and the turnaround is Kingfisher Cafe. Then we're going to go up to Colborne Street. We will pass by the Youth Unlimited buildings and then head back up to the starting point of McDonald’s.”
The main purpose of the Coldest Night walk in downtown Simcoe is to raise awareness, but the second aspect of the walk is to raise money for Teen Link. Teen Link is a program run by Dan and his wife Suzanne. Suzanne and Dan combined their skills to launch Teen Link, which is a product of Dan’s many years working as a youth minister, and Suzanne’s work as a therapist.
The Teenlink program begins on Feb. 5, and runs for eight weeks with the participants meeting every Thursday night from 6-9 p.m. The program is open for any young person from Grade 8 to Grade 12. It is a great way to meet friends, and learn about various aspects of safety, mental health, and relationships in an open environment.
Dan remarked, “So a lot of what we do here is kind of the prevention, the early intervention as well.”
Teen Link focuses on prepping teens with a toolkit of skills and knowledge so that they are able to break cycles of abuse, learn about mental health, and leadership as they navigate their teens. There is a $50 fee associated with registration for this program which helps to cover the cost of the professionals and instructors who come in to educate the youth. Interested people can register at https://yfcnorfolk.com/teenlinknew/
Money raised from the Coldest Night event on Feb. 28 will help to run Youth Unlimited’s Teenlink program, which works to educate teens in our community about suicide, abusive relationships, and mental health. Support the cause and join the walk!
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