Multicultural Association of Perth Huron collecting sleeping bags and blankets for area homeless

The Multicultural Association of Perth Huron recently announced it will be collecting and distributing sleeping bags and blankets to unhoused residents of Stratford and St. Marys this winter. Pictured from left are association volunteer Jama Salat, co-op student Emre Koch, executive director Geza Wordofa, volunteer Mohammad Zoba, Stratford Police Chief Greg Skinner and volunteer Hira Dhariwal.

The Multicultural Association of Perth Huron (MAPH) recently announced it has begun collecting sleeping bags, blankets and financial donations to help keep unhoused residents of Stratford and St. Marys warm over the winter in lieu of a permanent homeless shelter.

Following an unsuccessful bid by MAPH executive director and Stratford city Coun. Geza Wordofa to have the City of Stratford establish a permanent homeless shelter for men either at the Stratford Rotary Complex or another location in the city, Wordofa announced on Oct. 3 that the multicultural association and its volunteers – many of whom are newcomers – would be making this small effort to support those at their most vulnerable as the weather turns colder.

“As a small first step, the multicultural association has started handing out blankets and sleeping bags,” Wordofa said. “This is only a stop-gap measure, but it is a start. The city is doing a wonderful job – (social) services, the housing department – and that’s very necessary. A homeless shelter would be a place to go to sleep. … This is a human right because they have a right to live.”

Wordofa was joined for the Oct. 3 announcement at the association’s Stratford office in the Falstaff Family Centre by several of his volunteers, some of whom told local media they felt compelled to assist MAPH with its efforts to support local homeless after the community helped them resettle in Stratford and the surrounding area when they first arrived in Canada.

“They need help with food, with money, with sleeping bags, clothes,” said Mohammad Zoba, who immigrated to Canada with his family as refugees from Syria. “… The community helped us with everything when we came (to Canada). When I came, the church group sponsored us. After one year of help, I have my business now, my son is going to college to be a mechanic, my other son wants to start a design business. I love Canada. That’s why I give back.”

“I’m 16 years old right now; when I was about a year-and-a-half, my parents came to Canada to start a new life,” added Emre Koch, a Stratford District Secondary School co-op student working with MAPH who immigrated to Canada with his family from Turkey. “I was taken in by my aunt to live with her, so without her, I would have been homeless for a little while until my parents could get on their feet. I just want to say it’s a really awful thing, a really bad thing. People will sometimes judge them for no reason, but no one really knows what is going on with them. … I think it would be good just to help out in whatever way you can, even if it’s just a couple dollars. Obviously, with the sleeping bags, that would be nice too. Just give whatever you can; show appreciation for these people.”

Police Chief Greg Skinner was also in attendance for the multicultural association’s announcement, speaking at length about the complexity involved in addressing each of the barriers a person might be facing in securing and retaining permanent housing. Whether those barriers are mental health, addictions or difficulty finding stable employment, he said the Stratford Police Service’s role is not to arrest those experiencing homelessness locally, but to support the local social-services agencies that work every day to help the community’s most vulnerable.

“We have to find solutions for people to be housed long term, not just on an emergency basis,” Skinner said. “ … I recognize that the politicians and social services and Canadian Mental Health Association are making their best efforts to do what they can, and we’re coming together to work as a team, but these are very complex issues and, as a result, they are going to take a lot of time and effort and resources to be able to find the solutions that help the most people who are the most vulnerable.

“So, I applaud what this group is doing. People come to this country and they want to have new beginnings, they want to be safe and secure, they want to be able to provide for themselves and their families, they want to be able to start a new life, and those are all good things. You’ve got great examples here today of people who are doing that, and I am proud to be part of a country that embraces people from other countries … to come here and start again, to be able to contribute to Canada and become Canadian.”

Wordofa said MAPH will distribute sleeping bags and blankets as needed, either based on requests made directly to MAPH by calling 1-888-308-6274 or emailing info@maph.ca, or through those agencies that work on the frontlines of the housing crisis like the Stratford Police Service, Stratford social services and other local service providers.

To support this initiative, MAPH is accepting monetary donations in the form of e-transfer, cheque or bank draft, as well as donations of new sleeping bags and blankets. To arrange a donation, email info@maph.ca. Those who donate will be eligible for a charitable tax receipt.