The end is in sight and it is amazing how much energy it is now taking me just to make it through the day. Last night, I went to my floor hockey game and felt like I got run over by a train. We still won (go Golden Girls!) but I was pretty wiped by the end. You would think that I would have been able to sleep well after that, but no. Sleeping on the ground in the wind is awful. I just think about my bed all night. I have added some bubble wrap we found to be a mattress. This really didn’t help. Even me with my energy of 10 people cannot keep this up much longer.

This experience has really made me realize that we should not be so quick to judge people on the street. It is easy to say that the job market is good, there is no reason to be homeless blah blah. But the cycle is hard to break. When you are cold, tired, and hungry, that is all you can think about. You are certainly not thinking about trying to get out, you are just trying to get warm. I was half-asleep in my classes today and am quite sure I failed my audit quiz (I don’t fail things normally), so how can we expect people to think and learn when they have not eaten or slept? I really hope that people are getting the message about the issue of youth homelessness.

Thank you 100 times to Kelly for helping me wash my hair in the sink last night. I could have cried it was so glorious. Thank you to everyone who has brought donations of food and clothing (and money). Let’s see a strong finish.

Please join us tomorrow night for the first supper and wrap-up event at the Double Deuce. We are going to eat supper at 6:30 and the beer night starts at 7. $10 gets you the beer night and a free pass on the MSS 3-legged pubcrawl. See you there. 

Well I was officially homeless for a night.Boy was it tougher than I thought. *Note to anyone out there going homeless for the cause… bring a toque, and a sleeping bag, and THICK socks, and warm shoes. All of which I forgot. Made for a lot less sleep than I had hoped, but I survived. I needed to walk every couple hours cause sleeping on concrete can wreak havoc on your hips and back, but a brief walk was all I needed to get comfy again. Thanks to the 5 Days crew for bringing out some cardboard to soften up the cement a little.What a great bunch of people I met out there! It’s amazing how much the little things mean when you have nothing to do all night. Riddles, games, stories, some guy came and sang us a lullaby (amazing voice!). Even a few friends (Raj, John & Liana) came by to visit and donate some money and bring food (the whole group split the Big Mac Raj brought). John and Liana brought us some tea to put us to sleep. Thank you thank you.So was it tough? Yes! Did friends and fellowship make it easier? MUCH. Would I do it again? Yes. Kind of opens your eyes to someone else’s world…. and the more everyone understands each other, the more we can fix the things that are broken in our community.Kudos to you hardcores that are doing it for 5 nights straight. If any massage therapists are out there, stop by one morning and help these people work out their kinks. And to those who can’t experience it first hand, please support 5 Days For The Homeless. It’s a cause that deserves our attention, our support and our heart.T-BoneProducer of the Joe Blow Radio Show on C95.

This may be a bit of a rant and for that I make no apology.

We have just come in from our 3rd night outside and it hardly seems that we are over 1/2 way done our campaign. Today I feel sad and upset. It might be due to over tiredness and it might be from other things too.

Just to clear some things up for some people that have been asking. Yes, I realize that simulating for 5 days what an actual homeless person goes through does not even begin to scratch the surface of their lives. I know that we have been very lucky to have friends and professors bring us snacks. We do know that normally homeless people are not so lucky. And yes we realize that if a true homeless person were to try and sleep on campus, they would not stay long before campus security got rid of them. I am not pretending that I even come close to understanding the pain and suffering that these people feel. I am able to stay inside and go to my classes during the day and I am able to get through the hard times  by knowing that on Friday night my bed and I will be reunited.

I realize that what I have that a homeless person doesn’t is a support system. I would be a basket case by now if it wasn’t for my friends, the other participants, and our great organizational committee. For those of you not believing in our cause, I do know how lucky I really am as a “pretend” homeless person. we may be “playing” at being homeless, but it certainly doesn’t feel like fun when it is raining at 4am and you feel so vulnerable out in the open. As for being fed and supported, I believe that if these people are taking the time to support us, they are obviously becoming more aware of the issue of youth homelessness, and that is one of our main goals.

It is your decision to scorn and ignore us. You can avert your eyes and keep your hands in your pocket. Your non-committal grunt when I ask you if you have heard about our campaign will not deter me. I know that I am only a “pretend” homeless person. I pray that I never find myself as a real homeless person. But instead of ignoring the fact that there are 6400 homeless people in Stoon, I am chosing to confront it head on. By supporting EGADZ, youth in our community are provided with the tools of empowerment and self-healing. Through this, they can break the cycle of distruction and grow their self-esteem. I know we cannot help everyone, but at least we are doing something instead of pretending not to see it and making it someone else’s problem.

And that is all.

Sometimes in life, there are things that really get you down. Like feeling dirty and wanting to shower and its only Tuesday. But then there are heroes in life too, like Roxanne who brought us each a pair of clean socks. Bliss in a bundle of cotton I am telling you!

Yesterday was a great day for Sasky. Our dean, Grant Isaacs has agreed to donate $500 if we raise that much from students. Then Gord and Maureen Haddock, 2 prominent memebrs of the Stoon business community also promised $500. And to top it all off, Ted Hanlin and family also gave $500. So now greasy hair seems like no big deal.

Also a special thanks to Mardell for the great muffins, Sarah for the granola, and Kelly for the yogurt and juice. After that terrible sleep last night, that was very welcome. Here I come Day 2!

Well, first night has come and gone and I actually got a surprising amount of sleep. I was pretty toasty, my feet got cold when I (of course!) managed to lose my socks in the middle of the night.

Yesterday was very busy getting set up, having a few interviews, and eating our last meals. When we all went to sleep, Reem entertained us with her riddles and Marc L entertained us with his sleeping bag antics. Sometime in the night during my half sleep, I realized that I was scared about rats for some reason. I have never even seen a rat, but was quite convinced there could be some lurking around our site. Then I calmed myself by realizing that people living on the streets deal with rats, mice, bugs, and all kinds of things. I can handle this, I think. This morning we were treated to some warm beverages and a lot of interested people, so that is great. The bracelets are getting a lot of attention.

I would like to thank some of our awesome new sponsors: Canadian Tire for the sleeping bags, Wal-mart for the water, Downtown Dental for the dental hygene items(so awesome!!) and Sobey’s for the gift cards.

Back to class,

Shannon

Well here we are, just under 4 days until the beginning on Sunday. It has been a super busy last couple of days trying to get all the preparations done. Shout out to the committee who has really stepped it up a notch in the last few days. We are going to need to pull together even more for the event in order to make it the biggest success possible.

It is also sad as lots of the people on our committee are heading to Roundable in Edmonton this week, so we will be missing them while we do our prep work this weekend. I am super duper excited for this event but also pretty stressed out. It is Grad banquet this weekend so I have family coming and a whole other set of responsibility with the grad committee. Plus I have a group case due on Monday that we need to get done. Always so much to do!

Even though the event hasn’t started yet, there is a lot of buzz in the community. Yesterday, Reem, Roxanne (our project manager) and I were interview on CBC morning radio. It was very exciting and really made me proud of what we are doing.

I would like to thank our sponsors so  far:  Areva Resources ($1000 and toques)

Deloitte: sleeping bags and toques

Saskatoon Affinity Credit Union: our community donation stations!

Thank you so much for having faith in us!

Too much to do so I had better get back to it!