The event was an opportunity for church and community members to hear the lived experiences of the homeless.

For example, Joe Hatch, a former homeless person, recalled his experience, which he said was far from pleasant.

As far as staying on the street, that’s no place for a human he testifies. There is so much deprivation and there are no human rights Joe Hatch continues, adding that he walked for hours just to survive.

Sleeping in a park is not legal, even during the day it is not allowed to sleep in a park.

Organizing committee member Debby Lake said the issue of homelessness is close to the heart of the church, which has organized a food drive to help the homeless for more than 25 years.

We know this is just a drop in the bucket of what needs to be done to ensure people get help She says.

That’s definitely not enough, so we really wanted to educate ourselves to be able to do a better job. We plan to do more advocacy and testimonials.

Several speakers at the event were part of a study on homelessness called “At Home/Chez Soi” conducted by the Mental Health Commission of Canada in several cities: Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Moncton.

The study hypothesized that people need housing as a first step in addressing other issues related to homelessness.

About half of the people [du projet] got housing, the other half didn’t… I was one of the people who got housing informs Joe Hatch.

As provincial elections approached this fall, the church intends to hold another event to highlight the issue and urge political parties to make commitments.

These are social and community issues and there is no easy fix, but we need to start prioritizing these issues and making sure the money is there for the things that work.argues Debby Lake.

With information from Stephanie Cram