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Youth group steps outside to tackle homelessness

If you happen to drive past the Morinville United Church next Saturday and see a group of about 10 young adults camping out in a tent on the church grounds, please stop. They need your help.

If you happen to drive past the Morinville United Church next Saturday and see a group of about 10 young adults camping out in a tent on the church grounds, please stop. They need your help.

The daylong experiential experiment is an object lesson in homelessness for the team. Apart from sleeping on cardboard and learning about how life is for those with limited means, the goal of the project is to help an Edmonton-based charity that has hit some tough times itself lately.

The Youth Emergency Shelter Society provides a multitude of programs and services for homeless and at-risk youth, including educational assistance, life skills and cooking classes among others. Lately, however, YESS has been fighting to stay on top of its budget as the economic crisis has increased public demand but decreased donations at the same time.

At the end of 2009 its administrators threatened to cancel some of its more vital programs if it didn’t receive additional funding.

That’s where the Morinville United Church’s Youth Group comes in. The youth are stepping up and staying outside to better understand the challenges of homelessness and promote the cause to all passersby.

Youth group organizer Valerie Loseth explained they all agreed upon the project after a group discussion revealed homeless had been on their collective minds. The youth conduct a major fundraiser for a different charity each year like Habitat for Humanity and WIN House. YESS was one that they hadn’t yet helped out.

Loseth said she was inspired by the writings of a young Canadian humanitarian.

“I had been reading this book called Me to We by Craig Kielburger,” she began, talking about the founder of Free the Children. “It’s bringing this ‘the world owes me something’ philosophy and changing it into ‘I can give back to the community somehow.’ We were just trying to think of something that we could do that would be age-appropriate.”

So they thought of kids who find themselves in dire circumstances and what happens to them when they have nowhere else to go. Since Morinville doesn’t have a youth shelter, they turned to the Edmonton agency.

The church youth group consists of kids from the ages of 12 to 16. Each member is encouraged to become more socially aware and involved in making a positive difference whether it is locally or globally. They definitely have a lot of energy to give back to the world, something Loseth hopes will help carry them through the one night of staged hardship.

“I don’t know how these kids are going to handle it,” she stated. “I don’t know how I’m going to handle it.”

The kids are excited to take part in the challenge and look forward to a significant public response. “We’re just hoping that people open their hearts,” participant Jared Loseth said.

The youth homelessness awareness and fundraising event takes place from 10 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27 to 10 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 28. All proceeds go to support the Youth Emergency Shelter Society. To learn more about the charity, call 780-468-7070 or visit www.yess.org.

The Morinville United Church is located at 9610 Morinville Drive. Call 780-939-5888 for more information.


Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

About the Author: Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Ecology and Environment Reporter at the Fitzhugh Newspaper since July 2022 under Local Journalism Initiative funding provided by News Media Canada.
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