'These deaths will be on our hands': Advocates for unsheltered say winter supplies urgently needed

Critical need for winter clothes Winter coats and shoes are needed for those living outdoors. Jeff Pickel has more on the urgent call for donations.

Outreach workers are issuing an urgent plea for donations of winter supplies – warning that without them, people living outdoors in Waterloo Region could die this winter.

“We are freezing and winter hasn’t even actually hit,” says Heidi, who’s been living rough in Cambridge for the last two months.

For people like her, cold isn’t just uncomfortable, it could be fatal.

“It's like when you're outside in the cold and your feet get wet and you go inside and you’ve got to have that hot shower to warm up your bones because nothing is getting you warm. That's what it's like on a constant,” she says.

“You're just not getting warm. You're cold. You're just shivering from the inside out because of how cold it is.”

Heidi is facing what could be her first winter in a tent.

“It’s all about survival. I'm new to this, I don't have the first clue what to do –- I really don't and that’s the God's honest truth.”

Like many others, she lacks the necessary supplies.

“We don't have the proper winter wear, we don't have proper boots, proper coats. We don't have nothing.”

CALL FOR DONATIONS

Groups like the Unsheltered Campaign are trying to help, but say they are in desperate need of items like tents, thick blankets, thermal clothing and emergency blankets.

“If we do not act immediately, to get emergency response measures and supplies out to these individuals, these deaths will be on our hands,” says Unsheltered Campaign organizer Regan Sunshine Brusse.

“We are going to be standing by and witnessing people who are going to lose digits, fingers, toes to frostbite –- people who are literally at risk of death.”

The donations Brusse gathers go directly to people living in encampments scattered across the region.

She’s is asking for help from the community, but also demanding action from municipal leaders.

'THEY NEED TO BE HOUSED'

While there’s an acute need for supplies, advocates say the long-term solution isn’t winter boots or a sleeping bag – it’s getting people indoors for good.

“Are we just going to sit by and watch,” Brusse questions. “Or are going to move and start taking some action?”

Earlier this week, Waterloo regional council approved a motion to look at opening a second hybrid shelter like the one on Erbs Road in Waterloo.

Although some on council questioned the concept and effectiveness of the tiny home model, Coun. Jim Erb and others support it.

“The primary concern for me is keeping people safe,” Erb says.

“We can't we can't afford not to do it. People don't deserve to live in a tent at the corner of some busy intersection. They need to be housed.”

Given the choice, Heidi says she would gladly take a tiny home.

“Absolutely,” she says. “I’m not going to freeze to death and it’s definitely a safer place to sleep than in a tent.”