A Canadian hip-hop artist will be running the entire length of Yonge Street, the longest street in the world, to raise funds and awareness for homelessness. Dillan King, who is known professionally as DillanPonders, will be taking on the 86-kilometre feat on Thursday. He’ll begin at Green Lane in East Gwillimbury, Ont., the street’s northernmost uninterrupted section, and head south to Lake Ontario. Throughout the run, King said he will share updates and facts about homelessness while encouraging people to support organizations making a tangible difference in their communities. One of them is Carol and Crew, which feeds people experiencing homelessness in downtown Toronto every weekend. King volunteers with that self-funded group. King was previously unhoused The lifelong Torontonian, who was previously unhoused for a few years, joined CP24 on Tuesday morning to discuss his motivation for his endurance challenge, which amounts to roughly two simultaneous marathons. “You know, having experienced homelessness about a decade ago now, there were a myriad of complications that came with that reality, but one of the most uncomfortable realities was this feeling of being invisible,” shared King, who is raising funds for the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness. “I just want people to start having conversations about the human beings experiencing this, rather than viewing homelessness as just a part of society that we can’t do anything about.” Two years ago, in the summer of 2024, King ran 100 marathons in 100 days to raise awareness about men’s mental health. He says the two are “one and the same,” sharing that mental health issues are the reason why he became unhoused. “Most people who are experiencing homelessness are also experiencing a lot of mental health issues. … But unfortunately, though this is a systemic problem, people tend to view homelessness as something that just is, not really looking at what can I donate, how can I help?” he told CP24 Breakfast. “I was experiencing addiction and all types of darkness when I was experiencing homelessness, and I was also suicidal in that chapter of my life, so my empathy runs really deep. And no matter how successful I become, I’m going to shed light on things that matter to me.” King, who is the Guinness World Record breaker and holder for the most consecutive weeks releasing an original digital single by a music act, said getting from what he once was to where he is today was a “communal effort,” one that began with “recognizing that I needed help.” “I used to pretend everything was okay, even though it wasn’t. It was way easier to put on that face, like, ‘I’m fine, everything’s okay,’ and I was breaking on the inside,” he said. “So it started with being honest with myself, and that honesty led me to find therapeutic outlets to express myself because expression can negate depression because depression will lead to disintegration. So I started to express myself through writing, creating, and all of the avenues that everyone knows me for now.” ‘An all-encompassing run’ King said his upcoming Yonge Street run at its core is to remind people that we are all one human family and that vulnerability and authenticity are needed to address societal stigmas. “The best writers, the best artists, the best athletes? They are the best because they are authentic, and that authenticity is because they are vulnerable. Vulnerability is strength, and as a man in this society, we are rooting for stoicism while forgetting that we have emotions that need to be addressed,” he said. “So this is an all-encompassing run. It is to ideally aid people in helping to talk about what they can do to help in their community and to just remember that these are human beings out here.”
