The Essex County Homelessness Hub received a donation of 65 winter warming kits in Leamington on Monday by a volunteer group based out of Brampton. The Warm Winter Initiative is a not-for-profit organization that’s dedicated to providing supplies to those experiencing homelessness or other dire situations. “Canada is going through a rough economic time and the first things to go usually are the donations,” said Executive Director Jinnie Sahota. “The demand is super high, the resources are low, and so when we are able to pull something together and give it to them, the real happiness for us is just seeing the look on people's faces.” Sahota said the group decided to donate to the Essex County Homelessness Hub after purchasing property in the Harrow area a couple of years ago while also wanting to help the community. The hours at the hub were recently extended to allow an overnight warming centre to open to help the region’s growing homeless population combat frigid winter weather. “Winter is more wet, it’s more slushy, there's a lot of rain,” Sahota explained. “As such, fleece blankets and the traditional sleeping bags don't really cut it because what happens is, if you use the sleeping bag in the puddle, all of a sudden the sleeping bag is wet if it's not that water resistant, then it gets tossed aside.” Each kit is filled with 48 essential items, including personal hygiene products, food, hats, gloves, scarves, and sleeping bags. Sahota continued, “We deviated from the traditional sleeping bags and moved on to the Mylar sleeping bags, which are traditionally used in camping and other things. They keep the heat in, 90 per cent of your heat gets trapped in, so we included a fleece blanket they could put in the Mylar sleeping bag and now you're safe from the water, safe from the elements. Your clothes don't get wet, your blankets don't get wet, and then you're able to kind of dry it off and then roll it up and keep it.” She said plans are in the works to return with more donations, as volunteers prepare more supply bags to distribute, noting everything is possible thanks to donations. “Throughout the year, we also plan to do some women's and children's kits that includes diapers, baby formula, some clothing, and other essential items for women. If people do want to get in touch to give us supplies or put us in contact with suppliers if you have a business that can help us out. You can find us [online] and get in touch and we'll call you,” said Sahota. Leamington Mayor Hilda MacDonald, Deputy Mayor Larry Verbeke, and and Town of Essex Mayor Sherry Bondy were on hand to help Monday morning and were appreciative of the groups’ efforts. “So much of our region is rural, people don't expect to find homelessness, but there is,” MacDonald said. “This is global. It's not peculiar to just Leamington, just Ontario or Canada. This is global and all of us as human beings need to do what we can to help those that are less fortunate.” MacDonald continued, “To see the generosity of organizations all the way from the Brampton area to support our initiative and what we're doing is just amazing,” exclaimed Jeanie Diamond-Francis, community services manager with the County of Essex. According to Diamond-Francis, The Essex County Homelessness Hub opened in September 2022 and saw 350 individuals and over 1,500 unique visits during its first year of operations. Diamond-Francis said, “We are seeing large amounts of people that are experiencing homelessness in the county and to be able to provide them with a kit with all the necessities that they're going to require is just amazing.”
