A man surveys the shoes at the shoe booth, at Surrey Urban Mission, Oct. 16. Many volunteers and charities came out to reach the city’s homeless community on Surrey Connect Day. KPUPHOTOS/Sheetal Reddy
Residents and the homeless gathered Wednesday morning Oct. 16 at Whalley’s seventh annual Surrey Connect. The event was hosted by Surrey Homelessness and Housing Taskforce at Surrey Urban Mission and was one of the many events held throughout the Greater Vancouver region as part of Homelessness Action Week.
The day started with the Surrey Lions and Surrey Firefighters serving breakfast to the city’s homeless.
Local charities, including Night Shift, Semiahmoo Animal League (SALI), Youth Unlimited and Servants Anonymous Society (SAS), took advantage of the opportunity to reach out to the city’s homeless.
“It’s nice to have people who are all in one place, who offer different services so people can come,” said Jonquil Hallgate, executive director of Surrey Urban Mission.
“When you live in poverty, some of the challenges are transportation and mobility, so being able to do something and host it all in one place, so that everybody’s here, enables people to see stuff that they haven’t seen. Or connect to people that they haven’t connected to.”
Guests were offered a range of services including personal care, veterinary examinations, counselling and vaccinations. Items such as clothing, shoes and pet food were also handed out. People who brought pets with them were also allowed to have them bathed by SALI volunteers.
It’s not just the homeless that need the community support. Many of the people who attended, such as Sean Lalor, are not homeless but neither are they well off. Lalor was a carpenter until he injured his back. Now he lives with his friends and family, but still struggles to meet day-to-day expenses.
“I just came for the running shoes,” he said. “I just came out of the hospital with a foot infection.”
His story is a common one. Another patron, Lawrence Todasco, is a regular visitor to Surrey Urban Mission. He comes for the hot meals.
“I’m not homeless, I’ll tell you that right now, mind you, I don’t make as much more than they do. My salary hasn’t increased in ten years.”
Sean Lalor arrived early to get some running shoes at the Surrey Urban Mission during Surrey Connect Day, Oct. 16. The event offered hot meals, free clothing, and pet food to the homeless community in Whalley. KPUPHOTOS/Sheetal Reddy
