Reflections on the Last Day of Outreach

Today is our last day of outreach.

We’ve moved supplies over to PATH, whose volunteers will continue getting gear into the hands of people who need it. The team has also been working to strengthen connections between those living outside and other services, with the hope that they are not forgotten. That’s what we are thinking about today.

We are closing a program, and it is the necessary choice for us right now. But the need that led us to this work has not gone away.

In the first 11 days of May, 88 different people stayed at our overnight shelter. We only have space for 45 people at a time. During that same period, 7 people came to our shelter for the first time. Many people are outside simply because there is not enough room indoors - not enough shelter, not enough income, and not enough housing.

Closing this program does not mean we can stop witnessing that reality.

When a program ends, it can be tempting to let it fade from view. To focus only on what is directly in front of us, or only on what we can currently provide. But it feels important to continue acknowledging the people we cannot serve, and to keep working toward systems that leave fewer people without safe places to go.

We don’t share this to create despair. If we lose hope, we lose the ability to move forward. We share it because hope requires honesty. It requires us to stay grounded in what people are experiencing, even when the solutions feel bigger than any one group or community can provide. 

As Peterborough continues trying new approaches and shaping what comes next, we hope to continue remembering who is often left out of the count. 

Our focus remains on meeting the need in the ways that we can right now: through shelter, through housing, and through a myriad of supports we feel privileged to offer.

There is no way to ignore the toll homelessness takes. I am sure we all feel it, in the different corners of our city. People living outside absolutely feel it. We will keep pushing for solutions because we have sat with folks living the consequences of systems that are not working.

And there are still glimpses of possibility. Volunteer organizations stepping in. Community partners committed to creating housing. Individuals within systems trying to leverage what they can. 

And certainly folks who are living rough, caring for each other. This is not new.

As we move forward without an outreach program, we remain committed to seeing those who are still outside, and ask you to do the same. We need to keep working, boldly and together, toward more housing, more places of belonging, and a city where fewer people are left to hide.

Sincerely, Tammy

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“We are sad that outreach is ending at One City but grateful that volunteers at PATH and Street Level Advocacy will continue to fight alongside our unsheltered neighbours for not only their survival, but their basic human right to housing. We will always remember with love the ones we have lost, and our friends still on the street will not be forgotten.” - Jeff and Jenni, Outreach Team

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This picture was generously shared by an individual currently living outside. It shows their tent and tarps set up in the woods, and two signs: “Welcome - may all who enter as guests leave as friends” and “Home is the starting place of love, hope and dreams.”