“During my time as the Vice-President, Administration and Finance for the University of Waterloo’s Federation of Students, I worked closely with Jeff Henry, and can attest firsthand to his skilled leadership and collaborative approach. Among Jeff’s broad set of advocacy skills, his in-depth knowledge of municipal affairs helped to ensure an optimal outcome when we worked with the Region of Waterloo to provide a universal transit pass for University of Waterloo undergraduate students. Thanks to Jeff’s leadership and teamwork skills, more than 24,000 students now have access to affordable and reliable transit that connects them more closely with the Waterloo community.
Even during the more challenging executive experiences that arose during our time working together – and there were many – Jeff showed an even temperament, well thought-out arguments, a team-focused mindset, and capable leadership. I am pleased to support him in his bid for city council, and believe he would serve as an excellent bridge between the community and university students.”
Founded in March 2007 by Nick Petten while an undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo, Out in the Cold is a grassroots, student-run event held every November, where students and community members are invited to spend the night outside on campus, to raise money and awareness of homelessness issues in their local community.
We are continuing the Out in the Cold initiative by sharing a model by which other schools and universities can adapt to their respective campus and local community. www.outinthecold.ca was launched in October 2009 as an online portal to document the growth of this grassroots initiative. It is our goal to provide the tools necessary for people in other schools and universities to organize similar events in order to provide a better understanding of issues surrounding homelessness, poverty and housing stability.
Causes of homelessness include poverty and a lack of affordable housing. Root causes of poverty include low income, unemployment or underemployment, social isolation, racism, low literacy, poor education, and many more. Addressing homelessness is effective social, health, and economic policy.
After three years at the University of Waterloo, the Out in the Cold model was successfully adapted at the University of Toronto campus. In November 2009, Out in the Cold was run simultaneously at both campuses, and was organized by teams of students led by Kaija Saarinen (Waterloo) and Jenna van Draanen (Toronto).
Our goal is to apply this model to schools and universities across Canada. Please contact us if you would like to host Out in the Cold in your local community.
When tackling the issues of poverty and homelessness, one begins to recognize immediately that the solutions to these problems are not always cut and dry.
An example of a simple approach would be to throw more funds/resources towards homeless shelters or similar-type organizations without really attempting to address the complexities surrounding the question:
“Why do we even have homeless shelters in the first place?”
This question extends far beyond the problem of a lack of housing for youth and people on the streets, and goes into questions regarding employment and job training programs, education, healthcare, family, mental health, drugs and crime to name a few.
Taken from this perspective and recognizing that a complex solution is certainly required to address a complex problem, the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction aims to tackle the issue of poverty reduction by “making Hamilton the best place to raise a child.”
Think about it.
Instead of tackling the issues of poverty and homelessness in silos, individuals and organizations in Hamilton are working in a multi-collaborative approach (community, business, voluntary sector, government, education, health, etc.) in order to make Hamilton the best place in Canada to raise a child.
In other words, they are creating a movement towards reducing poverty within their city by working together and recognizing that each individual/organization has a role to play in creating change – they currently have more than 300 people on their leadership team and are working with more than 900 organizations and individuals on community solutions to reducing poverty.
A great example of ‘action’ to raise awareness and empathy (in order to move towards reflective dialogue) that can easily be done at other schools and university campuses is Out in the Cold, an event held last Friday, November 21 2008, at the University of Waterloo campus for the third year in a row.
Now in its third year, the program hopes by simulating the conditions that the homeless face on the streets that more people will work to end poverty.
“The main part of the event is for people to stay outside overnight to experience what it might be like to be homeless during the cold winter months,” said the recent UW grad [Nick Petten]. “Of course, it doesn’t come close to it but people will understand how hard it is, and how cold it is.
“You can multiply that by 10 or 100 and that’s what it’s actually like. It’s a very sobering experience.”Petten said he started the Out in the Cold fundraiser to get students to understand issues surrounding homelessness and raise funds to tackle the growing problem. Students aren’t immune to homelessness either as there are various levels of it out there, including people who have to couch surf just to get by with rising tuition costs.
This year, funds raised went to ROOF which stands for Reaching our Outdoor Friends, a non-profit organization “committed to providing for the safety, support and overall well-being of homeless youth and youth-at-risk, age 12-25, in the Waterloo Region.”
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Voice
Matt Levicki from Elite Life Media, produced a short video on Out in the Cold, highlighting the event as well as ROOF.
Video after the jump.
(Note: I have a cameo in the video, thanking the Federation of Students for their support)
This article originally appeared on the blog Speak Up For Change
- November 24, 2008
Laurel Centre conference featured Marc Kielburger keynote
By Suzanne Gardner
The Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship hosted their second Annual Conference on Social Entrepreneurship from November 14-16, 2008. Over the span of three days, roughly 200 people came together in Waterloo, Ontario to talk, learn, and live social entrepreneurship.
The weekend kicked off on Friday night with a lecture from Free the Children’s chief executive director Marc Kielburger. After an engaging and impassioned speech about his own experiences living and working in developing countries, Kielburger stayed for over an hour longer to chat with each and every attendee waiting in the massive line up to meet him!
Photo by Michelle Attard
Throughout the rest of the weekend there were talks about keys to success, attracting and retaining talent, decreasing high school drop-out rates, (the ever important) revenue generation, and much more. Key leaders in the areas of health, education, and international development came together to talk about their efforts, successes and challenges. With non-stop keynotes, workshops, and panel discussions, it was no wonder everyone was tired out by the end. Tired, but inspired.
“We are pleased to see such an overwhelming interest in social entrepreneurship, and we embrace the opportunity to inform, engage and connect our delegates in such an inspiring field,” says Andrew Dilts, Chair of the Laurel Centre.
“We find that knowledge of social entrepreneurship techniques is in great demand in today’s economic climate, and take pride in helping our delegates work towards positive change in the world.”
The Laurel Centre’s leadership team would like to thank all the delegates, speakers, and volunteers for joining us for the weekend, bringing along their energy, enthusiasm, and passion for changing the world. We’d also like to thank our sponsors for their generous support without which this event would not have been possible.
Suzanne Gardner is the Director of Communications at the Laurel Centre for Social Entrepreneurship in Waterloo, Ontario. The Laurel Centre features business-minded discipline with passion for social change.
I am a 20-something young person keenly interested in learning how transformative social change happens, and passionate about building resilient communities. I also have a strong background in student and youth engagement, and I am convinced that young people have the power and opportunities like never before to affect positive change in the world. Learn more.
