Child care students take on a new campaign this winter to help the homeless

Poster made by Melissa Wyatt.

By Alana Pickrell

BELLEVILLE – Third-year child and youth care program student Melissa Wyatt saw the FreeBlanketz campaign on social media and knew she wanted to do something to help. 

The campaign aims to give warm blankets to those in need this winter and thanks to Wyatt the entire child and youth care program at Loyalist College is now participating.

The American band Never Shout Never started the program in the United States this year to help people who don’t have access to warm clothing or homes this winter.

“I’m in child and youth care and I feel that as a CYC it’s our job to be supporting and providing to the people in our community that have less than us or different skills then us or whatever the case may be,” Wyatt said.

Supporting a campaign as simple as providing warm blankets just made sense to her.

“I’ve always been interested in passion projects,” she said, “and hopefully from this one project we can stem other ones.”

The campaign just recently launched and Wyatt has begun collecting donations from anyone who has an extra blanket to spare. Her goal is to collect at least 300 blankets from the Quinte region alone.

Homelessness is a problem that we are experiencing in our own backyard according to Jodie Jenkins, who is trying to open a shelter in this area. 

“I think homelessness overall is a problem that we are seeing more and more of throughout the country,” he said, “Belleville specific, we’ve seen an increase in homelessness amongst men, as well as seniors who are on the verge of homelessness.”

Jenkins went on to say that, “every little bit helps, whether it is free blankets or a meal program that helps address the issue in the cold weather.”

Wyatt said that she is working closely with youth centres, homeless shelters and other organizations to arrange drop-offs and find people who would benefit from warm blankets. She is hoping to help people from the Quinte region to as far as Toronto.

Right now there is a drop off centre on the third floor of Loyalist College in the child and youth care office.

“Blankets can be collected, any other items can be collected and if they don’t go towards something right now then I do have something in the works so that everything will find a home and people will be provided with the things that they need,” Wyatt said.