Rachel Courey, Interim Director of Open Doors at St. Christopher’s Burlington, spent a weekend (February 16-18) on the streets of Burlington to bring attention to the needs of the homeless.
During the day she stood next to Guelph Line in Burlington, holding up the sign “Homeless here? Yep!”
Friday and Saturday night, she slept in a tent on the church lawn — when the temperature dipped to -10 degrees — and ate at community meals.
She did it, “to call the attention of our neighbours to the shortage of support services in Burlington and the need for organizations like Open Doors”.
“On a more personal level,” she explained, “I wanted to learn what it means to follow Jesus into the world of the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized. If Jesus was living in Burlington today, he might well be camping out on a church lawn.”
On February 24th, over 125 walkers raised more than $40,000 during the Coldest Night of the Year fundraising walk in Burlington.
Provincial Synod through Youthful Eyes