An Ottawa grassroots organization is requesting public support as COVID-19 increases demand for food supplies across the city.
Founded at the start of the pandemic, the Ottawa Street Medics (OSM) mutual aid organization aims to provide support to communities in need with food, care packages and first aid.
On March 20, the OSM posted a funding request on their social media for a minimum of $5,000 to keep up with the overwhelming number of requests for support the organization has been receiving.
OCM founder, Daniel Bailey said the needed funds are required to continue their work in the unhoused and marginalized populations in Ottawa areas they patrol, primarily Centretown.
“Our work is about building community resilience and capacity to resist oppression,” Bailey said.
Street outreach services are even more crucial now, Bailey said, as more people are at risk of becoming homeless or severely food insecure during the pandemic.
“We provide unconditional support,” Bailey said. “Ideally, the work helps to restore people’s dignity and gives them the feeling of being a human.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the existing trend of increasing food prices, according to the 2021 Canada’s Food Price Report by Dalhousie University and the University of Guelph.
The report, published Dec. 8, predicted the average Canadian family would spend $695 more on food in 2021 due to a three-to-five per cent inflation in Canadian food prices this year.
Before the pandemic, 4.4 million Canadians were experiencing food insecurity. But as a consequence of increased pandemic-related financial instability, now over 5 million Canadians are experiencing food insecurity.
In Ottawa, 147,430 people are experiencing poverty, and 39,000 people are supported by food banks every month.
OSM’s urgent operation funding request is a consequence of the temporary closures of all four of Ottawa’s emergency shelters due to COVID-19 outbreaks: Shepherds of Good Hope, the Salvation Army Ottawa Booth Centre, Cornerstone Housing for Women, and the Ottawa Mission closed to new clients in January due to the virus. While some of these shelters have been able to reopen, the OSM is still seeing a high amount of requests for support around Ottawa.
These closures resulted in a sharp increase in requests for help from OSM and other mutual aid groups, including Hit the Streets, a community service group and partner with the OSM.
Kingsley Swim, co-founder of Hit the Streets, said mutual aid organizations in Ottawa often share resources and collaborate since they are all working together to patch the social safety net.
“Our money is theirs, theirs is ours, and like together for the community at large we just share those resources together,” Swim said.
Hit the Streets is aiming to raise $10,000 by the summer to continue fulfilling requests for the community, including securing housing and food security for neighbours in need.
“We’re just neighbours, taking care of one another,” Swim said.
Featured image bySpencer Colby.
