Carleton University clubs are standing up to youth homelessness with Bridge The Gap, a campaign aimed at bringing students together to break the cycle of youth homelessness in Ottawa.
Since March, a group of clubs has been collaborating to raise monetary and item-based donations for youth shelters in Ottawa. Through awareness events including donation drives, bake sales and social media campaigns, the effort has raised around $800 so far, according to Kiara Gibbs-Cawker, president of the Humanitarian Organization of Latin American Students (HOLAS).
All donations raised with Bridge The Gap are going toward Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa shelters. Rachel Tam, the bureau’s events and community engagement specialist, said the organization’s goal is to create lasting change in eliminating youth homelessness.
“Each year, over 1,400 youth experience homelessness in Ottawa. Many face challenges such as family breakdown, mental health struggles and financial instability,” Tam told the Charlatan in an email.
Gibbs-Cawker designed the campaign to “spark conversation” about youth homelessness. She said she came up with the idea for the campaign following this year’s harsh winter months that shed light on the urgency of Ottawa’s homelessness crisis.
“Tragically, some unsheltered individuals passed away on Ottawa’s streets this year due to extreme cold and lack of support systems,” Gibbs-Cawker said. “That really pushed me to do something.”
This past winter claimed the lives of two Ottawa residents, a man on Elgin Street on January 6 and a woman in the ByWard Market on January 10.
Gibbs-Cawker said she noticed a disconnect between the Carleton campus and Ottawa groups working against homelessness and wanted to ”bridge the gap.” That phrase quickly became Gibbs-Cawker’s source of inspiration and the name of her campaign.
Other Carleton clubs involved in the initiative include the Black Student Alliance, Caribbean Student Association, History and Theory of Architecture Society and the Carleton Women’s Volleyball Club.
“I feel like a lot of times, students here have [their] head down and [they] keep doing what [they’re] doing and don’t necessarily have the resources or the opportunity to learn what’s out there,” Gibbs-Cawker said.
Impact Carleton is also a leading club in the campaign, working closely with Gibbs-Cawker.
Malick Sylla, the club’s president and a computer science student at the university, said he wanted to get involved in Bridge the Gap because it aligns with some of the club’s work in areas like food insecurity and substance abuse.
He said it’s important to build an understanding of society’s most pressing issues because post-secondary students are the next generation of the workforce and should be informed about society’s most harmful issues.
“We’re in a time and place for developing all these skills and tools to go out in the world,” Sylla said. “It might not solve an issue now, but it can be part of solving an issue later.”
On March 26, HOLAS and Impact hosted “Sip and Reflect” — a relaxed event where club members and students coloured, ate snacks and drank tea. Gibbs-Cawker said awareness is the first step in creating change, and she wanted to create a comfortable environment for students to learn about youth homelessness.
That day, HOLAS also hosted a bake sale on campus, which sold out.
In addition to participating in advocacy and fundraising events, Tam encouraged students to keep fighting against youth homelessness by donating, volunteering and sharing information and resources on social media.
“Youth homelessness is a community issue that requires collective action,” Tam said. “By bridging gaps in housing, mental health and support services, we can create lasting change.
“Campaigns like Bridge the Gap remind us that every young person deserves a safe place to call home and a chance to build a brighter future.”
Featured Image by Madeleine Gordon/the Charlatan.
