Donna’s story is a perfect example of why we need to listen to our homeless friends. Donna is homeless in Ottawa, Canada. She has serious health issues, yet manages to travel over 7 kilometers every day with her boyfriend collecting cans to raise money to eat, and to fix her RV to get off the streets.
One thing I have learned, is people often connect to geographic locations and that’s where they want to live. Donna was raised in the Maritimes, a region of Eastern Canada. Her and her boyfriend ended up in Ontario because that’s where their RV broke down and they could also get health benefits. As you’ll see in this video, Donna pretty much only had one wish: to get back home to look after her mom’s grave.
Here’s the issue: services in Ottawa will never house Donna simply because she doesn’t want to live here. In her mind, although it’s been some time, she is just passing through. The other challenge is there is no grant funding to help Donna with the repairs on her RV, even though it’s not that much money.
This type situation is what is often called “gaps in the safety net”, but I think it’s really because we don’t listen or use common sense. To me, it’s pretty simple – help Donna and her boyfriend get their RV fixed and get to the Maritimes = two really happy people who….now wait for it…ARE NO LONGER HOMELESS!
We did this before you may remember. Thanks to all of you we helped a disabled veteran get his RV out of impound.
Local Salvation Army told me it’d be around $500cdn and a few tanks of gas to get Donna’s RV repaired and out of the lot (were they are being charged daily) and back to the Maritimes. We are guessing around $800cdn will do it. Ottawa Salvation Army has graciously offered to facilitate logistics if we raise the funds. That means they’ll make sure the RV gets fixed the Donna gets off safely, and they’ll make sure they are connected on the other end of this journey.
Here is the link to our donate page http://invppl.tv/donate or you can find the link in top menu. If 8 people give $100 each it’s done. If 16 people give $50 each game over. If just 32 of you give $25 we can help make Donna’s wish come true and get an elderly homeless woman out of the cold. Please give generously and let’s make this happen for Donna.
UPDATE: Last night, THANKS TO YOUR BIG HEARTS, we raised $834 to help Donna make her wish come true. The money will be given to the Ottawa Salvation Army, who will help Donna make sure the RV get’s fixed and they get on the road. THANK YOU EVERYONE! You messed me up (in a good way)
UPDATE TWO: Watch this video with Donna and Terry in their RV saying thanks!
