I’ve visited Edmonton before, but today was the first time I walked around downtown in Canada’s freezing cold weather. I was shocked not just to see a lot of homelessness, but that homeless people were literally sleeping on cardboard and then covering themselves with tarps.
Perissa has slept outside homeless for over three years. She has been on a housing list for even longer. Like many communities do anymore, Perissa says the police keep moving homeless people around, yet they provide nowhere for them to go.
Perissa told me she does not believe she’ll be able to survive another winter outside.
