Where are you from? 

I live in Windsor

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How long have you been volunteering with WHP? 

5 years!

 

What brought you to WHP? ​

I was interested in helping after befriending a young homeless man on the streets of Windsor. 

I had started volunteering at the Treehouse Cafe (at the Windsor Baptist Church), and was introduced to the project as they ran from the same building at the time. 

 

What do you find most rewarding about volunteering for WHP? 

I was so shocked by all the good the project were doing to help the homeless and vulnerable in our community behind the scenes. 

And whilst getting to know the guests and hearing their stories was amazed at their resilience and strength with coping and moving forward with their lives. 

I knew I wanted to help educate others who just walked on by and labelled them as “drunks & druggies” when there was so much more to them, they all had a story to tell which needed to be heard to help people understand and be more empathetic & understanding towards them.

As they say we are all only 3 pay cheques away from homelessness, this situation could hit any of us, now more than ever. 

After volunteering in the kitchen and helping behind the scenes for a few years, I took on the role of the projects social media in 2019. 

It has been great having a platform to share the amazing work being done by the project and encouraging the community to help support them.

Volunteering at the project has been very rewarding, to see guests move through the project and have a new fresh start in life, to watch their confidence and self worth grow, to see them reintegrate back into society, and then to see them come back and volunteer and help others going through the same. 

But most humbling to see a group of people who have so little, willing to share what little they do have, to help others and the atmosphere at the project so full of love, happiness and hope.

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Although Covid has been horrendous,  during this time it has been so heartwarming to see the local community and local businesses all pull together to help us continue to be able to help those in need. Their generosity and care has been utterly amazing.