What’s it like to be homeless for a night? We talked to Burnaby mom Debbie Preissl, who recently slept in a back alley of Vancouver to raise money for Covenant House, a shelter for homeless youth.
Preissl is a Burnaby Mountain resident who works as a business development educational consultant. She’s also a mom to two kids, and when she received an email invitation to the sleep on the streets for a fundraiser, she said yes even though she’s never raised money for anything before. Preissl pulled in $3,620, and she was so moved by the experience, she would do it again in a heartbeat.
What was it like sleeping on the streets?
Just to start with, all I really knew was to show up at Covenant House at a certain date and time and to wear warm clothing, and that there would be 33 of us moms sleeping out. So initially I came in and met with a lot of other volunteers, and I got to meet with the moms. They fed us, then they walked us through the evening’s activities, which was to have a tour of the facility, and a very respectful tour, not to be gawking at anyone, … and to see the facility and what they were able to do to help people.
What exactly do they do to help homeless youth?
They have two capacities: an emergency shelter where people can come in and get food, and then they have more of a long-term program where they can help people get back into school, help people get treatment for addiction, help them get jobs ¬- that kind of thing. That was part of the evening, and then they told us we would have the opportunity to meet with some frontline workers as well as some youth who agreed to speak with us who were either currently in care at Covenant House and/or had completed the long-term program.
What did they say?
Their stories were so amazing, and I can’t even talk about it because it’s so emotional. One of the girls said if she hadn’t had Covenant House she would be dead, and that she found herself, and that she was able to complete high school, and that she was going to go on to complete college and she had no one - no family, no support. She came from an abusive background.
Then what happened?
Then we got ready for bed. We took a sleeping bag, a piece of cardboard and a hat, and we go out. And I guess I thought they would put us in a covered parkade – we’re moms - but no, they put us right outside in the lane, in an alley downtown, in open space. It was on a slant, and basically we were to just hunker down and go to sleep. We had the luxury, of course, of having Covenant House staff and volunteers watch over us all night to keep us safe. It was just amazing. You have no idea of the sound capacity of ambulances going by, police cars, you hear drunk people wandering up and down the lane. It’s just the vulnerability. Of course we got to focus on getting up in the next morning and having breakfast and having a shower, maybe going home and getting some sleep, but it just gives you a tiny taste of what these youth go through, and it’s just mind blowing.
You sound very moved by this. What’s going through your head now?
What I really garnered out of this experience is just how dedicated the staff are, the volunteers are, and I just want to bring as much awareness to this wonderful program. … I would do it again to raise the money for it, because I just think it’s so important. As kids, if they get a chance in life, they will have an OK adulthood. But if they don’t, then there’s just no guarantees.
Do you think of your own kids when you think about this?
Oh I totally do. I just think how lucky they are just to have loving parents who support them and help them. And just the thought of kids not having that at all, let alone a place to live. One young fellow, he came from a really good family, he was South Asian, and he had a disagreement with his parents, and they wrote him off and kicked him out of the house and cut off all contact with anybody in his family. And he was just struggling. He just came from this home and then had nothing. It’s just incredible.
What do you want our readers to take away from your experience?
When you’re walking around or driving and you see kids, you just don’t want to make eye contact with them when they are on the street, you feel uncomfortable. (Tears up) I think you just really need to know they’re in some pretty tough spots, and maybe there’s a way you can help them.
Covenant House facts:
- Vancouver’s Covenant House helps 1,400 street involved youth each year.
- Covenant House has two shelters in Canada – one in Vancouver and on in Toronto - and many more throughout the U.S. and Central America. Each site is independent. The Vancouver shelter raises 96 per cent of its funding from public donations.
- Covenant House Vancouver aimed to raise $75,000 with the Mothers Edition Sleep Out and brought in $121,287.
- This year was a first for Sleep Out: Mothers’ Edition. There’s an annual Executive Sleep Out that takes place each November with local VIPs. Last year’s sleep out raised $700,000. Past participants include Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi, Jillian Harris from Love It or List It and B.C. Lions president Dennis Skulsky.
- For more information on Covenant House, go to www.covenanthousebc.org.
