Vernon couple sleep on street as part of homeless awareness initiative

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“Nighttime is more quiet, you can’t see people’s faces when they’re walking by; in the daytime you’re always looking.”

Reality Check - Life Without a Home

Vernon couple sleep on street as part of homeless awareness initiative

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The pair said there had been no issues with the weather, despite the bit of rain Friday evening and the temperature hitting the mid-20’s Saturday, though they did have a problem being roused in the middle of the night.

“Police stopped by here [Friday], they knew who we were and what we were doing and why we were here, which kind of shocked me, but said we were good to go and fine here,” Tracey explained.

“Then bylaw came by a few hours later, at around 11 o’clock at night, and made us pack up and get out.”

The Millers were able to load their stuff into their truck and move to a new location, though noted that would not have been the case for other unhoused people who get woken up in the middle of the night and told to find somewhere else to sleep.

The Reality Check initiative was started as a way to raise awareness of what it is like to be unhoused, with Tracey uploading videos over the weekend to social media. They also aim to raise money for Packman Open Hearts, which provides meals, personal hygiene products and other essential items, and connections to local services to Vernon’s unhoused population.

However, Tracey said they had already spoken with a lot of people with interesting stories, and thought there may be an opportunity to showcase those individuals in a documentary.

“[One woman we spoke with], apparently she’s been on the streets since she was 10 years old,” Tracey told Vernon Matters.

“She said 13, 14 years she’s been on the street, and I’m like wow. At 10 years old? It blows my mind.”

Jimmy and Tracey noted that the homeless are people and deserve to be treated as so, and these and other stories could showcase their humanity.

Jimmy added that many people were just “one paycheck away” from losing their housing and having nowhere to go.

Having this relatively brief outing, the Millers had determined there was a need for more food for the unhoused, and would look into the possibility of increasing their work from providing food one day a week to two, though that would require more community donations and support. They also said there should be more garbage cans and public restrooms for the unhoused to access to help reduce the waste they leave behind.

The couple also plan on turning May 1st into a yearly homeless awareness day, though they had yet to come up with detailed specifics of what that could entail.

“I don’t know what we’re going to do, I just know we’re going to keep something going,” Tracey said.

“Whether we have a big get together in the park with guest speakers, or whether we come out and spend another couple nights. I don’t know, I’ve got another whole year to figure it out.”

Tracey and Jimmy had a booth set up at their camp spot where they were raising awareness, selling shirts and accepting community donations. People can also support and follow their updates through their social media page.