Feb 25 is the Coldest Night Of The Year! Brrr!

Under 18 raise $75 - get a free toque! Adults raise $150 - get a free toque! These are lovely!

I have to say that there are times where my house gets me down... why isn't it more...??? Insert your WANTS here! However, my NEEDS are met! I do love my ancient old house set on 50 acres in rural New Brunswick! The only REAL problem with it (well according to me not an engineer...) is that our family is all so far away!

When I do start to think about what I wish were different in my house, I catch myself, you see, not so many years ago, I was a single mom in a city where I could barely pay my rent, some months I didn't have it and I had to find help and repay it... I had to choose, do I spend my last $5 to A) drive my kids to school and daycare B) grab some milk and cereal C) forget being broke and get a Happy Meal for the kids to share and forget about my problems for awhile? I'll be honest, sometimes C was the choice and we layed on the floor with blankets and pillows and watched movies and the kids, hopefully, didn't realize how bad it really was!

I am EXTREMELY grateful for the people in my community that helped us, that gave us physical, emotional and financial support - who did NOT let us become homeless! Most of us, are one to two pay day's from being busted ... and then what? Now with fuel being so expensive, transit that misses most parts of our province, food that we could barely afford - becoming even MORE expensive and landlords raising rents up to 400% when people struggled to start with... Well, it is time for ALL of us who have a warm safe roof over our head to help those who don't.

I am actually starting to avoid using the word "homeless" because there is a connotation to the word that implies - people are without homes by choice and that is not exactly the truth! Of course there is the segment of the population that struggles with trauma, abuse, mental health issues and addictions that without support and treatment find living in a traditional home very difficult - for those people we need more resources and to work to help them from a holistic method that addresses all of their needs. They ARE people too!

However, I have started to use the words "without homes" because as we are seeing in the news, in the emergency rooms and on the streets, many people are not without homes by "choice" or health and addiction issues, but they are "without homes" due to the economy, excessive rents and not being able to afford to get to and from work to get that pay!

At We're Here For You - the mission is to help those who have entered an ER from sexual assault, domestic violence and intimate partner violence - and we know that the people who are living on  the street are very vulnerable and also need help. Living on the street is not only cold (especially in New Brunswick!) but also unsafe and scary. We are putting a team together to walk or run the 2km or 5km on Saturday evening, February 25th to help raise fund for the Coldest Day of the Year National Fundraiser! We will be in the Fredericton, NB event but if you go to the link, you will find events all across Canada!

Let's help those who need it. Let's be grateful for what we have, we can work towards improvement but we also need to be conscious that - if - we have a warm home, clothing and meals - we are very fortunate! Thank you for considering supporting this fundraiser and please feel free to JOIN our team or donate or both! 
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