Souls Harbor Mission in Regina is on a mission to raise enough money to house a homeless person for 2,000 nights.
To reach that goal, executive director Joe Miller has perched himself on the roof of the building where he will stay for five days.
This is Homelessness Awareness Week, and for the fourth year in a row, Souls Harbour is hoping to raise $50,000 to shelter the homeless.
Miller says it is about caring and trying to make a difference:
“We care, there are people that are tying to help. I think it is a good thing, it gives them some hope. I mean, you take hope away, it is depressing and people go down hill pretty fast. ”
Miller is sleeping in a pup tent, and he has got a foam mattress, a couple of pillows, a porta-potty and that’s about it. He is roughing it to get a feel for what it is really like when you have no place to call home:
“By the end of the week, I want to come down, you know what I mean. I just want to go home and sit on my couch. It gets tough the more you imagine people live like that permanently. You know, Regina might not be like Toronto or Vancouver, but we still have an issue here.”
Last year, Souls Harbor raised just over $50,000. It hopes to match that or beat it this year. There is another new incentive for donors: anyone who contributes $5,000 or more gets to spend a night on the roof with Miller.
The first takers are expected to join him later this week. Miller will be providing daily updates on his mission via Facebook and Twitter.