Coldest Night of the Year held for Moncton youth in precarious living situations

It may not have been the coldest night of the year in Moncton Saturday night, but it was close.

Hundreds marched through the streets of downtown for the Coldest Night of the Year event.

The nationwide fundraiser took place in over 180 communities to support people struggling with precarious housing and food insecurity.

The Moncton march went to support Youth Impact Jeunesse, an organization that supports young people in the city through a transitional housing program and a youth resource centre.

Executive director Mel Kennah said Saturday was the coldest night in the ten years they’ve been doing the walk.

“Homelessness is certainly no longer a big city problem,” said Kennah. “It's taken up residence right here in Moncton, and in the last several years, the importance of this event has just continued to be amplified.”

The event was of extra significance this year.

In November, homeless advocate Trevor Goodwin of the Greater Moncton YMCA told city council there were over 500 people living on the streets of Moncton.

That number didn’t include the people staying in the city’s shelters.

“There's also people in precarious living situations who aren't necessarily completely homeless but are in really unstable situations or are about to become homeless,” said Kennah. “These services that are benefiting from this event tonight, the youth transitional housing program helps with stabilized housing, but also with developments with respect to education and employment opportunities as well.”

Over 60 teams participated, including the Dream Team, who raised over $44,000.

That amount was second only to a team from Vancouver, according to Kennah.

Jim Dixon, the president of the board of directors for the Youth Impact Jeunesse and a member of the Dream Team, called the homelessness situation in Moncton disturbing.

“My wife and myself are both kind of motivated to help in any way we can. If you think of Youth Impact, it's helping youth, which means you can help somebody when you're 15, so when you're 25, you're not out in the cold,” said Dixon. “I've lived in Moncton all of my life. You're always aware of a few folks here and there, but lately it's been not overwhelming, but quite distressing.”

Moncton Mayor Dawn Arnold said more and more youth in the city are struggling to find proper shelter and be part of the community.

She said the city’s four homeless shelters – two temporary and two established -- are near, but not at capacity right now.

“I think there are a lot of things happening right now to try and improve the situation and I’m happy with the improvements that have come about,” said Arnold. “My understanding is that the shelters, the more established shelters and the new ones, they’re all working together. They’re using real data and are really committed to data integrity to ensure that we can make informed decisions and do the very best for the most vulnerable in our community.”

Arnold participated in the march along with teams of different sizes and made up of people of all ages, from high school hockey teams to a local karate club.

Riverview East Karate School owner Duane LeBlanc said there’s a lot of people struggling in the city right now.

“We raised some money, everybody else has raised money and awareness,” said LeBlanc. “There's a problem out there and if we can help, then I guess that's what we're going to do.”

Over $146,000 was raised during the event, and all the money stays in the Greater Moncton area to provide support and guidance to youth with social, emotional and behavioural challenges.

Kennah said that amount may rise a little over the next week or two.