An Ontario man travelling across Canada with just a shopping cart and mission is making his way to Saint John to address the closure of a youth homeless facility.
Joe Roberts is walking along the TransCanada Highway with a custom made cart to draw attention to the issue. As a teenager, Roberts was himself homeless and troubled by drug addiction.
But now he's determined to make a difference.
"Standing up for young people is important," said Roberts. "The very first thing that has to happen is that we need to support young people when they're in crisis. We need to meet them where we're at, regardless of the circumstances or background."
Roberts’ original coast-to-coast schedule did not include a stop in Saint John. But in the coming week, he's going to make a bit of a detour to the port city, where he's going to find out more about a youth homeless issue that he calls a bit of a head-scratcher.
Safe Harbour, a ten-bed homeless shelter in Saint John, has been closed since January. When it opened last year, it was described as the finest youth shelter in eastern Canada.
But the doors remain shut because of a funding dispute between the board of directors and the New Brunswick government.
Roberts will be in Saint John this week with some suggestions on how to tackle the issues surrounding youth homelessness.
“I think the very first thing we need to do is to support them,” he said. “To give them a roof, nutrition and food and just a doorway to be in while they're going through that crisis"
To date, the Push for Change team is pleased with the reception they've received in the Maritimes.
"People pull over on the side of the road, they give us donations, they're always beeping horns going by,” said van driver Rob Cook. “It's been really nice out here in the Atlantic provinces"
Roberts has pushed his cart 1,850 kilometres so far. At 24 kilometers a day, his trek through the region will have him approaching the Oromocto area on Monday.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Mike Cameron.
