News & Events

Bringing Cheers to LookOut Society's Shelters

Homeless Partners Bring Cheer to LookOut Tenants and Guests

Dec. 16 - The Lookout Society and Homeless Partners have been a team for nine years, bringing Christmas cheer to the society's shelter guests in Vancouver, New Westminster and the North Shore. Every year Homeless Partners volunteers meet with our shelter guests to find out what their Christmas wish is. Guest stories are then posted on the Homeless Partners' website where the public have a chance to read stories and pledge a gift and [button link="https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/28331" type="icon"] Donate [/button] . Started by Dan and Jennie Keeran in 2005, Homeless Partners is now active in nine cities across Canada and has given out more than 8,000 gifts since getting started. This Friday (Dec. 19) is Homeless Partners Pledge Day where the public are encouraged to pledge how they will help homeless people and bring awareness to Homeless Partners by starting an online conversation about homelessness. As part of Pledge Day, the Lookout Society is hosting one-hour tours of our Yukon Shelter starting at 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Coffee and pastries will be provided, courtesy of Blenz Coffee. For more information contact Lani at [email protected] or go to the Homeless Partners' website.

REAL STORIES II REAL PEOPLE - Homelesspartners.com and Refugeepartners.com

VICTORIA, Dec. 9, 2016, /CNW/ - This holiday season, people anywhere can connect in a safe, meaningful way through two websites containing the personal stories and wishlists of the homeless and refugees. This registered Canadian charity provides a structure that can be used by any community - for free, by clicking on "Add Your City." Communities everywhere are encouraged to join. Media are invited to an event for gift-giving with homeless and refugees and potential employers at St. Aidan's United Church, 3703 St. Aidan's Street, Victoria, December 13, Tuesday, 9:30 a.m.

In Victoria, BC, the homeless staying in four shelters operated by the Cool Aid Society, are interviewed by volunteers. Then those stories and wishlists are posted on the website. Then community members read the stories, pledge gifts and deliver or mail them to the shelter or designated location.

The homeless are looking for items such as boots, coats, clothing, and bus tickets. The purposes of www.homelesspartners.com are to foster empathy and help the homeless feel encouraged when they receive a requested gift, or a caring message. Refugees are looking for employment leads, assistance to bring relatives to Canada from difficult conditions, and also clothing and common household items. Some of the stories shared include horrors of war such as a bomb falling on the breakfast table and a five-year old being shielded between the legs of his father running from bullets. The purpose of www.refugeepartners.com is to help refugees feel welcomed and included when they connect and receive a personal gift from a local resident.

Homelesspartners.com was founded in 2005, and is now in ten cities: Regina, Salmon Arm, Vernon, Victoria, Winnipeg and five cities in the Lower Mainland Vancouver. This is the first year refugee stories and gifts have been posted. This approach enables a unique personal connection, based on the value of empathy that helps fulfill the meaning of being human. It mobilizes the community as a resource to touch the lives of those who feel ignored or separate from their neighbours. Read the personal story of a homeless person at www.homelesspartners.com or a refugee at www.refugeepartners.com and pledge a gift, then deliver or mail your gift before December 22 from anywhere online (e.g. www.amazon.ca), using the story ID number as the person's name and the shelter or drop-off as the shipping address. These are "everybody wins" programs practicing empathy and encouraging the homeless, the refugees, and the interviewers who collected their stories, as well as the donors who give a gift. Co-founder Daniel Keeran says: "Our approach is to harness the internet to create a structure that facilitates a safe and empathic connection with those in any trouble, such as the homeless and refugees." Homelesspartners.com is a registered Canadian charity: 843548777RR0001 Make a tax deductible donations today. For further information: Daniel and Jennie Keeran: 250.590.2882 or 250.857.1362, Email: [email protected] Websites: www.homelesspartners.com & www.refugeepartners.com

Homeless gifts website hits fundraising benchmark

Homelesspartners.com has been operating in Greater Victoria for the past four years. A B.C.-based website that connects homeless residents with generous donors has reached its fund-raising goal to expand across the globe.

Homelesspartners.com has been operating in Greater Victoria for the past four years and sees volunteers interview people at local shelters about their Christmas wish lists. Stories are then posted to the organization’s website and locals can choose to purchase gifts for Victoria’s neediest residents. On Nov. 20, Homeless Partners’ Indiegogo campaign reached its $10,000 goal to build a new website that allows other cities to run the program with the click of a mouse.

“We are so grateful to everyone who ran the story and made it possible for these contributions,” said Jennie Keeran, a volunteer with Homeless Partners. “Our next step is to use these donations to create significant growth of homelesspartners.com by creating a new, more intuitive and flexible website.”

Organizers in Portland, Ore. have already expressed interest in the program, she said. Check out local stories at homelesspartners.com