Volunteers are really making a difference helping those who are in need. We are talking homeless people, poor, sick, disabled, children without parents…, the list is endless, so each volunteer, each day and each hour they give and provide the service, really helps those people and the cities to stay cleaner and a better place to live in.
Winnipeggers are not the exception, Winnipeggers volunteer every day in many areas and on all possible levels. Especially big impact if whole organization volunteers and join the movement. The Saul Sair Health Centre at Siloam Mission offers head-to-toe care to those who are experiencing homelessness in Winnipeg. They literally help people in need to stay on their feet, the foot clinic accepts up to 20 people each day. “They don’t have the means to maybe wash their feet every day or their body every day. They don’t have the luxury of changing their socks every day,” says Angelika Fletcher, health centre manager.
Most of the people that come to the health centre are homeless, not only they are on their feet most part of the day, they have to walk everywhere they go, but also at the end of the day, they do not have the luxury to come back home, take the shoes off, put the feet to warm water, relax and then just throw wet and dirty socks into a washer and simply put a pair of clean, dry and warm socks on to stay warm and protect their feet.
Foot care has been offered at the centre for over seven years, and it has become something of an essential service. “We see foot ulcers, we see all the way to amputations, unfortunately. So if we can do preventative medicine to prevent those bad outcomes, that is what our focus is on.”
It’s a reality that makes a pair of new socks a small but incredibly valuable item. The Knickers & Kickers campaign collects much-needed donations of new socks each fall in support of Siloam Mission, sharing some warmth with people experiencing homelessness as temperatures begin to drop.
I really care for our city and its citizens, I try to contribute as much as I can and take every opportunity to participate in all kinds of charities and volunteer work when there is a free time. So every person helping, every single volunteer makes a difference, but if every Winnipegger will take part somehow, in his own way, with every little donation or a piece of clothing you don’t need anymore and other things, it will really help homeless to survive thru winter and hopefully, to get back on their feet in the near future.