A group of students camped out in front of the IKB Learning Centre from Sunday night to Friday afternoon to raise awareness about homelessness in Vancouver.
The group calls themselves 5 Days for the Homeless and is part of a national movement that aims to bring awareness of the issues of homeless people onto university campuses across Canada. The UBC Chapter is donating all funds raised during the campaign to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre.
The students held cardboard signs and asked for donations during the campaign.
First-year Arts student Lindsay Peliquin lives in the Downtown Eastside and hopes that this campaign will get students thinking about homelessness.
"I want to bring awareness where there is no awareness,” said Peliquin.
Participants believe that by making their position easily visible in the open space of UBC they will be seen by students who might otherwise not know about the issue firsthand.
“On campus we kind of live in a bubble,” said Emily Sullivan, second-year Sauder student. "Many students won’t realize it’s an issue until there are other students in front of them.”
Up to this point, the response has been positive. The executive team has had the opportunity to discuss many of these issues.
“The fact that we’re students makes us relatable," said Emma Thompson, a fourth-year Arts student and co-director of 5 Days for the Homeless. "I think a lot of students don’t understand how easy it is to end up homeless.”
Some of the criticisms of the campaign had to do with the apparent hypocrisy of UBC students attempting to look homeless. The sight of students laying on sheets and sleeping bags in the rain was contrasted with the MacBooks they were working on to finish school assignments and the breaks they took to go to class.
However, Sullivan made it clear that their fundraiser was not an imitation of actual homelessness.
“We realize we can’t replicate the struggle of the homeless,” said Sullivan.
Along with the funds collected, 5 Days for the Homeless has also donated cupcakes and spent time volunteering at the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. But along with the funds and awareness that they raised, Thompson hopes that this campaign will inspire other students to get involved with shelters around town.
“The goal is that afterwards everyone would be more involved and do stuff on their own,” said Thompson.