MINNESOTA TEENS CONFRONT THOUGHTS ABOUT POVERTY IN WINNIPEG’S INNER CITY
Five-day inner-city experience brings homelessness and domestic poverty into view for youth group from St. Paul
WINNIPEG, MB, June 17, 2011 – Just two days after their summer holidays started, 14 youth from St. Paul, Minnesota made the trek up to Winnipeg’s inner city to spend five days living at Siloam Mission and learning about the issues of domestic poverty and homelessness.
It’s all part of Siloam Mission’s “Under The Radar” youth summer camp, which is being held the second year in a row after a successful pilot run last summer. The program aims to help young people understand who is under the radar of our society.
The youth group comes from the Messiah Episcopal Church in St. Paul, Minnesota. They arrived in Winnipeg on Wednesday evening and will stay at Siloam until Monday.
Throughout the five days, participants will volunteer at Siloam Mission, take part in educational sessions and workshops, and have a chance to confront their thoughts about poverty and homelessness in urban areas.
They will sleep on the floor at Siloam Mission for the entirety of the program.
“The program is designed to change the way people view domestic poverty and to help them understand that there is something they can do to make a difference,” says Siloam Mission’s executive director, Floyd Perras.
“Our desire is to help create optimistic, solution-based advocates for change.”
A connecting point between the compassionate and Winnipeg’s less fortunate, Siloam Mission is a Christian humanitarian agency offering programs and services at no charge to people experiencing poverty and homelessness.
EDITORS, PLEASE NOTE: Participants will be cleaning the streets of downtown Winnipeg together with Siloam Mission’s MOST (Mission: Off The Street Team) crew today from 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Please contact us to set up an interview as they will be scattered across the city’s core.
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For more information, please contact:
Mike Duerksen
Communications Coordinator
Office: 204.956.4344 ext.238
Cell: 204.228.6429
mike.duerksen@siloam.ca
