London agency collects socks for city’s homeless amid ‘continuously growing’ need

It’s a simple thing many people don’t think much about – your feet get wet, you go home and you change your socks.

“We have that privilege,” Allison DeBlaire, executive director of 519Pursuit says.

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The people she serves, Londoners living outside, don’t.

“They’re walking and living in what they have until somebody can offer them a new pair. They don’t have the comfort to take off their shoes and socks if they walk through rain or puddles, let their feet air out and put on a new pair,” she said.

519Pursuit is an outreach group with one full time worker and volunteers providing basic needs, conversation and connection to Londoners living outside.

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“When starting 519Pursuit, we realized socks were one of the most asked-for items and least thought to be donated. We don’t often understand the need for a clean pair of socks,” DeBlaire said.

Socks provide more than comfort; they’re essential for health as well, she noted. Constantly cold and wet feet can lead to blisters, sores, frostbite and trench foot – a disease that can lead to gangrene and loss of limbs.

“Having a clean dry pair of socks is life-changing,” DeBlaire said.

This is the sixth year in a row 519Pursuit is collecting socks for homeless Londoners. The 519Pledge campaign aims not only to collect socks, but get Londoners thinking and talking about homelessness and ways to help.

Over the past five years, the campaign has collected more than 290,000 pairs of socks, sent to more than 75 community outreach groups and shelters from London to Toronto, DeBlaire said. Most of the socks are sent out in London, she said.

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Last year’s sock drive collected 108,000 pairs and within the past nine months they’ve all been handed out, DeBlaire said.

“We had a really rainy summer so the need was much higher and the community is continuously growing.”

It’s estimated that 600 people are living and sleeping without shelter or homes in London, in tent encampments, doorways and abandoned buildings. DeBlaire says there could be more than 700, and each weekday 519Pursuit hands out 140 lunches alone.

London’s new homeless hubs, starting to open this year, aim to help the most vulnerable get shelter and move toward housing. The hubs have just started to open and there will likely always be some people who choose to live without seeking shelter resources, DeBlaire said.

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“The path is different for everyone. We still have many people to worry about,” DeBlaire said. “We will keep our focus on those people and connect them to the hubs, build relationships and have people confident and comfortable in these new spaces.”

The increasing desperation among London’s homeless has led to aggression, evident in burned and slashed tents and a “dog eat dog” approach sometimes, DeBlaire said. That’s why the daily connections 519 Pursuit makes, and something as simple as socks, are key to changing lives, she said.

“The people we’re seeing are optimistic. They show their gratitude. They love the friendship. They’ve changed, in the sense of trust and conversation and who they are, day to day,” she said.

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519Pursuit is seeking funding from the network organizing London’s new health and homelessness system to hire another outreach worker so the existing one can help more during cold evenings this winter, DeBlaire said.

Community organizations and city hall are still developing this year’s winter response to homelessness, which in the past has added daytime warming spaces, meals and overnight beds to the system.

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519Pursuit Sock Pledge

When: Oct. 1 to Nov. 15

Get involved: Companies, teams, families individuals pledge to donate 519 pairs of socks. Collection day and deposit to be announced mid November.

Goal: 100,000 plus pairs of socks for London’s homeless population

More information: Visit www.519pursuit.ca/pledge/

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