Habitat for Humanity

Eyes Of Hope Homeless Project

The goals of the Homeless Project is to
1. Educate members on the issue of homelessness and to destigmatize homelessness
2. Make someone else's day a little bit better

The goals of Eyes Of Hope are
1. Leadership Development
2. Community Invovlement (helping children, homeless program, providing affordable housing (Habitat for Humanity)
3. Having Fun

Today, we are UofT students, but tomorrow, we will be leaders and we will be the ones responsible for solving society's problems. But how can one solve society's problems without having first hand experience? Interacting with the homeless won't give us complete understanding of the issue of homelessness, but it will give us insight and make us more open minded. It is important to remember that our events are fun: members get to meet new people, make new friends and try out new things that they normally wouldn't do in their spare time

Our primary involvement with the homelessness is through sandwich runs and volunteering at the homeless shelter.

Sandwich Runs

The purpose of the sandwich run is to interact with the homeless and show that someone does care. By interacting with the homeless, we can help destigmatize homelessness and help others understand that they are people too. We want to help participants to gain insight and become more open minded with regards to the issue of homelessness. Being homeless is tough, and hopefully, by providing the homeless with a friendly smile and a bagged lunch, it will make their day a little bit better. Finally, the sandiwch runs does provide the homeless with an opportunity to have a nutritious meal, but this is not the main reason for the sandwich run because they will not starve if we do not give them sandwiches because there are many places they can go for a hot meal, such as a homeless shelter.

For participants, the sandwich run allows them to meet new people, make new friends and have fun! It's really fun to get together with a group of people and work together to make sandwiches and deliver them.

The sandwich run involves making the sandwiches, eating dinner, and then going out to deliver the sandwiches. Making the sandwiches is a pretty easy task, just put balonga and cheese in between two slices of bread. Then add in an apple, a juice box and a cookie! Afterwards, participants get together to eat dinner: either food is ordered and brought to school, or the group goes out to a restaurant and eat. Usually for large sandwich runs, the group stays at school to eat. Finally, after the sandwiches are made and the volunteers are feed, the sandwiches are delivered. We deliver sandwiches by walking around the streets of Toronto to look for the homeless.


Homeless Shelter (Scott Mission)

The purpose of volunteering at the homeless shelter is to serve meals to the homeless while meeting new people and making new friends. At the homeless shelter, we first prepare the dining area by placing the napkins, bowls, forks, knives etc. Then the homeless come in and sit at the tables. We then proceed by bringing out hot meals to the kitchen for the homeless. Afterwards, we clean up! It's a really good chance to meet fellow UofT students and to make new friends!




How Can I help out?

You may sign up to attend one of our events. Opportunities are posted on our home page when they become available: eyesofhope.skule.ca .
You are also welcome to join our committee and help organize events (existing or new). Our events are not limited to those listed above. If you have an initative that you would like to start, you are welcome to do so. One of the main goals of Eyes Of Hope is leadership development, and we want our members to develop their leadership skills by organizing events. You don't need to be a "VP" to organize events, and new members are always welcome to take charge of new/existing events. Please e-mail eyesofhope@utoronto.ca for more information or questions.