'We've seen such an increased need over the last couple of years': Downtown Mission’s Bench Talk fundraiser returns

The Downtown Mission is looking to raise $50,000 during its annual 24-hour “Bench Talk” fundraiser, happening now outside its Ouellette Avenue location.

The event started Thursday and lasts until 11 a.m. on Friday.

“We've seen such an increased need over the last couple of years with our food bank usage and unfortunately, less donations coming in, in terms of dollars and food items to support the food bank," said executive director, Rukshini Ponniah-Goulin.

Ponniah-Goulin said the event is all about awareness, noting homelessness, poverty, addiction and mental health illness remain some of the most devastating societal issues impacting the quality of life in Windsor today.

She said upwards of 2,000 people use the mission's food bank each month, explaining public donations cover about 60 per cent of costs.

"We do what we can to help, and we do it all through the generosity of our community," said Ponniah-Goulin.

"So that's why with this particular Bench Talk event, it's going to be supporting and concentrating on making sure that we can be open four days a week for the community that needs it."

According to Ponniah-Goulin, the shelter had been operating near capacity throughout the summer months, with mounting concern about what capacity figures will be when colder weather arrives. She said this event helps others get a small idea of what it feels like to be outside for the night and not having a warm, safe bed of their own.

Windsor city councillors Renaldo Agostino and Angelo Marignani were on hand for part of the event, along with Windsor-Tecumseh MPP Andrew Dowie and Tecumseh councillor James Dorner.

Community advocates Greg Lemay and Natalie Bourgoin were also on hand and have taken part in all the previous Bench Talk fundraising events. They said the homelessness situation in Windsor is worsening.

"It's become an epidemic," Bourgoin told CTV News.

"It truly has with the drugs and just housing prices, not even for those that are facing mental health disorders, but even just young families that can't find housing."

Inside the Downtown Mission in Windsor, Ont. on Oct. 3, 2024. (Chris Campbell/CTV News Windsor)

Bourgoin continued, "The backlog is like 6,000 families at this point now. So, you're seeing young families coming here not just for shelter, but for food banks and whatnot. Every year it's almost like compound interest. It's severely growing."

"It's not good," Lemay said. “It continues to grow. The need is there. When you get a nice day like this, hopefully it still brings the crowd out. People, hopefully they come out to learn about the mission services, they donate. Obviously, this place is mainly run on donations and without it, it doesn't exist and then the problems stem everywhere else."

Ponniah-Goulin said more than $8,000 had already been raised before this year's event began, hoping more donations and awareness can be attained to help find solutions to alleviate the issue of homelessness and poverty.

"It doesn't mean that everyone contributes, say, $1,000. Even if people will contribute $5 or $10, if we all do what we can, it will help make a difference."

Meantime, Ponniah-Goulin said plans are in place to start hosting more open house functions soon so the community can get a sense of what takes place inside the Mission.

"Whether they're refugee claimants or just people moving to Windsor from other parts of Canada or other parts of the world, they need to know what's available to them if they need help, but also, what they can do now as community members of Windsor-Essex to help those who need help."

"I think the awareness of homelessness in our community is something that's essential," said Dowie. "And we're seeing it all throughout our community, including in Essex County."

He continued, "The problem is not concentrated to the downtown, but really the services are. The Downtown Mission does incredible work in trying to get supports and getting someone back on their feet. So here there's a roof over your head, there's food and there's an address. So you're able to start to get your life back on track. It's a bit of stability. So services like the Downtown Mission are essential and they are a key part of the solution to homelessness in addition to broader supports in getting first housing, permanent housing for individuals. Skills training, taking away the barriers to skills training and ensuring that we have just those moral, mental, medical supports that are available without those barriers that we know can exist."

Dowie added, "What they're doing today is having those conversations about homelessness and some of the issues that we have and I'm happy to throw my support behind what they're doing."