No Exits, part 3a A book bag and a pair of socks. That’s how it started for Charlie Burrell, in Moncton NB. Charlie noticed an increase in the number of hungry and homeless in his town, and he began feeding them in a parking lot. Today, his organization The Humanity Project offers food and shelter, with an eye to also providing help for addictions and mental health supports in future. And its all done through community donations. 

A few weeks back, I said I had a 3-part series on homelessness. If you’ve been listening to the Cookie Jar, you’ll have heard part one in July with Alex Nelson, PhD candidate in the Sociocultural Anthropology Department at Western University, who talked about who the homeless are and some of the myths surrounding them. Cathy Crowe, long-time Street Nurse who works in the area of social justice nursing, joined me in part two to discuss the horrific evictions in Trinity-Bellwoods Park this summer. And now, Charlie Burrell and I finally had a chance to speak. It was worth the wait. 

There are thousands of people everywhere who, like me, are wondering what it would take to end homelessness. We’d need the right leader, for one thing. Someone charismatic with sensible, but also whimsical ideas, and a will to see them through. Someone who doesn’t care what people think of him, whose focus is entirely on doing the right thing. I’ve met that person in Charlie Burrell.