Homeless Happens, that’s the message behind Jason McComb’s walk across Canada with his organization Homeless Happens Helping Hands. He’s hitting as many communities as possible between St. John’s, Newfoundland and Victoria, B.C. to raise awareness about issues surrounding homeless people in the nation.
His goal is to make people realize how anyone has the potential to become homeless, and there is a situation and a story behind every person who is homeless.
“The potential for anybody and everybody to become homeless is there, we don’t know the stories. People are victimizing people who are already the victims of situations. I mean, mental illness, a huge portion of not just Canada’s homeless but homeless in general, mental illness runs rampant... I want people to understand that we are all worthy of a place in society.”
McComb advocates for programs that can help people stop being homeless, not a hand out but a way to improve their lives. He points out that, for example, it can be impossible for a homeless person to get a job, without a fixed address, contact information or way to prepare for interviews. He says that housing needs to be a priority in order to give people a chance to get their life together.
“I worked while I was homeless, but that’s not the answer.”
There are communities that can be used an example, McComb says that Medicine Hat, Alberta is an example of what needs to be done by making housing a priority. He’s also seen that many communities are not doing enough. His hometown, St. Thomas, Ontario, has a shelter in the winter only, and he says it’s not enough to help people move on.
“It’s all about resources and skills. Social skills, housing skills, mental health. If there’s addiction involved, detoxification and rehabilitation... Not just come in, get some sleep, and get out and we’ll keep you homeless, because that’s keeping the cycle up.”
Just making people aware of the problem, and that the problem is in communities where people otherwise might think there are homeless people, is a major part of McComb’s goal.
“I’ve heard a number of times that there are no homeless people in Yorkton, there are none. I said maybe that’s why they call us the invisible people. There are homeless here.”
The response to the journey has been all over the map, from meeting famous people like Rob Thomas and Prince Charles, to having people refuse to allow him to stay in their motel.
“I’ve been beaten up, I’ve been hugged, I’ve been threatened, I’ve been praised... I’m not going to stop this walk because of the bad, it’s the bad that makes me realize that I still have people out there to reach.”
It’s been a gruelling trip, and McComb says that during the first half of the walk in 2014 his foot broke three times. Difficult as the trip has been, he says that he has to do it because it’s what he can do to make people aware that homeless issues affect people. He says he feels the need to do something with his life because he barely survived to make it this far, and wants to make the most of the extra chances he has had.
“I was run over by a car in a high speed chase for stealing pumpkins... I laugh about it now, but I was going to be mentally challenged for the rest of my life... I’ve been given a million chances, so for that million and one chance I had to do something with my life.”
The decision to take a national walk for homeless awareness was inspired by learning about Terry Fox’s run, and specifically that Fox didn’t make it the entire way across Canada. On hearing that, McComb decided he would take Fox the rest of the way.
“The respect I’ve got for that man now. I mean I had respect for him before, but I have a whole new respect after Northern Ontario and Newfoundland. Up a mountain, down a mountain, I don’t know how I did it so I don’t know how he did it.”
The walk is about awareness, not about raising money, and McComb says that his goal is to make people look at what is happening in their communities and support initiatives they believe will make a difference for people.
“It would be wrong of me to walk across Canada, take all of Canada’s money, go back to the St. Thomas area and take care of the homeless there.”
