BARRIE -- The pandemic has created new, unbearable challenges for the day-to-day lives of those with no place to call home.
For five years, Leah Denbok and her father have been sharing photos of those living on the streets to humanize the issue of homelessness and to change the public's outlook.
The pair recently met a woman named Selina living in Toronto who shared her story of hardships through the pandemic for her community.
"I can't even visit someone to spend the night," she said. "You're stuck. I can't go shopping to get no clothes; all the injecting sites are closed down. I've overdosed four times."
Denbok said with closures and restrictions, the homeless are forgotten.
"With no McDonalds, no malls and no libraries open, they have nowhere to use the washroom to clean up. And with shelters overcrowded and the social distancing, they have nowhere to go."
A photograph of Selina wearing a mask drew global attention.
Denbok said she does this work because it's to her, it's important to change the negative outlook towards the homeless, and the stereotypes they face.
"These people have no other options," added Denbok. "No rational person would choose to sit on the corner of the street freezing to death. Starving to death. Begging for money."
At just 20-years-old, Denbok has shared hundreds of stories of the community's most vulnerable. She hopes her work will evoke compassion in people not to forget about those living on the streets during this time and long after the pandemic is over.
To see more of Leah Denbok's photographs, click here.
